alir bāṇo jyotiṣakaḥ stabdhībhūtaḥ kimekakaḥ |
preṣita-preṣakaś caiva ṣaḍ ete sevakādhamāḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“One who is like a bee, one who is like an arrow, one who is astrological, one who is stiff, one who thinks ‘how [can I do things] alone?’, and one who is a dispatcher of the dispatched—these six are the worst servitors.”
yādṛśaiḥ sevyate bhṛtyair yādṛśāṁś copasevate |
kadācin nātra sandehas tādṛg bhavati pūruṣaḥ ||
(Pañcatantra: 1.272)
“A person becomes like whom he serves and like servants by whom he is served. There is never any doubt in this regard.”
sevanaṁ cittānuvṛttiḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.16.17, cited in the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Sārātha-darśinī-ṭīkā and Prīti Sandarbha: 129)
“Service (sevanam) means acting in accord with the mind [of the person to be served].”
guruḥ śāstraṁ śraddhā rucir anugatiḥ siddhir iti me
yad etat tat sarvaṁ caraṇa-kamalaṁ rājati yayoḥ |
kṛpā-mādhvīkena snapita-nayanāmbhoja-yugalau
sadā rādhā-kṛṣṇāv aśaraṇa-gatī tau mama gatiḥ ||
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 340)
“Guru, śāstra, śraddhā,
Taste (ruci), service (anugati), and attainment (siddhi)—
Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa,
Whose lotus feet manifest as all of these to me,
Whose lotus eyes are always moistened
With the nectar of grace,
And who are the shelter of the refugeless,
Are ever my shelter.”
sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta |
dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.13; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.603; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.28; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.207, 2.6.270, 2.9.268, 2.19.173, 3.3.189)
[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] “Without my service, people [i.e., those imbued with nirguṇa-bhakti to me] do not accept even sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya, or ekatva [i.e., sāyujya] even when [these are] offered [to them by me].”
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhura dāsera anudāsa |
sevā abhilāṣa kare narottama-dāsa ||
(Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura’s Prārthanā)
“Narottama Dāsa, an assisting servant of the servants of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu, longs for service.”
tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā |
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 4.34)
“Learn that [knowledge] through obeisance, inquiry, and service. Knowers and seers of the reality will teach [that] knowledge to you.”
