Selfless Service is Real Altruism

Altruism is the supreme human virtue. One could pursue it only after setting aside his vested interests and egoism. The essence and worth of service lies in selfless and compassionate deeds. Revered Gurudev served the society throughout his life. He also appealed to his disciples to be compassionate, while carrying forward the movement which would alleviate the sufferings of the masses. Today, there is a dire necessity of those who can serve selflessly. Although, we may find a huge crowd of such people who call themselves the 'servants of the society,' but on examining them closely, we find that their altruism is dominated by selfishness and egoism. They are trying to serve people as their masters. However, when one serves selflessly, his ego gets replaced by selfless altruism and intense compassion. Selflessness is the sole touch-stone for those who want to serve the world.

Altruism refers to the act of extending our selfless cooperation. Anything done selflessly is precious and rare and yields the expected result. If a person keeps working compassionately, then he would not only be able to refine his intellect, but would also be able to get rid of the malicious actions done in the past and would even accumulate spiritual merits.

The great sage Ved Vyas has emphasized on the following principle, as the essence of all the eighteen Puranas he composed — 'Paropkaray punyaya papaya parpeednam', meaning — Helping others is a virtue while harming others is a sin. In Ramayana, Tulsidas has emphasized the importance of benevolence by writing — 'Parhit saras dharma nahin bhai, par peera sam nahin adhmai', meaning there is no greater good than altruism and there is no sin worse than harming others.

'Isha Upanishad' illustrates that man gets liberated from all the snares of the world if he perceives the Almighty in all creatures and dedicates all his actions to him. When this sentiment of 'Aatmavat sarvabhuteshu' awakens in a person, then he can't be apathetic to anybody's pain and sufferings. In fact, he would perceive him as a part of the Omnipresent and his compassion would compel him to serve the needy.

Hanuman Prasad Pottdar (Bhaiji), the editor of the monthly magazine 'Kalyan', used to secretly move out of his abode, Geeta Vatika of Gorakhpur, in extremely cold winter nights to distribute blankets and shawls to the poor shivering with cold. Once, a journalist took his snap, while he was giving a blanket to a poor person. Bhaiji requested the journalist: "Neither publish this photograph in the newspaper, nor tell anyone about this, otherwise my deed would turn into a sin, rather than an act of benevolence. The service done for the sake of publicity leads to the path of evil, rather than merit." The journalist was startled on hearing these words. This is the reason why such service takes us closer to God. If our generosity has the tinge of arrogance or the desire for glory, then it is not the real service.

Jesus Christ gave a lot of significance to compassion and kept expounding about its importance to his disciples. He said: "When you pray, don't be a hypocrite." He further added: "The acts of benevolence should be done so secretly that even your left hand should not come to know that you gave donation or extended help to someone with your right hand."

Service is precious when it does not have the desire of attaining something. Service appears in its true perspective and yields results only through true dedication, which is produced by the dissolution of egoism. Selfless service is possible only by a devoted person. Selfless service has immense glory, which fills the inner being with radiance and brightness. Thus, all saints, seers and eminent personalities have unanimously praised it and have themselves followed this noble path throughout their lives.