286 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
Krsna wants. When there is that intimate relationship, then one can
serve Krsna most favorably. And as long as there is not that intimate
relationship, one must take information of what Krsna wants through the
transparent medium of the spiritual master.

A Vaisnava never thinks that he has a direct relationship with Krsna.
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 Krsna.’ We
have to agree to become the servant of the servant of the servant. This is
the process of disciplic succession, and if one wants real, transcendental
love of God, then he has to adopt this process. Because people do not ac-
cept 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 Maha-
prabhu 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 Maha-
prabhu is speaking out of His own mental concoction; His statements are
confirmed in Vedic scriptures such as the Ndrada-paficaratra and the
Srimad-Bhagavatam. These two books, and the Bhagavad-gitd, are very
authentic scriptures meant for devotees. Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes
from a verse in the Narada-pafcaratra: Hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir
ucyate. This is the definition of pure devotional service. Hrsikena
hrsikeSa-sevanam. Hrsikena 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 Krsna,”’ that is not pure devotional ser-
vice. Meditation is thinking, but no one thinks of Krsna; they think of
void or something impersonal. If someone is thinking of Krsna or
Narayana or Visnu, 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 Krsna in the form of four-handed
Narayana. Even Patajfijali, an authority on the yoga system, prescribes
meditation on Visnu. 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 Narada-paicaratra says, hrsikena hrsikeSa-sevanam: one must
