Why are only services done in the temple, and not activities done in the home temple, considered as seva?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so why do we say that only what is done in temple is seva because even what you are doing at home there is no difference between matter and spirit actually there are both perspectives which need to be understood that there is we all need a direct connection with Krishna without the direct connection with Krishna the feeling of devotion the disposition of service to Krishna will not remain so we need some time and some quality consciousness quality dedication to directly connect our consciousness with Krishna then when we directly connect our consciousness with Krishna that infuses a mood of devotion and with that mood of devotion then we can take it to other activities in our life also so if we think that my material life itself is spiritual then what happens is yes it can be spiritual but often in our material life if we are honest how often do we really think about Krishna actually speaking quite often even when we come to the temple we don’t think about Krishna even when we come to temple we are thinking about this and that our mind wander here and there so our thoughts cannot stay really connected with Krishna for very long if we don’t have a direct stimulating atmosphere of direct connection with Krishna so our we want to do our work, our family responsibilities our professional responsibilities, all of them also in a mood of service but that mood of service does not come automatically that a mood of service requires cultivation and that’s why there is differentiation and when you come to the temple that is Seva, what we are doing at home also is Seva but that is not just, we don’t always do it in a mood of service when we are doing something for our family they are also providing us something when we are doing something in office they are giving us salary so basically there is when you come to the temple and do service we are not expecting any salary over there we are just doing it in a mood of selflessness that’s why there are actually degrees and when we do direct service to Krishna that brings the service attitude which we can carry into other things and to differentiate between the direct service and indirect service you may say this is Seva and the other is also Seva but that is, that will become a Seva when we do this Seva see work some people say work is worship you know yes, work can be worship but if work itself is worship then the donkey is the greatest worshipper the donkey works so hard so work itself is not automatically worship work is to be made into worship in 18.46 Krishna says sva-karmana tam abhyarcha siddhim namati maanava so this is often translated as work is worship but what Krishna is saying is not karma hi puja sva-karmana tam abhyarcha by your work, worship him which is very different from work is worship I am not minimizing the principle of work is worship work is worship can be a valid social principle to inspire people to have dignity of labour don’t look down at any work but work is worship is not a philosophical principle it can be a social ethical principle but it is not a philosophical principle work can be a worship and for that we have to do worship we have to cultivate the mood of worship have a direct connection with Krishna and then the mood of worship and service will come in our work also