How can we enhance our devotional service?
Our propensity to serve will increase if we simply serve. If we have no desire at all to serve the spiritual master or Krsna, then what is the question of increasing our service? If our mind is fixed at the spiritual master’s lotus feet, then wherever we may be, our propensity to serve will increase. If our mind is fixed otherwise, we will only increase our propensity for sense gratification and material life. By serving the spiritual master continuously, we attain all fortune. If instead we choose to serve Maya or become busy seeking personal happiness, we will experience various disturbances and misfortunes and find ourselves in danger.
We cannot enhance our devotional service without Vaishnav association. Therefore, we should serve Vaishnvas. If after taking shelter of guru and Krsna we do not care for their service, how will we be benefited? If after taking shelter of the devotional path, we do not engage in devotional service, how will we be helped?
First, we must take shelter of the guru’s lotus feet and become servants. This is called ashraya. It is business of a surrendered soul to serve his master. Are we doing that? By offering everything at guru’s feet, we will obtain the Absolute Truth, but instead of making such an offering, we don’t want to give him anything. Yet we want his mercy; we want him to give us the Lord.
It is impossible to cheat the Supersoul. Unless we approach a guru, how will we increase our perpensity to serve Krsna? If after taking shelter at the guru’s lotus feet we maintain our enjoying spirit or increase our propensity for material life, we will again become degraded and will not make spiritual progress. If we actually takes shelter of the spiritual master and serve Him with love, we will certainly attain Krsna’s service. We will attain transcendental knowledge about Krsna and will be merged into Krsna’s ecstatic service.
We need to engage in activities that diminish our propensity for material enjoyment and wordly life. Then we will no longer consider ourselves enjoyers and will treat the material world along with everything it contains as suitable for Krsna’s enjoyment. All objects will then become worshipable. When we reduce the mundane ego - that voice that tells us we are enjoyers and doers - our propensity to serve Krsna will be awakened. So long as our desire to enjoy material life remains prominent, we cannot serve the Lord. When we become anxious for the Lord’s service, we will consider ourselves sons of our guru and sever all relations with worldly fathers and children.