Servant means

Expressions researched:
"servant means"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Servant means they have no second choice than to carry out the orders of the master.

Lecture on SB 6.1.37 -- San Francisco, July 19, 1975: So here is a challenge: yūyaṁ vai dharma-rājasya yadi nirdeśa-kāriṇaḥ. Nirdeśa-kāriṇaḥ. Servant means they have no second choice than to carry out the orders of the master. Therefore nirdeśa-kāriṇaḥ. They cannot argue. No. Whatever is ordered, that is served. So if anyone claims to become... He is expecting the... I think... Here the Viṣṇudūtas are also mentioned here, vāsudevokta-kāriṇaḥ. They are also servant. So ukta means whatever order is given by Vāsudeva, they carry out. Similarly, the Yamadūtas, they are servant of Yamarāja. They are also addressed nirdeśa-kāriṇaḥ: "If you are actually servant of Yamarāja, you act according to his direction, then you must know what is dharma and what is adharma." So they are actually bona fide servant of Yamarāja, there is no doubt about it.

Dāsa means servant. Not only servant, but menial servant. Menial servant means just like the sweeper, the cobbler, like that. They are called menial servants.

Lecture on SB 7.12.1 -- Bombay, April 12, 1976: Therefore brahmacārī means living under direction of guru, guror hitam. And guror hitam... How he can be simply thinking of benefiting the spiritual master? Unless that position comes, nobody can serve guru. It is not an artificial thing. The brahmacārī, the disciple, must have genuine love for guru. Then he can be under his control. Otherwise why one should be under the control of another person? Therefore it is said, ācaran dāsavat. Dāsa. Dāsa means servant. Not only servant, but menial servant. Menial servant means just like the sweeper, the cobbler, like that. They are called menial servants. So in India there is system. The sweeper class is different, the cobbler class is different, and domestic servant is different, and the barber, he is also servant, different. The washerman, he is also servant. So nīca means just like the washerman or the barber or the cobbler. They are less than the domestic servant at home. They are śūdras, and they are considered less than the śūdras, pañcama. So a disciple is expected to live in gurukula or... Gurukula means at the shelter of guru; nicavat, menial servant. Menial servant.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

The so-called servant means that when one understands that he is not a master—he is servant—and the real master is Kṛṣṇa, that is liberation.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.108-109 -- New York, July 15, 1976: Bhakti means to understand that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa." This conviction is possible when one is brahma-bhūtaḥ. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati. Brahma-bhūta means "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa," as it is said, sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya, svābhāvika kṛṣṇera... Oh... When one understands this, that "I am... My position is eternal servant," that is brahma-bhūta [SB 4.30.20]. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā [Bg. 18.54]. Then undoubtedly he becomes immediately jubilant, that "Now I have got my real master to serve. I am serving so many, I mean, items, in the family, in the society, in the community, in the nation. But I could not be satisfied. Neither I am..., persons to whom I have given my service, they are also not satisfied." This is wrong service. Nobody is satisfied. The so-called master is not satisfied, and the so-called servant is not satisfied. The so-called servant means that "Unless you pay me, I am not going to serve you." Strike. "I am your master. You pay me. Then I shall serve you." So nobody is servant actually. Everyone wants to become master, either collectively or individually. That is māyā. This is material world. And when one understands that he is not a master—he is servant—and the real master is Kṛṣṇa, that is liberation.

A servant means a dog's qualification. In the Bhāgavata it is stated that the caste system, higher means the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, they'll never become servant of anyone. Therefore they are higher. The śūdras, they accept service of others. So that was the stricture.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 22.14-20 -- New York, January 10, 1967: So originally, as Lord Caitanya has explained in the very beginning, you may remember, that the constitutional position of the living entity is to serve. This point we have explained several times. So we cannot change that position. If you don't serve Kṛṣṇa, then you have to serve māyā. That position is there. So here in this material world we are rendering service to these—kāma, krodha, lobha. We are servant of lust, we are servant of anger, we are servant of avarice, we are servant of so many things. So kāmādīnāṁ katidhā na katidhā. And servant, when one becomes servant, he has to execute anything which the masters order. Suppose one is serving some big man, he says that "You do this. I want." Now, to satisfy him one has to act according to his desire, which he may not like. Suppose one says that "You go and tell this lie. It is required by me." Now, because I am in service... Even great personalities like Bhīṣma, such a great personality, he could not join with the Pāṇḍava's party because he became a servant of the Kurus. So servitude is such a thing. A servant means a dog's qualification. In the Bhāgavata it is stated that... Because the higher caste... The caste system, higher means the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, they'll never become servant of anyone. Therefore they are higher. The śūdras, they accept service of others. So that was the stricture. And in the śāstra the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas, the higher castes, and the vaiśyas, they would never serve.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Faithful servant means always alert. And that is bhakti.

Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976: So Vaiṣṇava means for the sake of Kṛṣṇa he can do anything. Not that he is lazy fellow, showing, "I have become very big Vaiṣṇava. Let me sleep under the name of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is not Vaiṣṇava. Vaiṣṇava must be very busy, always awaiting the order of the... Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam [Cc. Madhya 19.167]. "What is Kṛṣṇa's order? What does He want?" He is ready. Just like a servant is always ready to receive the order of the master. That is faithful servant. That is real servant. Not that at night duty he is sleeping somewhere. No. That is not faithful servant. Faithful servant means always alert. And that is bhakti. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam bhaktir uttama [Cc. Madhya 19.167]. Simply one has to execute, ānukūlyena, how Kṛṣṇa is satisfied. This is bhakti.

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Everyone's servant means no one's servant. They are no one's servant.

Room Conversation -- October 25, 1972, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: The future is not very nice. And government management means no one's servant.

Pañca-draviḍa: No what?

Prabhupāda: No one's servant. Everyone's servant means no one's servant. They are no one's servant.

Pañca-draviḍa: They will never give you anything.

Prabhupāda: Comparatively, life in foreign countries nice. Because I am seeing, from materialistic point of view. In America, you can get anything without any control. Any amount, anything.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

And government servant means no work. Especially in New Delhi. Sixty percent of the government servants, they sleep. They do not do anything.

Morning Walk -- November 30, 1975, Delhi:

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: New Delhi is a very social city. There are a lot of kalākendras so there's a lot of active...

Prabhupāda: No, because the government servant, they haven't got to earn money. It is father's property. They are getting money and balance time, kalākendra. And government servant means (Hindi)

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: No work.

Prabhupāda: No work. Especially in this country. Sixty percent of the government servants, they sleep. They do not do anything. I have seen it.

Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: They're reading papers or gossiping.

Prabhupāda: Gossiping, that's all. And keeping the files thrown away. If you want some reference, it will take three months.