Recently, a point from Shrila Prabhupada’s lecture struck me wherein he was mentioning that as living entities, our nature is to serve Krishna, but that service is being distributed in many ways. And no one can remain without serving anyone.

As HH S.B. Keshava Maharaja says, “Old words open new worlds”, the old words that we hear from our gurus open new dimensions of understanding and application points for us. Therefore, it is needed that we keep on hearing again and again.

If our only business is to serve Krishna, and if that service is being distributed by rendering service to so-called things and so-called people, how much capacity every living entity has to offer service to Krishna! Actually, it is tremendous. But, we never realize out potential to serve Krishna because we are involved in so many things for our personal sense gratification. Therefore, we have unlimited time and we give unlimited time to satisfy each of our senses – our tongue, our ears, our speech, all of our sensory functions.

CC Madhya 22.16 states,
kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās
teṣāṁ jātā mayi na karuṇā na trapā nopaśāntiḥ
”’O my Lord, there is no limit to the unwanted orders of lusty desires. Although I have rendered these desires so much service, they have not shown any mercy to me. I have not been ashamed to serve them, nor have I even desired to give them up.”

Shrila Prabhupada focus was clear – the order of his spiritual master. Because of this, his service was not distributed anywhere, but only to the lotus feet of Krishna. He read the purport of Srila Vishwanath Cakravarti Thakura on the verse BG 2.41 vyavasayatmika buddhih and his focus became all the more resolute.

Why our acaryas could contribute so much? Because their service was not ‘distributed’ anywhere else. Even to the extent that they were ready to forego the basic necessities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending. To the degree we keep our eating and sleeping program simple, we can take out lots of time to serve Krishna. If one has fully dedicated one’s life, then there is no question of mating. And defending is also almost nil.

Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Raghunath Dasa Goswami, Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami and all others contributed so much! Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami was ninety-five years old when he wrote Caitanya Caritamrita. Because he desired to serve, because he was blessed by the Vaishnavas, because he intently focused his mind on the Lord, he was able to give the divine narrations of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya to all of us!

If our minds are ‘distributed’ in many directions in our attention, in our desires, in our aspirations, then we cannot contribute effectively to the mission of Shrila Prabhupada.

The quantity of contribution doesn’t matter, but the quality and the effort of contribution matters. And yes, if we are able to make contribution in a significant amount to the mission, that is even more wonderful!

Another question may be – how can we realize our actual potential?

For that, we will need to make our sense gratification nil. Except for the basics, if we are focused on serving Krishna and His devotees, we can understand how much we can contribute. If we are not working to our capacity, we are simply wasting our valuable energy and blood which could be used for the mission of Shrila Prabhupada.

CC Madhya 2.28 states,
śrī-kṛṣṇa-rūpādi-niṣevaṇaṁ vinā
vyarthāni me ’hāny akhilendriyāṇy alam
pāṣāṇa-śuṣkendhana-bhārakāṇy aho
bibharmi vā tāni kathaṁ hata-trapaḥ
”’My dear friends, unless I serve the transcendental form, qualities and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, all My days and all My senses will become entirely useless. Now I am uselessly bearing the burden of My senses, which are like stone blocks and dried wood. I do not know how long I will be able to continue without shame.’

In the realm of Krishna Consciousness, if our consciousness is distributed to the tributaries of Krishna’s name, fame and pastimes, then that is also perfect.

If we can see, observe in our daily life the extent to which our senses are getting ‘distributed’ away from Krishna, we can make a positive effort in our life to make it a worthy contribution at Shrila Prabhupada’s lotus feet.