Then Bhagvadanand Swami asked, "How can others know if a devotee has continuous mahima for Bhagwan and Bhagwan's devotees in their mind?" Then Maharaj replied, "By serving Bhagwan and His devotees without any hidden motives," Nowadays, just speaking about it is considered mahima. And that too, one has to speak in the assembly. That, 'Swami has performed so many Chandrayan vows, and is so great, and is like this.' Nowadays, mahima is like that. Maharaj has said this. Then Maharaj replied, "By serving Bhagwan and His devotees without any hidden motives and without deceit. And, whatever one is deeply attached to," Seva is the indicator of mahima. And what kind of seva? Nirvyaj (without hidden motives). Without expectations. Even if there are expectations, they run to do seva in a hurry. Until it is finished. Until it is finished, they run around a lot. But if one serves without expectations, nirvyaj seva, serves without deceit, then that is its indicator. Of mahima. Just speaking about it and announcing it in the assembly is not its indicator. Bhagwan and His devotees' nirvyaj One who has mahima will have no doubt in their mind, and will think, 'May I get a chance.' What is mainly required in seva? Opportunity. It was mentioned in that, right? Opportunity. Desire, desire is needed. That example of Ratan Tata was given, right? Service mentality. Mentality means desire is needed, right? That, 'I want to do it with honesty.' No one went to force him, 'Brother, come by train from there and go to him.' That, 'On this pretext, I can do seva. I have got this very opportunity.' It is his duty. But more than that, 'I have got this opportunity.' So, he should have such a desire from within his mind. Seva cannot be done without desire. 'Sevadharmah paramagahano yoginamapyagamyah' (The path of service is extremely difficult, even incomprehensible for yogis). Does that mean yogis do not know how to serve, is it like that? 'Sevadharmah paramagahano yoginamapyagamyah.' The path of service is such that it is not easily grasped even by yogis; it is profound. So, what does that mean? Do yogis not understand? Or has a sense of lethargy set in, what is it? The desire does not arise. The wish does not awaken from within that, 'I should serve someone.' He feels, 'I should receive service from someone.' Because siddhis (spiritual powers) might have been attained, right? And they have become habituated to just sitting. Only then are they called yogis, right? Can one be a yogi yogi 1) A person who has mastered the art of yog. 2) A person who has attained siddh-dashã and other extraordinary powers. Tap to open in glossary → yogi yogi 1) A person who has mastered the art of yog. 2) A person who has attained siddh-dashã and other extraordinary powers. Tap to open in glossary → yogi yogi 1) A person who has mastered the art of yog. 2) A person who has attained siddh-dashã and other extraordinary powers. Tap to open in glossary → So, the wish does not awaken, the desire does not arise. It is not that he does not understand. It is also not that he is unable to do it. But there is only one thing, there is a lack of desire. Therefore, even if all resources are available, he cannot do it. Many householders have great capacity to serve, but if there is no desire, they cannot do it. Many sadhus may have many virtues, and having many virtues means the capacity to serve is great, that is what it means. The capacity to serve is great, but they do not do it, zero, they do zero. What is the reason for that? No desire. No desire. If there is desire, then it happens in abundance. If he has the desire, then it happens in abundance. So, he has such a desire in his mind that, 'I have got a chance.' If there is any opportunity, considering it a chance, he does it in abundance. Then seva happens, otherwise seva does not happen. Just because there are resources, seva does not happen; or because there are facilities, seva does not happen; or because there are virtues, seva does not happen; or because there is some capability, seva does not happen—all that is just a blank frame. If there is desire, then seva happens. Seva and the desire for seva, that itself is the indicator of his mahima. That, 'He knows His mahima, therefore he engages in seva.' He does not know the mahima, therefore he does not engage in seva. So, there are only two seeds of seva within. Either he has love, or he has mahima. If he is a householder, he has love, so he engages in seva. It is not necessarily that he has mahima. Either there is love, or either devotion is done out of love, or devotion is done out of mahima. So, what is the indicator of whether he has mahima or not? What shows it? What is the pointer? It is that he, through mind, action, and speech, searches for opportunities of seva. Not that he does it only when it comes upon him. Not that he just gets it over with. He searches for opportunities of seva, 'Where can I find it in this?' Then we can believe that he has mahima. Mahima lies in his heart. "By serving Bhagwan and His devotees without any hidden motives and without deceit. And, whatever one is deeply attached to, offering that dear object." These two attributes are the signs that manifest the mahima lying deep within the heart. Offering (samarpan) and service (seva) are both distinct. What one holds, one lets the other hold. AI translation of the Gujarati transcript above, produced in the same pass that transcribed the audio, one English segment per Gujarati segment. Devotional and technical terms with no precise English equivalent (kirtan, satsang, vasana, samskara, and similar) are kept as their plain transliteration rather than force-translated. Not human-proofread., AI-translated, unverified · Source details