Do we learn shastra by studying more or serving more?

Question is our growth through study proportional to our service attitude that means that sometimes when I study and ask questions devotees tell me that actually you should do more service or you should participate more in kirtans by that you develop your bhakti and then you will understand also more I am ready to do whatever my seniors tell me but I want to know is it that our study will improve by doing these activities or maybe our study will improve by spending more time actually studying our understanding how will our understanding of scripture improve answer both points are valid our understanding can improve by studying more and our understanding can also improve by serving more because we are doing study we are doing study what are we doing essentially we are enquiring we are asking questions and trying to get answers so and then we are serving also so that is also a part of the process of acquiring knowledge now the there are three different aspects to whether a devotee should study more or serve more first is that if a particular devotee has a more intellectual nature then one will want to study more and then we will grab whatever opportunity we get to study more and that will be like a need for us a need that cannot be denied so when that happens now we have to be honest with ourselves whether we are studying just so that we can show off our knowledge and actually gain a sense of prestige in devotee community that I know so much or whether really understanding that calms our mind strengthens our conviction and inspires us to practice bhakti more that means does my study make me go inwards towards Krishna or does my study make me go outwards seeking more and more name fame glory from others now certainly we will want to share whatever we learn about Krishna with others and we may get also name fame glory but that should not be our driving motive for study so that if a person is really very intellectual then that person will be satisfied just in studying and wherever one gets a forum for speaking, speak do not be much anxious about how many people appreciate what I am speaking because there may be some people who are intellectually appreciative and others may not appreciate so that caution we have to take but if it is an intellectual need then it cannot be denied it will have to be accommodated some way or the other now with respect to service yes our goal is to become servant of Krishna so certainly in the initial stages of our spiritual life it is good to internalize the principle of becoming a servant that means doing whatever we are instructed to do and by this by doing whatever we are instructed to do we internalize the mood of the servant now over a period of time it is even the senior devotees ultimately want us to be engaged happily in Krishna's service and they will engage us in service according to our Swabhava in the long run but in the initial stage if we are engaged in various services we can also observe ourselves and try to learn I know as it is that Shastric study is one of my strengths but along with that what are the other things that I can do if I am told do more kirtans I do it more but then I find it is just a burden or somebody tells me to do preaching and then I find I like it so basically when we say that I like it or I don't like it, it is not necessarily in terms of sense gratification it is more in terms of understanding our own nature so that we can serve happily basically we are trying to understand what is my guna, what is my karma and in the long run the way to harmonize the two is to take up intellectual service so intellectual activity is studying and normally we think of service in terms of say doing some kitchen seva, doing some preaching whatever but we can do some intellectual service that means I would say that at present 3-4 main intellectual services are available in this con one is if one has an inclination for writing one can do writing second is one can also become an editor because many senior devotees are writing and if one's English is good then one can actually become an editor and that way we can get a lot of associates senior devotees because when they write and then we help them editing that is also an intellectual service third, both writing and editing need some specialized skills which we do not have the more mainstream service we can do is shastric teaching that means becoming something like a bhakti shastri teacher in the long run or becoming a teacher of structured courses now there can be introductory level classes also for which one can become teacher but that may not give us much intellectual satisfaction it depends but one can aim to become if one is more of an intellectual not so much to become a preacher as a teacher preacher is one who introduces new people to Krishna and a preacher often needs to have some charisma so he can attract people the teacher is much more of a systematic educator and that way if one takes aims for that service in the long run then both the intersection of the intellectual nature and the service attitude both will be found out so in the initial layers it is good to do whatever we are told to do but along with that rather than resenting what we are doing see that all those various services which we are engaged in as a learning opportunity to learn about ourselves to learn about our own swabhava, about our own nature and then we can actually engage ourselves.