Serving Devotees

8 March, 2025

The five principle items suggested by Srila Rupa Goswami are chanting the holy name, hearing from Bhagavatam, Residing at holy places, association of devotees and worshipping the deity.

Taking the association of someone means to be influenced by their thoughts, actions and speech. And when the object of association is devotees, everything is dovetailed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna.

At one place in the Srimad Bhagavatam it is said,

“By the grace of the devotee the mercy of the Lord is obtained, and by the mercy of the Lord a chance to serve the Lord’s devotee is obtained”  [SB 1.15.8 purport]

Thakur Narottama Das, a renowned saint writes,

tādera caraṇa-sebi-bhakta-sane bās

janame janame hoy ei abhilāṣ

“To be a servant of their lotus feet and to reside in the company of devotees–this is my aspiration birth after birth.”

Serving devotees in terms of serving them prasadam is very beneficial when we consider the fact that the human body needs sustenance and food is a necessity, so when we serve the devotees with love and satisfy their hunger, we naturally receive their blessings.

mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes

tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam

mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā

vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye  [SB 5.5.2]

The essense of this verse is that serving devotees automatically opens the path for one to experience unlimited eternal knowledge and bliss.

At last, i would like to thank you,  the reader , for letting me serve you with this post. May Krishna be merciful and give you association of devotees!