Service to Man is Service to God - Swami Lokeswarananda

Since God is everywhere, He must be in man also. The Bible says, ‘God created man in His own image.’ That is to say, if God has a form, it must be a human form. Whatever form He may have, God is certainly most manifest in man. Man is, in fact, closest to God, since he is by far the best among all living beings. He is intelligent, he can discriminate, he has creative powers, and he can also think for himself. He may or may not be close to God, he is certainly God’s favorite, else why would God bestow so many gifts on him? Again, man alone can morally and spiritually so develop as to be only second to God. Man is the only testimony to what God is like. He is truly an image of God. This is why serving man is like serving God.

All religions preach the virtue of charity. No Hindu worship is complete without charity. And whatever you give as charity must be of the highest quality. How can you give to God something you would not like for yourself? Whatever you give must be good and you must also give it with great love. The Taittiriya Upanisad (I.II.3) says, ‘When you give something to somebody, give it with due respect; if you cannot give it with respect, you had better not give anything at all.’ We should remember even a needy person has his self-respect. Just as what you give is important, the way you give it is also important. If you give somebody something with contempt, or even with reluctance, you hurt the self-respect of the man, which is worse than not helping him at all. He is unhappy that he has to accept your help. He may say, ‘Thank you,’ but does he mean it? Doubtful. Charity, so given, does not help either party—the giver or the person who receives the help. We should deem it a privilege if we are able to serve anybody. We should be grateful to him for accepting our service; we should not expect him to be grateful to us. If we serve with respect and humility, that will make all the difference. If we serve merely because we are moved by the poverty and suffering of an individual, there is the risk that our manner of help will carry a sense of superiority and arrogance. If this happens, service will no longer be service, at least, it will not be service to God. It will defeat the very purpose of service.

© "Vedanta in Practice" by Swami Lokeswarananda, published by The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Kolkata 700 029. Reprinted with permission.

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