​How does Shivananda Sena exemplify the three great strengths in bhakti?

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Transcript

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so the question is how does Sivananda Sen exemplify this verse that that the three great sources of strength are the remnants of the devotees the dust of the lotus feet and the so bhaktapada jhuli bhaktapada jal, bhaktabhukta avashesh e iti na mahabala so how do we understand this verse in the light of Sivananda Sen’s service attitude see different devotees are in different positions in society and they can serve Krishna according to those different positions in different ways so in the case of Sivananda Sen he was a grhastha and his particular service was to facilitate the other devotees when they wanted to go to Jagannath Puri so now whatever it took for them to go there, he was ready to do that and so for example Prabhupada now he was a Mahabhagavata devotee but when he went abroad when the hippies initially came, Prabhupada cooked for them and he washed their plates now normally for a Shuddha Vaishnava he should not even take the food cooked by Mlecchas what to speak of washing the plates in which the Mlecchas have eaten but Prabhupada saw this is the way I can serve, this is the way I can help those people to come closer to Krishna and that’s why he did that so the mood of a devotee is to do whatever it takes to serve Krishna and in this particular case see when we say that we should take the dust of the lotus feet of the Vaishnavas or we should drink the water that has washed their feet or we should take their Mahaprasad now there is this literal activity which also can be done but more important than doing the literal activity is understanding the mood in which these activities are done that mood is that actually we are servants of Krishna and in traditional Indian culture one’s subordination to someone one’s acceptance that somebody is my master that would be expressed in various ways just like we bow down to our elders we take the dust of their feet on our head, what does that mean? we accept that they are our masters so there is sometimes if we get the opportunity certainly we can actually touch the feet of the devotees we can actually take the water that has washed their feet we can even take their Mahaprasad but it is not just these activities alone it is what these activities signify that I am the servant of the devotees and I am such a menial servant that I will even take the dust of their feet I will even eat the food that is their remnant so the form of the activity is no doubt important but more important than the form is the spirit and it was not that instead of arranging for the devotees to go to Puri, he was just busy all the time taking the dust of their feet or taking their Mahaprasad, no what was he doing? He was serving them and if then that service was not easy because at that time especially the toll collectors over there were known to be very exploitative people and often devotees were quite simple hearted and because devotees were simple hearted they would not be able to deal with them so Sivananda Sen was expertly dealing with them not only spending his money to pay for the toll but along with that using his expertise in negotiating with the toll collectors so that the devotees could be able to go on peacefully in their pilgrimage so essentially when we see that these activities give us great strength it is not just if suppose some devotee feels embarrassed when we touch their feet and still we go and forcibly touch their feet, no that is not going to give us great strength because there we are displeasing devotees so what gives us strength is that when we assist devotees, when we serve devotees and help them in their service to Krishna then they become pleased with us they pray for us, they bless us and their prayers and blessings attract Krishna’s mercy on us and that Krishna’s mercy becomes the source of strength for us so Sivananda Sen demonstrated that selfless service attitude which gives great strength that is why Sivananda Sen is an example of the service to Vaishnavas making one very strong and that strength that Sivananda Sen had spiritually was seen when when Chaitanya, when Nithyananda Prabhu kicked him on his chest and told him that you know your son will die so now normally when we serve someone we actually are very dependent on their reciprocation and suppose I work for someone and that person doesn’t pay me, I will stop serving them or if I am serving someone and they insult me, I will stop serving them but when we have great faith in someone, when we know that they truly are always our well wishers then no matter what happens even if they do something which seems to be terribly wrong, then we know that they have our good at heart and that’s why we don’t feel, we still continue to serve, so that great strength is required so when there is reason to give up our service and when still one continues in the service, that signifies that there is a great strength in the spirit of service and that strength or that strong service attitude of Sivananda Sen is seen when Nithyananda Prabhu chastises him, kicks him on the chest and practically curses his son to die still he says, oh getting the dust of your lotus feet on the chest is such a matter of great fortune, that means he still maintains the service attitude that is the extraordinary strength that he had got by strongly serving Vaishnavas