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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
but why not give him something better? Why not a glass of hot milk?” that is not service. In his consideration, hot milk is very palatable and is better than water, yet because I have asked for water, he has to give me water, not milk. That is favorable service. One has to understand what Kṛṣṇa wants. When there is that intimate relationship, then one can serve Kṛṣṇa most favorably. And as long as there is not that intimate relationship, one must take information of what Kṛṣṇa wants through the transparent medium of the spiritual master.
A Vaiṣṇava never thinks that he has a direct relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya says, “I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant—a hundred times the servant of the servant—of Kṛṣṇa.” We have to agree to become the servant of the servant of the servant. This is the process of discipline succession, and if one wants real, transcendental love of God, then he has to adopt this process. Because people do not accept this process, they do not develop real love of God. They speak of God, but actually they do not love God; because there is no cultivation of pure devotional service, they love dog.
We may say, “love of God,” but unless we adopt this principle, then we will have to love dog, not God. That is the mistake. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that if one really wants love of God, then one has to follow the process of pure devotional service. It is not that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is speaking out of His own mental concoction; His statements are confirmed in Vedic scriptures such as the  Nārada-pañcarātra  and the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . These two books, and the  Bhagavad-gītā , are very authentic scriptures meant for devotees. Caitanya Mahāprabhu quotes from a verse in the  Nārada-pañcarātra: Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam bhaktīr ucyate . This is the definition of pure devotional service.  Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam .  Hṛṣīkeṇa  means “by one’s senses.” We have to engage our senses; it is not that we engage only our minds. If someone says, “I am always thinking of Kṛṣṇa,” that is not pure devotional service. Meditation is thinking, but no one thinks of Kṛṣṇa; they think of void or something impersonal. If someone is thinking of Kṛṣṇa or Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu, as prescribed in the Vedic scriptures, that is real yoga; yoga meditation means to focus one’s mind upon the Supersoul. The Supersoul is the representation of Kṛṣṇa in the form of four-handed Nārāyaṇa. Even Patañjali, an authority on the yoga system, prescribes meditation on Viṣṇu. But just as people are manufacturing bogus religious processes, the so-called yogis of today have manufactured their own way of thinking of something void.
But the  Nārada-pañcarātra  says,  hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam : one must