Service To Mankind
The honeybee that clings to its hive intoxicated in honey returns to its hive even if temporarily dislodged from it. There was a time when our condition was similar. We used to cling to the magnetic attraction of Sri Madhab’s heavenly eyes. We were intoxicated in the thought of his haloed image and remained lost deep in contemplation of his introspective messages. Time would flow unnoticed like a stream. While many would be full of praise at our deep involvement, there were some who would not miss an opportunity to criticise. In this context the first person that comes to my mind is Sri Manab Mukherjee.
Manab-babu was aged about 50 years; grey haired, medium built with a dried-out look. Reddish eyes indicated nights of sleeplessness. A burning cigarette was his constant companion. He spoke without a break and it was never devoid of criticisms of other’s activities. He would present himself as a diligent and committed leader and a person dedicated to the service of the society. In order to prove himself as a distinguished leader he read many Indian and foreign literature many of which the ordinary mortal would find difficult to comprehend. His daily schedule was quite hectic, consisting of work at office, solving various problems of his colleagues, attending meetings, delivering lectures which made him quite exhausted at the end of the day. In addition, the lack of sleep due to his academic pursuit during the night had visible impact on his health. He was suffering from asthma but did not care. He said that those who have sacrificed their lives in the interest of others have suffered from similar diseases.
Manab-babu’s own family consisted of his mother, wife, three sons and two daughters. But he had no time to look after them. Manabbau’s wife often complained to me in this regard. Due to the irresponsible behaviour of the parent the children had become undisciplined, rowdy and fallen in bad company. Manab-babu, however, felt irritated if told about this. He said one must relinquish narrow interests in preference to greater good. Where can a person get time to look into petty family matters when he has to spend sleepless nights on the welfare of the greater society? The admirers of Manabbabu called him Manuda and were always alert to cater to his needs. They felt obliged to listen to Manuda’s sermons whenever such an opportunity arose and dreamt of the day when they would become great leaders. However, a few of these admirers, all of a sudden, became members of our ‘Movement For Eradication Of Prejudice & Superstition’. The incident drew Manuda to our sitting one day.
We all welcomed him at once. As soon as we requested him to tell something he spoke in an attacking mood. “I am ashamed to see how a group of people can waste their valuable time in futile discussion on a vague subject like spirituality sitting in this twentieth century. It is unbelievable! Come out of this emotional luxury. If you really want to do something good, then do something practical and try to serve the people. You may come to me, sometimes. I have some good books. Read them, and come out of this intoxicated stupor and contribute to the society. Moreover, think deeply. You will find that those who spent their lives after God and achieved nothing at the end finally followed the path of charity and service. Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed everybody has spoken about serving the people.”
We sometime spoke about Sri Ramkrishna during the course of our discussion. Probably this was the reason he spoke sarcastically, “ However, your Ramkrishna have crossed the limit in this matter. In an outburst of emotion he said that not kindness, but one must serve all living beings with shiva-jnan.” With a cynical smile he added, “ Avatar or avatari whatever you may choose to call him, your thakur (Sri Ramkrishna) was ill-tempered. On one hand he spoke of mankind as Narayana while on the other, he degraded and likened him to an insect.” As we reacted to the comment he continued,” Why, didn’t Ramkrishna say man is like an insect (Lok na pok)? But, I have some respect for your Swamiji (Swami Vivekananda) because he was not emotional. Like a man of the world he put emphasis on work and said, ‘The person who has love for all living creatures, truly serves God.’ Quite right, but then what is the need of wearing saffron and running after God? Why don’t you throw away all these emotions and dedicate yourself to the service of mankind as advised by great men? All your rituals like singing devotional songs, pujas, offerings etc. make people idle. Listen to me and you can also become a person of worth and the pride of your country. Look, I am not getting the person whom I can truly make my successor. My days are short. Moreover, I have to stand for Assembly elections. I am putting all my efforts towards this. Actually, if you don’t have power you can’t serve properly.” Manabbabu may be a leader but he tends to forget that we, ordinary mortals, also have something to say. Continuous delivery of sermons made him quite tired. We got him some tea, one of the innumerable cups he drinks everyday. Looking at me he commented sarcastically, “ Nilanjan, I hope you did not feel offended at my words. One day you will realise that I was right.”
I humbly said, “Look Manabbabu, our revered gurudev Sri Madhab says that there is nothing wrong in how a person thinks because God is the source of all mental vibrations that finds expression in different ways. That is why we never criticise the thoughts or opinions of any person. However, I have to say that your thoughts and opinions about great men, path of god or our state of involvement in these things and on top of all the service to mankind are not quite matured. All beings have a natural tendency to serve due to the presence of the force of the Universal Nature as the attribute of service amongst all creation. Although this service exists in many forms, there are two chief categories. One is service rendered according to one’s own decision while the other, serving mankind with an attitude to serve the Supreme. Service is rendered to the person who has an urge, like the person suffering from grief, physical ailments, hunger etc or the destitute. In a similar manner the craving to know the Supreme also creates an intense urge in a person. The urge to fulfil this craving is the reason behind the incessant movement of the entire creation. Where is the end of it all? Even the blade of grass that sprouts from the soil, raises its arms in silent plea. Who does it try to reach out to? This urge is nothing but the attraction of the Supreme and it finds fulfilment in Awakening of Consciousness or being one with God. Hence, it is clear that unless the knowledge of the Supreme awakens within us knowing or unknowingly, we all seek to be served. However, the question that naturally comes at this point is, if all need to be served who will provide the service? Again we are all providers of service but most of us do it based on our own ego and knowledge. One can hardly find a person who has not taken part in serving the hungry, the grief stricken or the sick. I have even seen the local ruffian who is hated for his activities, saving helpless persons from devastating fire putting his own life at stake. Let alone human beings for they are the cream of the creation. I have seen the birds that rush to the help of their companion who lay helpless with a broken wing as a result of a storm. Even the tree tends to serve the weary traveller with its cool shade. Service (Seva) is such a word that signifies no returns. If service is rendered with an expectation of some return then it can no longer be called Seva. On the subject of service, Madhab had said that all prayers, bhajans, pujas and similar religious activities are directed towards being eligible to serve because there is no better way to serve god other than serving the needy and the helpless. Rendering service is a source of joy to the eligible, which finally leads to peaceful rest and tranquillity. As such, the service based on the knowledge of the Supreme can never lead to exhaustion even if it involves sleepless nights and working for days together. On the other hand the service rendered for gaining material objectives, reputations etc. can never culminate into fulfilment. Instead it leads to enhancement of the baser instincts that stunt the progress of mankind and create deep scars in the society. Thus grief, jealousy, violence turn life into hellish misery.
Manabbabu remained quiet, shifted his position and said in a subdued voice that a cup of tea would be welcome. A cigarette, however, remained permanently lodged in his lips. Sending a youth to get the tea, I told Manababu that I would like to say something regarding his comments on Thakur Ramakrishna. Manabbabu replied with a knowing smile, “ I know my comments have hurt you. Very well, I shall listen to what you have to say.” I said, “You have said that Thakur was emotional. Your statement is not correct. Thakur was not emotional rather he always used to remain in the state of the Divine (Bhava). Whatever he spoke in this state is the eternal truth. The mankind whom he called Narayana was the not the same man whom he likened to an insect. He said Lok na Pok. Sri Ramkrishna once provided the explanation while replying to a query. Here Lok although literally means man, it actually means those who only depend on their material knowledge and ambitions. Material knowledge means the knowledge of the physical or jiva_buddhi. Material life revolves around eating, sleeping and procreation. The persons who live in a materialistic manner cannot perceive the significance of spiritual discussions. Due to their ignorance of spiritual matters they criticise the activities of great men and make inappropriate and often idiotic statements. These people are born human but in character are comparable to insects. Again when he spoke of man as Narayana he had in his mind Humanity, which is the basic inner characteristic of human being. The man in whom the true character of humanity has awakened was Narayana to Thakur Ramkrishna. I can recall once Madhab had told that Narayana is the ayan(shelter) of nara. Here he meant that not only human beings but in the entire creation whatever moves is nara. Hence, by Narayan he meant the shelter of all that moves or all living beings. Again, on a number of occasions he had said that humanity, which is the basic characteristic of all mankind, is inseparable from the Truth eternal. From this aspect humanity is the shelter of all living creatures and the man within whom humanity has awakened is the shelter of all beings. Such a man is inseparable from the Truth Eternal or Narayana. This was the reason why Thakur had called man Narayana. He knew that the characteristic of humanity exists in all human beings, even if it is in a dormant state.
“Your comments regarding great men like Buddha, Jesus Christ or Mohammed is also not acceptable at all. You told that all these men had finally deviated from the path of god and took to rendering service to mankind. Of course this type of misunderstanding can occur if one is not aware of the need for divine knowledge.”
Manab-babu went on lighting one cigarette after the other. Suddenly he reacted rebelliously, “Look, if I could meet your God I would have given him a piece of my mind. I would have made him understand the consequence of making the simpletons dance to His tune. Actually it is the simple and weak people who appeal to God. Otherwise no one would have bothered to call Him. His kingdom would have vanished from this earth.” Controlling my temper I told Manabbabu that, “If by chance you are fortunate to come face to face with God would you have anything to say? Do you know something? God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient and impartial. Can He have anything to demand? Can He be tainted with partiality? If He only responds to those who appeal to Him and turn His face away from all others then He is susceptible to flattery. Is it logical? Well, then what is the need for making appeals to Him? It is known that the identity of a person lies in his name. For example the name Manab Mukherjee immediately brings your picture in front of us. Along with it comes your nature, your leadership ambition, your deeds and everything associated with you. It awakens an inspiration akin to your nature. Similarly, when a person calls God in whatever name suits him, a picture of His divine self comes to his mind. This thought which is inspired by divinity gradually frees his mind of the influence of the baser and sensory instincts like jealousy, anger etc. In one word all our activities for the divine, like thinking about Him, or singing His praise, meditation, puja etc. are only to help in cleaning the mind’s mirror because it is only a clear mirror of the mind that reflects the true nature of the Self. Therefore, it is quite clear that the need to pray or call Him is only for rectifying ourselves. A rectified person no longer has the need for calling God. It is like the baby who cries out for its mother but becomes calm once it finds itself in her lap. Calling to God is only till such time the knowledge of God is hidden from a person. Once the barrier is removed and the divine knowledge enlightens the entire universe; when all merges into one, then who calls whom? Man then finds himself one and inseparable to the divine being. He then exists in a state devoid of fear and continues to live in joy and bliss. He realises that God’s kindness is not the result of his prayers. His kindness spreads to one and all irrespective of all our prayers or devotional submissions. The sun, moon and the stars, the sky, wind and fire all have been placed in beautiful harmony so as to make our existence, simple, beautiful and enjoyable. He is so kind that even before the child takes birth He fills the mother’s breast with nectar for its nourishment. He is so kind and merciful but our ego and material knowledge makes us forget this. Our selfishness makes us jealous and tends to deprive others and as a consequence we create the reason for our own pain and sorrow. It is in this manner that the man who is potentially inseparable to Truth Eternal, makes himself destitute and helpless. A person who himself needs to be assisted cannot be eligible for serving other helpless people. Only through realisation of the Self comes the true fulfilment of one’s inner cravings. Gradually, realisation in the core of his heart brings to light the perception of the divine, the material and the Self. This is when he truly becomes eligible to serve. Seeped in divine love he comes to know that it is God who exists as Consciousness in all being. This love provides him the inspiration to serve. Serving the destitute becomes the sole objective of his life and this becomes the focus of his daily activities, all his thoughts and ideas. Inspired by his selfless service people in large numbers dedicate their lives to the service of mankind. Only, this type of self-less service, which is inspired by Divine kindness, can remove the sufferings of mankind.
Eligibility for any work requires knowledge and training whether it is materialistic or spiritual. While for material work one requires acquired knowledge, spiritual work or service to mankind requires spontaneous knowledge of the inner Self. Through the ages, saints and holy men have spread this message during their lifetime.
Manabbabu could not accept my words but he also did not protest. I continued to say that the service rendered out of selfish motives can never truly succeed. Even the service rendered for group interest is not devoid of impartiality and, as such, cannot be utilised for divine purpose. Only impartial and selfless service can give rise to peace, parity and joy. Sri Madhab had said that if you can serve inspired by love towards all, there will be no hindrance from lack of manpower or finance. However, in order to be eligible for universal love one must attain the true traits of humanity. One must be enlightened by the light of the Ultimate Truth and for this one must make continuous efforts to engross oneself into the thoughts of the Divine.
Unless the ignorance accumulated over the ages is completely swept away, proper service can never be performed through mere rhetoric. I have stated earlier that the divine power is present in everyone in the form of service. All of us perform some kind of service at some time according to need. This is natural and also desirable. What else could be more selfishness than to pretend to serve in order to satisfy one’s own ego, selfish demands and greed for power.
In fact there are many who in the name of religion, don the dress of a saint or that of a leader or social reformer and pose to serve the people while actually gratifying their own sensory needs. As a result, hatred, deceit, lack of trust and communal violence often eclipse good senses and the war drums thunder across the horizon. Once during discussions, Sri Madhab told us, “Be honest. Dress up in the manner that is dear to all. It is innocent, simple and beautiful. Those who have dressed differently will have to face punishment. The unfailing sceptre of Truth will strike upon them like lightning. It is impossible to escape from the law of God.”
I have realised through various discussions of Sri Madhab that only divine enlightenment that leads to oneness with the entire creation can bloom into universal love and the persons whose inner self has been touched by the love for all beings is the true servant. It is the service rendered by such a servant that is universal.
A question came up that people are punished due to the lowly deeds committed by them. As such, what is the need for sympathising for their suffering and try to assist them by rendering service. It is natural to think in this manner from the perspective of selfish and egotist outlook. This is the immature Self. When knowledge is devoid of ego and turns to enlightenment it becomes clear that neither the evil deeds (paap) nor the good deeds (punya) are performed by human beings. Hence, the evil deeds and those who commit such deeds are not the same and for this reason holy men and great sages have taught us to reject evil deeds but not the doer.
As Jesus said – “Hate the sin, not the sinner.” Like the swan that skims the milk from its mixture with water with great alacrity, the person who has received the kindness of the divine power can separate the evil deed and the doer. All beings are His creation irrespective of whether he is a sinner or a doer of good deeds. But in spite of this fact everyone has to face the consequences of his deeds. Till proper enlightenment the service rendered is object oriented. Thus inflicted with partiality, the service becomes tainted by selfish gratification. In this state the image of service is demolished by communal violence, separatist activity etc in the name of service let alone providing a solution for the sufferer. As such, to become a true servant one must be initiated into the path shown by the guru. He must be sacrificed in the altar of love, affection and service to the sufferer irrespective of his religious inclinations or group loyalty.
Naturally, one may ask who then is eligible to render service in its true sense. Who can serve enlightened by the divine knowledge (shiva-gnan)? It is only possible for the person who has love for all beings to serve in this manner and inspire others to render service.
In course of a discussion Sri Madhab had said, “The concentrated or purified form of devotion is Bhava (the divine state). Prem (Divine Love) is another name of bhava. Prem is not worship but the Worshipped; it is not the process but the goal itself. As such, be prepared to follow the path to this goal.” Sri Guru is the goal of all sadhana, the worshipped. In order to follow his path one must love him. It is due to our love of Sri Madhab that we used to be engrossed in his thoughts at that time; the purpose was to be bathed in divine love or prem, as unless the flower of love blooms one cannot be truly eligible for service to mankind which is the sole purpose of divine worship. The worship that seeks only liberation of oneself from the bondages of the material is nothing but full of selfish desire. Sri Madhab considers such a sadhak as the one who is only at the primary stages. He inspires all his disciples, devotees and followers to dedicate their lives in the service to all beings. He warns us repeatedly of falling prey to emotional feelings and neglecting our duties in the name of rendering service. The exception is only for the person who, bathed in universal love, can become one with the worshipped or the Supreme. To such a person the entire world appears as his family. His own small family also becomes a part of it as this, after all, is an integral part of that world. Like his own family, he binds the entire creation in bonds of universal love. To him none can bear any grudge and he becomes the dearest of all to the distressed.
After such a long time Manab babu opened his mouth to speak. Exhaling a cloud of smoke from a freshly-lit cigarette, he said, “You mean to say that you are striving for eligibility. But the place for sadhana is in the woods and mountains. Why don’t you go there? Then people like us would have been spared of your irritating presence.” I humbly stated that many a times I have told you our sadhana does not neglect our duties. On the other hand we try to carry out all of these quite sincerely, even some of those types of services that you render. However, we refrain from posing as servant (service-provider). The way you make yourself to be a servant by keeping yourself aloof from all duties to your family, working day and night and reading fat books throughout the night, we have no intention of doing the same because our Gurudev does not impart such a lesson. We are only following the path of our guru after giving all their due share of our time. If you want you may call it sadhana, but we do not feel that for this there is any need to run to the jungles or the mountains. Our aim is not external solitude. The One that is sought can only be found in the solitude of the inner self; awakening as the divine love or prem. We are, therefore, worshipping the Supreme in order to be eligible for service of the distressed.
Manabbabu bent towards us trying to be somewhat intimate and said,” Since quite a few years I have observed that you are slowly becoming introspective, but have you got some idea about what is meant by love for all beings or what is the proper attitude towards service in its true sense?” Further he said,” Although I have no respect for the sadhus and sanyasis rather I attack them with strong words whenever I get a chance, in some corner of my heart I hold some respect for your Swami Vivekananda. –
‘ Oh, where are you searching for God who is present in front of you in myriad forms; He who loves all beings, serves god.’
In a word he has opened up a new horizon in the pursuit of spirituality which is both unique and pragmatic. He has spoken repeatedly about serving the poor, the downtrodden and the distressed. He has addressed the rich, the poor, the learned and the ignorant, brahmin, kshatriya, vaisya, sudra all as his brother. He is the only person in India whom I have found not only to speak about equality but to implement the principle in his thoughts and deed. Honestly speaking I have been rather inspired by his ideals. But, the things you have said are making me somewhat confused. Whatever you told about love of all beings and service, I don’t seemed to have received any reference to such ideas anywhere. But you have been treading the path of spirituality for quite some time; you must be able to throw some light upon the subject.
I said that truly speaking, I have no knowledge regarding what is really the love for all beings but the golden experience of that particular day in my life has etched an indelible mark in the deepest core of my heart which I have treasured with the utmost care. Let me relate the incident to you.
The month was June in the year 1978. A few of us ardent followers of Sri Madhab went out to tour South India with his blessings. Sri Madhab had given us the manuscript of his interpretation of the Gita from the perspective of the human body (deha tatwa). We were grateful of his unwarranted kindness. While reading the Gita’s interpretation or discussing spiritual matters we constantly felt the loving and joyous presence of Sri Madhab. As such, the days of our tour went by quite happily, sometime enjoying the scenic beauty of mountains and seas or at times mingling with people of different mental states. At last we reached Kanyakumari, the place of our chief attraction. Kanyakumari is the confluence of the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. The temple of the goddess Kanyakumari stands close to the sea shore and the Vivekananda Rock appears to be floating in the ocean. Standing atop the Vivekananda Rock I had glanced around. There was nothing but water, a huge mass of rippling twinkling water as far as the eye could see. Deep blue, bottomless mass of water stretching across the far horizon. The big blue sky seemed to have lost in the depths of the gigantic ocean. Probably this mysterious, divinely beautiful expanse of the ocean can only be compared to the eyes of the Supreme, the Worshipped. Like the ocean, one can get lost in the mysterious depths of Sri Guru’s eyes. There we can see the temple of Kanyakumari. “Kanyakumari’ – purity, clarity and sanctity seemed to be integrally associated with the word itself. As if it has been created with all the sweetness of divine attributes (shad-aishwarya). Therefore, Kanyakumari symbolises beauty, affection and love. Dipping in the depths of the vast ocean, Swami Vivekananda became one with Sri Guru in this land of Kanyakumari. He embraced entire creation through bonds of divine love. This is the reason why he said that ‘He who loves all beings, love God’. I did not know at what point of time the ocean, Kanyakumari and the idealistic image of Vivekananda overpowered my thoughts? ‘Love of all beings’ the words went on repeating within me like incessant beating of the waves against the shore. I did not realise when I had come to the shore from the Vivekananda Rock. Within me the words kept on repeating – ‘Love of all beings’ . Suddenly, by chance, my eyes fell upon a poor man sitting beside the road – a burning example of poverty, exhaustion, hunger and grief. The force of love drew me towards him. I handed over a five rupee note to the distressed man. Immediately the face brightened and a mysterious smile lit up his eyes. I was enthralled. In a flash a sensation passed through my entire being like lightning. The eyes were so familiar to me! The eyes that touch me with light of Supreme Consciousness, the eyes that never lose me, the eyes whose presence I realised in every breath. These are none but the same eyes! The eyes that instantly take me to the land of infinite joy when drenching in incessant streaming rain or viewing the wonder of snow capped mountain peak reflecting the light of the sun or listening to the sweet sound of a gurgling mountain stream; the eyes that look at me from the depths of the ocean or the vastness of the wide blue sky. It is the eye of the One I worship, the object of my sadhana. Immediately my being embraced the distressed man in bonds of love. The bliss of the pure touch of divinity slowly mesmerised me. The poor man’s face brightened into a smile of infinite joy.
I finished my speech. The ever-present cigarette no longer hung between Manabbabu’s lips. Sitting with drooping eyes, it appeared that he was in search of himself from the depths of his mind. It was well into the late hours of night. All present were silent. The few of us in pursuit of spiritual goal remained immersed in deep contemplation in the silence of the night.