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Guru seva

Guru-sevā is total, selfless service to the master. My Master served his Gurujī, who lived with the elderly Mahāprabhujī. He rose at 3 a.m., waking Mahāprabhujī from meditation to serve him. He cleaned the ashram, prepared bath water, gathered fuel, fetched water, and walked kilometers for alms and to post letters. His entire day was service, with no rest, mending clothes in the afternoon. Even after satsang ended at 10 p.m., his sleep was constantly interrupted. Mahāprabhujī would call him for water, to check noises, or to dictate and correct a bhajan late into the night, only to wake him again at 3 a.m. Gurujī once wondered if he would ever sleep, but now recalls it as a divine experience of love.

"He would rise at three o'clock in the morning... and bring a glass of water."

"Gurujī said that at that time he was thinking, 'Will I ever sleep in my life?' But it was such a divine experience for him."

Filming location: Australia

It is I who will give the fruits; you should work, do sevā, perform karma. My Master described his service to Gurujī when Gurujī was living with Mahāprabhujī. What was that service like? He would rise at three o'clock in the morning—a.m., not p.m.—and bring a glass of water. Mahāprabhujī would already be meditating, seated at three o'clock. Gurujī would wake him, then remain in his service until four. From four to five, he would sweep and clean the entire āshram. From five to six, he would prepare water for the bath, along with towels and such; there was no bathroom. He would heat water on a small, knee-high table for Mahāprabhujī's washing. During that time, he would immediately clean Mahāprabhujī's room and prepare it, then clean Mahāprabhujī's clothes. At seven o'clock, he would go to gather wood, cow dung, and camel dung for the fire. Returning, he would fill all the water pots—fresh drinking water, water for the birds, and so on. Then, by about 7:30, he would walk to a village two kilometers away to bring back alms. Afterwards, he would work for Mahāprabhujī: writing letters, then taking them on foot—no bicycle—to another village three or four kilometers away to post them, all in a vast desert with no cars. He would also do the shopping for vegetables and other items there before returning. Then, the entire day was spent in Mahāprabhujī's sevā, with no rest. In the afternoon, from 1:30 to 4 o'clock, he would sit at the sewing machine, mending clothes and bedsheets. Constantly working, sitting, helping, massaging—this was Mahāprabhujī's sevā. That is called guru-sevā. At that time, Mahāprabhujī was nearly over 100 years old; he lived to be 135. Such was guru-sevā. The evening continued until 10 o'clock with sitting in satsaṅg, as we do. Then Mahāprabhujī would tell him, "Go to sleep." He would be so happy and lie down. In one or two minutes, Holy Gurujī said, "I was—" and when Mahāprabhujī heard this, he would say, "Bring me a glass of water." He would wake up; he slept beside Mahāprabhujī, about one and a half to two meters away. As soon as Holy Gurujī was falling asleep, Mahāprabhujī would say, "Look how late it is now." So Gurujī would get up, look at the alarm clock, and Mahāprabhujī would say, "Okay, sit down, lie down, sleep." After half an hour of sleep, Mahāprabhujī would say, "Get up and look, my dog is barking; somebody is outside. Go around the āshram and come back." Midnight, dark, no torchlight—he would go around the āshram and return. "Master, there is nothing, nobody." "Okay, I thought there was nobody, but he is awake. Go and sleep, it's okay, you must be tired." He would sleep. After one hour: "Get up, bring me a piece of paper, a pencil, and the oil lamp, and write a bhajan; I must dictate one to you." Gurujī said he was inwardly thinking, 'Why can't he dictate to me in the daytime? Must he dictate now?' It was already 1:30 at night. "Okay, go and sleep." A half-hour later, he called Gurujī's name: "Advaitānanda, get up, read me the last sentence again. How did you write it?" It was corrected a little. "It is not musically, it is not melodically, it is not good." "Yes, Master, yes, that is okay, it is perfect. Lie down, sleep, okay." At 3 o'clock: "Get up, it is Brahma Muhūrta, 3 o'clock. Go and wash yourself and come." Gurujī said that at that time he was thinking, 'Will I ever sleep in my life?' But it was such a divine experience for him. Now Gurujī says, "There is enough"—time for him to sleep or do as he wishes. Mahāprabhujī is no more, and so Gurujī said that if Mahāprabhujī ever appears to him in a dream or meditation, there is only one thing he would ask Śiva: "How divine was it?" And he said, that is how much Mahāprabhujī loved him.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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