290 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
from pure love of Godhead? In other words, if one has material desires,
or even a desire for salvation, he cannot attain pure love of Godhead. |

; Pure devotion is devoid of all desires—it is simply to render loving ser-
vice for its own sake.

There is a nice example in the life of Ripa Goswami. Ripa Goswami
and his brother Sandtana Goswami were living separately in Vrndavana
and going on with their bhajana, devotional service. Ripa was living in
the forest, and there was no facility for cooking nice food or begging from
the village for a capati to eat. Ripa Goswami was the younger brother,
and he thought, “‘If I could get some foodstuffs, then I could prepare nice |
dishes and offer them to Krsna and invite my elder brother.’’ He had that
desire. The next moment, a nice girl about twelve years old came and
delivered an abundance of foodstuffs— milk, flour, ghee, etc. That is the
Vedic system; sometimes householders present foodstuffs to mendicants
and sages in the renounced order of life. Ripa Goswami was very glad
that Krsna had sent so many things and that he could now prepare a feast.
He prepared a feast and then invited his elder brother.

When Sanatana Goswami came, he was astonished. ‘‘How have you
secured such things? You have prepared such a nice feast in this forest.
How is it possible?”’

So Ripa Goswami explained, ‘‘In the morning I desired for it, and by
chance Krsna sent me all these things. A nice girl came, and she offered it
to me.”’ He was describing the girl: ‘‘A very nice girl.”’

Then Sanatana said, ‘‘This nice girl is Radharani. You have taken ser-
vice from Radharani, the Lord’s eternal consort. It is a great blunder.”
That is their philosophy. They would not accept service from the Lord.
They simply wanted to render service. But Krsna is so clever that He also
wants to serve His devotee. He looks for an opportunity to serve His
devotee. This is spiritual competition. A pure devotee does not want any-

’ thing from Krsna; he simply wants to serve Him. And Krsna also looks
for the opportunity to serve His devotee. Krsna is always as anxious to
please His devotee as the devotee is to please Him.

This is the transcendental world. On the absolute plane, there is no ex-
ploitation. Everyone wants to serve; no one wants to take service. In the
transcendental world, everyone wants to give service. You want to give
service to me, and I want to give service to you. This is such a nice at-
titude. This material world means that I want to pickpocket you, and you
want to pickpocket me. That’s all. This is the material world. We should
try to understand it. In the material world, everyone wants to exploit his
friend, his father, his mother, everyone. But in the transcendental world,
