Seva or Self-less Service
Murari Lal DhanukaSeva is a Hindi word which means
helping others in need without the
thought of receiving any reward or
payment in return. The word Seva is
known in English as help, service, care
and volunteer work.
What is the object of Seva or service?
Why must you serve the poor, needy
and suffering humanity at large? Why
do you serve the society and country?
The answer is that by doing service,
you purify your heart, and remove
egoism, hatred, jealousy and the idea
of superiority. An essential teaching
of The Bhagavad Gita is to do selfless
service. Lord Krishna emphasizes that
by such selfless activities, we attain
the height of realization, whereby our
mind becomes absorbed in God.
Swami Vivekananda says, “It is said
in our scriptures that those who serve
the servants of God are His greatest
servants. You must be pure in your
heart and help anyone who comes to
you, as lies within your power. This is
good Karma. By the power of this, the
heart becomes pure (Chitta Samadhi).
The world is in need of those whose life
is burning with selfless love.”
An old saint said, “The selfless servant
does not to put in any iota of effort to
attain the love of the world. Purity
abides in the nature of that servant.”
It is not necessary that only a man
of many external possessions and
wealth can perform service. A man can
render service even without money and
material, by sharing experience and
sympathy with people in their time of
distress and pleasures. You can be a
true servant if your heart is affected
by seeing the misery and distress of
another man. You can offer your bodily
efforts to mitigate distress of others.
All human relationships are for service
only, otherwise they are illusory.Acharya Vinova Bhave says that when
we are born, we bring three institutions
together. The first institution is the
body - enveloped around us. The second
institution is this immeasurable universe
spread around us, this vast cosmos of
which we are a particle. The society
in which we are born in, our mother-
father, brothers-sisters, neighbours is
the third institution. We must fulfill
our duty as a birth-right towards these
institutions without having any ego.Action performed for happiness and
benefit of others is Seva. Any action
performed for one’s own pleasure or
benefit is not really a service, but it is
Bhoga (self enjoyment). This human life
is bestowed by God only for service of
the world. Nothing belongs to a man,
all things belong to the world or God.
All possessions, even the body itself,
should be used as manure for the world
garden. The beauty of Seva is such that
it devours your selfishness and makes
you egoless.