When one turns a self-oriented karma into a selfless karma, it becomes seva. If the harmonium had a mind of its own, it may think, “Oh, I play really well.” But the harmonium cannot play itself. If an adept player plays it, the melody will be harmonious. If a first-timer tries to play, the melody will be disharmonious. Therefore, it is the player who is important. When the aspirant understands that he is only a medium to fulfil a destiny, but something else is playing him, the first level of surrender comes. He says to himself, “I am not the doer. I am not the performer; I am only a box like a harmonium. Somebody is playing me, sometimes in accord, sometimes not, and with each melody, one part of my destiny is being fulfilled.” The final commandment of yoga is ishwara pranidhana. It is the first stage in transforming self-oriented karma into selfless karma and leads to purification of the emotions.
Swami Sivananda, in his practical eightfold path of yoga, has placed service on the first rung. Service or connecting with those in need helps to purify oneself. He says, “Do not fight attachments as they are a part of every individual.” He gives the example of drops of black ink put in a cup of water. Does the water turn black or does the ink turn watery? If one wants to clear the water of the dark ink of selfish attachments, more water or selfless attachment has to be added. When the selfishness of attachment is diluted and the attachment is directed not to one but to ten, not to ten but to a hundred, not to a hundred but to a thousand, the selfishness of one’s attachment is divided by a thousand. The selfishness of attachments is reduced by including more people in the fold of one’s life.
When more people are included, one experiences the eternal human connection that transcends intellect and feelings. It shows that one is a part of that unified field known as G-O-D, the source of Generation, Organization and Destruction. It is consciousness which creates, sustains and destroys. It is also the concept of ishwara pranidhana, leading to purification of the heart, due to expansion of one’s perception and awareness.