7.9.27 The Lord reciprocates with our service – not our designation

So, in this verse, the Lord, Prabhupada is continuing the theme from the previous verse of how the Lord has given him such extraordinary mercy, which was not given even to the exalted God like Brahma, Shiva and Lakshmi.
So, he says, my dear Lord, you do not discriminate. This is higher, this is lower. This consciousness is not there in you, my dear Lord.
So, you are the surdhan of all living beings, you are the well-wisher of all living beings. But still, you may say that there is a difference between, some people are more advanced, some people are less advanced. Why is the reason? So, he says, you are surdhan, you are like a desire tree.
Whatever a person desires, you award that. That you reward according to the seva. So, paravar was the word in the first line.
And naparavaratvam comes in the last line also, the last part of the verse. So, it’s emphasizing, my dear Lord, you are not partial. Now, in the start of this canto, when Lord Narasimhadev, in an early incarnation, as Lord Varaha kills Hiranyakashipu’s brother, Hiranyakashipu, at that time, Hiranyakashipu, in his anger, accuses Vishnu of having become partial.
It’s like, a child may be given some sweets, and because of that, the child will do whatever the person giving sweets is asking him. He says, similarly, the demigods have offered some sacrifices, and because Vishnu is childish, he has given up his impartiality and has become partial for the demigods and against me. And therefore, he says, because of Vishnu having given up his impartiality, he deserves to be killed.
And I will kill him. So, Kalahad Maharaj is saying that, no, the Lord is not partial to anyone, the Lord is reciprocal. samsevaya surataro sevanurupam So, the word seva also comes twice.
According to service, the Lord reciprocates. So, Kalahad Maharaj, although he was born in a demoniac family, he rendered service to the Lord, and that’s why the Lord reciprocated. So, Riddha is the well-wisher of all.
So, on the path of devotional service, because we live within an institutional framework, often the hierarchy is quite prominent. This person is the counsellor, this person is the counsellee, this person is the manager, this person is the managed. So, this hierarchy can lead to misunderstanding about one’s spiritual position.
If one happens to be senior to some people, one automatically assumes that one is advanced. But that’s not necessarily the case. samsevaya surataro So, if somebody is serving more diligently, more intelligently, more sincerely, then that person may get more reciprocation from the Lord, and that person may make more spiritual advancement.
So, our material designations and, to a large extent, their irrelevance to our core remembrance of Krishna, to our spiritual advancement, becomes obvious and undeniable when we connect with Krishna through prayer and chanting. So, at that time, we are left to deal with our mind all alone. I may be the temple president, I may even be a counsellor or a spiritual master, but my mind doesn’t care for who I am.
The mind just wants to run here and there. And, of course, if I am a senior person, then I may feel responsible to try to keep my mind under control, and that sense of responsibility is good. But, that sense of responsibility, we need to use it to fix the mind on Krishna and to purify ourselves internally.
So, therefore, here he is saying, you are not partial, my dear Lord. Why have you given me this mercy? So, he will explain that it’s not that I am such an advanced devotee or I have rendered extraordinary service. It is Narada Muni who blessed me and that’s how I was able to render this service nicely.
But the essential point here is that, especially when we are chanting, our material smallness or bigness doesn’t matter. If we just try to chant and serve Krishna through the holy name, diligently,