There is more to life than the pursuit of material possessions. Vedic scriptures emphasise that the real purpose of human life is to serve. The question is- who do I serve? As a human being, we have the freedom of choice. Yet, we choose with short sightedness. Modern lifestyle encourages us to put self before service, We often limit our service to meet our needs or the needs of those we feel a kinship with - by external identities of relationships, race, religion, community, demography, nationality.
Seva/ selfless service is spiritual practice that enables us to rise above our own needs and empowers us to practice benevolence towards all beings in nature- knowing that we are all interconnected - without selfish considerations of happiness and sadness or profit and loss or victory and defeat. Seva brings together karma yoga (connecting to your spiritual nature through your actions) and bhakti yoga (connecting to your spiritual nature through your devotion for divinity).
Sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṁ pāpam avāpsyasi
Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat – and by so doing you shall never incur sin (BG 2.38).
The impact of seva/ selfless service is immeasurable and equally meaningful for the one giving and one receiving karuna/compassion - The act of selfless service is inbuilt in all of us but is often dormant because we have either learnt to put, “self before others” or forgotten to let our natural instinct flow. To do seva, one does not have to be a philanthropist, do big acts of charity, be retired or belong to a faith group. One simply needs to practice the art of empathy; place the needs of others in less favourable circumstances above our needs; learn to be humble when performing acts of kindness; awaken the natural instinct of karuna/ compassion that lies dormant within us. With time, the realisation will dawn that the art of selfless giving is the greatest gift to oneself. A gift that stays with us in good and challenging times.
Whatever one does that helps reduce the suffering of other lifeforms and helps increase their wellbeing is Seva/ Selfless service. When we practice the art of selfless service, with time we cultivate the habits of humility and “simple living high thinking”. Life then gives us a purpose that goes above and beyond mundane existence.
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty (BG C2.V47).
This may sound altruistic and beyond ordinary living but selfless service is intrinsic to human nature. It is just that we have allowed modern lifestyle to value material success above spiritual success. And in the process forgotten our natural state of mind and inherent values - Truth (Satya), Right conduct (Charitra), Love (Prem), Peace (Shanti), Compassion (Karuna) and Non-violence (Ahimsa).