All the religious and spiritual activities we do every day should be done with one and only one intention of pleasing Maharaj.
Gopalanand Swami in his Swami Ni Vato mentioned that most people do religious or spiritual activities with a moto to achieve name or fame, to be counted among top most devotees, to achieve worldly benefits, to display their capabilities like riches, piousness, strength, etc., Such activities will never reach Maharaj.
In Ramayan, Baali believes that if the world doesn’t know about your action then that action is useless.
Baali was more powerful than Ravan. When Ravan and Baali fought a war, Baali won against Ravan, and he imprisoned Ravan for six months. He did not kill Ravan with the expectation that only when Ravan is alive, the world will know that Baali is the only one capable of defeating and imprisoning Ravan.
If Baali would have killed Ravan, all the sages in the forest, and Lord Ram would have been very pleased with Baali. But Baali never wished to please Lord or His Saints, though he is capable of winning Ravan.
That is the reason, before doing any spiritual activity like Puja, Maha-puja, Jap, Vrat, Seva, we should decide that Maharaj and His Saints be pleased with that activity.
We should submit the benefits of the activity to Maharaj, like Brahmins submitted the benefits of their Yagna to Dasarath Maharaj to get children. Before doing Yagna, all the Brahmins decided that the benefit of the Yagna should go to Dasarath Maharaj. Brahmins are the ones who performed Yagna. But they submitted the benefits to Dasarath Maharaj. Similarly, we should do the activities. But the benefits should go to Maharaj.
All the auspicious activities like donations, Seva, puja, Ekadasi, Vrat, should have the intention of only pleasing Maharaj and without any personal intentions.
Nishkam Seva, doesn’t mean that you should not desire anything. We should desire that Maharaj is pleased by the activities. If you don’t desire even that, then the activity and its results will be under mode of ignorance
Nishkam Karmyog doesn’t mean that you should work and take no salary. It actually means that, take salary and use it as per Maharaj instructions and for Maharaj and His saints. We should not use it as per our selfish drives.
When Dhruvji was five years, he was not allowed to sit on his father’s lap by his step-mother. She said that he should have been born in her pious womb to get the rights to sit on his father’s lap. So, he walked away to forest to perform penance and achieve a larger kingdom than his father.
After six months of rigorous penance Lord appeared and asked Dhruvji “Son, what do you wish for?”
By looking at the divine form of God, Dhruvji replied, “Maharaj, I do not wish anything now.”
Lord replied, “But you did penance to get larger kingdom? Isn’t it.”
“Yes. That was when I started. Now I do not desire anything other than you.”
Lord replied, “Now even if you don’t ask, I wish to give you. I bless you that you get a kingdom, and after you leave the body, you would be the king of Dhruv Mandal, and then you would come back to my abode.”
Lord is so kind, he takes care of you, if your moto is to please the Lord. If your moto is to get worldly benefits, you will achieve them, but you will not achieve Maharaj.
Maharaj is so kind that he asked for two boons from Ramanand Swami: If your devotee suffers a pain, I would suffer that millions of times, but he should not suffer, and if your devotee had to take a begging bowl, I would take it for him, but he should not suffer from any basic needs in any case.
So, our moto in doing religious / spiritual activities should only be to please Maharaj, and nothing else whatsoever. That is one and only way to please Maharaj.
References:
09th June 2017: Chattanooga, TN
Vachanamrut Gadhada Antya 30, 25