The following is a humble effort to transcribe the class by HG Devakinandan prabhuji on Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.2.3 wherein he shared the points spoken by our beloved Gurudev HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj.
sa katham sevayaa tasya / kaalena jarasam gatah
prshto vaartaam pratibruyaad / bhartuh paadaav anusmaran
"Uddhava thus served the Lord continually from childhood, and in his old age that attitude of service never slackened. As soon as he was asked about the message of the Lord, he at once remembered all about Him."
1.Exalted nature of pure devotee’s devotional service: The above verse is speaking about Sri Uddhava’s exalted devotional service. In this verse, actually we get a glimpse of how a pure devotee actually behaves and we find in this verse that Uddhava is not actually very young anymore but he has been a devotee of Krishna since he was very young. Srimad Bhagavatam explains to us that when Uddhava was only five years old, already at that time, he was constantly absorbed in remembering Krishna. Why? Because he was always playing with dolls related to Krishna and because he had that tradition in him, while playing he would remember the pastimes of the Lord. Now the children are playing with everything except dolls related to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.2.2, "In India the children in good families are still given dolls of the Lord like Rama and Krishna, or sometimes the demigods, so that they may develop the aptitude of service to the Lord. By the grace of the Lord we were given the same opportunity by our parents, and the beginning of our life was based on this principle." Srila Prabhupada’s first Rath yatra was actually a toy cart and this was enacted by the mercy of his parents. Srila Prabhupada mentions that it is by the grace of the Lord, the opportunity was given and this is the mood of a devotee. He does not feel that he has achieved this stage of exalted devotional service by his own credit, but always gives credit to the mercy of the Lord.
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