The Nature of True Devotees by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

The Nature of True Devotees

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

Devotion
to God is attained by associating with those who serve both Him and His
devotees. They have made service to God the very essence of their life.
They have made the narrations of the names, appearance, attributes and
sports of God the mainstay of their existence and they are always
engaged in discoursing about them.

Not
only is there a great difference between how the common man deliberates
upon God and how the devotee deliberates upon Him, but the very natures
of these two kinds of deliberation are quite opposite. Among the common
people, many are inclined to worship God, whom they know to be the
giver of mundane and celestial pleasure and happiness. Those who are
more intelligent however   that is, those who outwardly present
themselves as renunciants but remain the topmost enjoyers at heart  
pretend to worship God with the purpose of becoming equal to God, who
is the Supreme Enjoyer, and merging in Him.

Those situated midway between these two classes worship God with the intention of acquiring the eight modes of supernatural power,
such as the power to become smaller than an atom and the power to
become weightless, in order to fulfil their own desires. Although they
pretentiously show themselves to be:worshippers of God, they never
admit the eternality of God's names, appearance and so forth. They
regard the Supreme Master of all to be governed by karma.
These so-called worshippers do not serve God with the particular aim of
serving and pleasing Him. On the contrary, they make the Lord serve
them.

The
nature of true devotees is different from theirs. They do not expect,
nor do they regard as necessary, the attainment of pleasure for the
body and home in this world or in the next. Nor do they regard as
important the attainment of emancipation, which is so highly praised as
the ultimate attainment for man. True devotees serve God by their very
nature, by every thought and by every sentiment of their heart. This
strong propensity in them does not yield to any obstruction but runs
with impetuosity, forcibly removing all the obstacles before it. It is
just like the swift and turbulent current of the river Ganga, which
rapidly runs towards the sea inundating all high and low resistance,
undergoing no disaster and never abating, at any point, to take rest.

The devotees are ever engaged in the service of God.
No tendency towards anything else, no other thought or deed besides
that service, finds any opportunity to cast its shadow over the souls
of those bhakti-yogis, who are incessantly communing with God
and are entirely dedicated to Him. Out of pure love, the devoted
servitors of God are ever engaged in offering service to Him and to His
devotees. They have no vitality to devote to their bodies; to those who
are related to their bodies like their wives or sons; to their home; to
all those who are related to these; to domestic beasts and birds; or to
their occupation, class and so forth.

Having
fallen in love with the Lord of their life, who is the very life of
their lives and the life of all, they have surrendered themselves to
Him, with all their energy. Such devotees, dedicating their very selves
to God, have made Him alone the quintessence of all their ambitions.
And He, too, having been arrested by their devotion, has made them His
essential companions, even though He Himself is the most essential
Being for all.

Adapted from The Gaudiya Volume 25, Number 5

Posted by the Rays of The Harmonist team