T Ram Sewak

RAM SEWAK

Kakabhushundiji concludes his discourse to Garuda on Gyan and Bhakti in Shri Ramcharitmanas 7.120, with an emphatic assertion:

Morey mann prabhu us biswasa, Ram te adhik Ram kar dasa

"In my heart, I have this firm conviction: The servant of Ram (Ram Sewak) is even greater than Ram Himself."

This chaupai (verse) captures the essence of Bhakti and the heights to which it can elevate a Bhakt. This does not diminish Shri Ram's glory but rather exalts His Bhakti, declaring that the Aaradhya (God) becomes bound by His Bhakt's Shraddha (love/faith) and Samarpan (surrender), making Him treasure His Sewak that completely devout Bhakt, even above Himself. Hanumanji is the finest personification of this chaupai. He is that Ram Sewak whose Bhakti for Shri Ram has positioned him such that he is worshipped even more than his Lord and Master.

No other spiritual tradition elevates the seeker to the pinnacle as Bhakti. In Shri Ramcharitmanas 3.35, Shri Ram tells Sabari that the only kinship He recognises is Bhakti. He constantly honours and elevates His Bhakts, repeatedly asserting that He loves His Bhakts more than His Divinity. Shri Krishna also echoes this in Gita 9.29, saying that He dwells in His Bhakts, and they dwell in Him. The devotee becomes the Divine.

Shri Ram says in Shri Ramcharitmanas 3.16 that Bhakti melts Him, and He is pulled to His Bhakt. When your longing for Him becomes intense and pure, He has no choice but to come to you. He cannot stay away from a heart filled with love for Him.

What characterises a Ram Sewak? He is a Bhakt who sees himself as his Aaradhya's humble servant, always serving Him with deep love. No desires, no demands; simply constant Simran (remembrance) and Sewa. Just a Nimitta Matra (mere instrument) of His will. Always feeling His omnipresence. This disposition towards the Lord extinguishes his ego, leaving only love for Him. Then the merger occurs, and the Sewak becomes Ram! / DAILY WORLD /

The author is a former electrical Engineer and resides in the Himalayas. He can be occasionally reached at ramam.namami@gmail.com