Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 20.142
Loving Service Is the Real Goal
“The goal of love of Godhead is not to become materially rich or free from material bondage. The real goal is to be situated in devotional service to the Lord and to enjoy transcendental bliss.
What the purport teaches
- The goal of devotional service is not material benefits or liberation from material bondage. It is to be eternally situated in the Lord’s loving service and enjoy spiritual bliss from that service.
- Forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a poverty-stricken condition. Ending this poverty automatically ends the miserable conditions of material existence.
- When one tastes the service of Kṛṣṇa, one is automatically liberated from material enjoyment. Opulence comes to the pure devotee without separate endeavor, even though he does not desire material happiness.
Try this today
Before one act of devotional service today, pause and set your intention to serve Kṛṣṇa rather than gain material benefits.
Ask yourself
Am I seeking loving service itself, or mainly the benefits I hope it will bring?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.