Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 55

We are on Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita  last text 55...

Krishna declares to Arjun after showing him His original form of Krishna, following Arjuna's request that His the cosmic universal form is too frightening, then on request He shows him His form of 4 armed Vishnu and then the original 2 armed form of Krishna. And Krishna says "My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contamination of fruitive activities and mental speculation, who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, who is friendly to all living beings, he certainly comes to Me.

These are the qualities Krishna declared that Arjuna should imbibe, "that he who engages in my pure devotional service, free from fruitive activities and mental speculations, who works for Me and makes Me the supreme goal of his life, who is friendly to every living being, certainly comes to Me."

So we should understand what is pure devotional service. Pure devotional service is described in many places in the Bhakti literature, but I'll refer to a few excerpts.

In the Bhagavad Purana there is a beautiful verse that says, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.6

                                                                                sa vai puḿsāḿ paro- dharmo

yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

ahaituky - apratihatā

yayātmā suprasī- dati"\

" What is that topmost religion that is the means of union with God which fully satisfies the soul.

It has to have two primary qualities to satisfy the soul are -

1) Devotion should be unmotivated  & 2) Devotion should be uninterrupted

Most of us in this world have desires, aspirations even if it for 'Moksha'. So it doesn't matter if you already there or on the way there. If you are on the way there, don't be discouraged by this description of pure devotional service, because there is a verse which says, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.10

akamah sarv- a-kamo va

moksha-kama udara-d- hih

tivrena bhakti-yogena 

yaj- eta purusham param 

Whether you are free from desires, whether you are full of desires, whether you have desire for Moksha, in all circumstance worship the Supreme Lord, for He shall purify you and bring you to the platform of spiritual devotional service.

So supreme devotion service is 'ahaituki' and 'aprakihata' - without any motivation and without any interruption.  Ahaituki - without any motivation means that at some time in the progress of one's evolutionary spiritual life, one must come to that platform where one accepts that whatever Krishna does is perfect. And therefore, you don't ask Krishna to give you this or give you that.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us how to pray in the Siksastakam, 

"na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye
mama janmani janmanishvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi"

He says very clearly, " I am not praying to you for wealth, nor beautiful women or attractive members of the opposite sex, nor for disciples or followers, I am only praying to you not even for the desire for Moksha. You can bring me back to this world birth after birth again and again to serve you.

This world maybe 'dukhalayam ashvashatam', it maybe 'anityam asukham lokam', it may be a place where you cannot find lasting happiness, it is a place full of sorrow where you cannot find permanent joy or happiness.

That "janma mrityu, jara, vyadhi, dukha, dosha anudarshanam'' - birth death, old age, disease, fault, misfortune, unhappiness are all guaranteed to us once we are born. 

But lest if we might think that one who serves God is always blissful, what matters if you are born again in this world, because if you can see God wherever you are, what difference does it make. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu goes on in the Siksastakam and he concludes by saying, " Even if I do not see you, O Lord, doesn't matter 

 ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam

adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va

yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato

mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

O Lord, you can make me broken hearted by not appearing before me, you can treat me roughly in your embrace, but you shall always be my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.

Many times people say, " I have been doing this for so long but no peace of mind, no vision of God, no trances, no Moksha, what am I doing?"

But Bhakti transcends desires for all these, it  transcends desire for Moksha, to see God, for peace of mind, for everything. "O Lord!, Thy will shall be done, not my will. So whatever you feel appropriate You may do. If You want to bring me back that is Your choice, if you want to take me now that is also Your choice,. If You want me to be here, I will happy to serve you within the world. 

Pure devotional service which one aspires for has no desire. The next thing about pure devotional service besides being unmotivated or without any desire, is that it should be uninterrupted.

All religions teach us that we should pray fix number of times a day. You maybe doing the 'Gayatri' at sunrise, midday and sunset, but in other religions we may be praying 5 times a day, so many timings in which one must perform the prayers. 

But Krishna teaches His devotees that devotion should not be just be for a few times a day, but that absorption in God must be continuous, it should be a lifetime of continuous meditation that is unfoldment of Bhakti. Therefore, Krishna doesn't say that we should perform elaborate rituals, great yagyas. 

maitrah karuna eva ca 
nirmamo nirahankarah 
sama-duhkha-sukh- ah ksami"