Dashak 4 · Samāsa 7

Transition verse: the sixth bhakti (vandana) is complete; Rāmdās now turns to the seventh, dāsya — servitude.

As you move into a new form of practice, give it the same fresh attention you gave the last.

Dāsya is defined as service: whatever task presents itself should be done, and one should remain constantly present at the deity's door (devadvārīm) — availability and readiness are the heart of this bhakti.

Make yourself reliably available to the people or causes you serve, rather than only showing up when it's convenient.

The servant's first duty is to preserve and grow the deity's splendour (vaibhava) — letting nothing fall into deficiency, and instead continually increasing the worship offered.

Take active responsibility for maintaining and improving whatever you have been entrusted to care for, rather than merely preventing decline.

Concrete duties follow: broken temples restored, ruined tanks rebuilt, pavilions and rest-houses kept running, and new works undertaken. Dāsya here is manual and administrative — practical maintenance, not abstract feeling.

Fix what is broken in your shared spaces or institutions rather than waiting for someone else to notice and act.

Aged and decaying structures should be renewed, and whatever task arises should be carried forward promptly (satvara) — Rāmdās emphasizes speed and follow-through as part of true service.

When you notice something falling into disrepair, act quickly rather than letting the problem compound.

A list of grand ceremonial equipage — elephants, chariots, horses, thrones, palanquins, cradles, celestial-vehicles — that a devoted servant is expected to keep fresh and new for the deity's use.

Invest real effort in making the tools and setting of your service excellent, not merely adequate.

More items of daily maintenance — canopies, parasols, fans, flags — kept 'daily fresh' (nitya nūtana) with extreme respect, underscoring that devoted service is a constant renewal, not a one-time setup.

Treat routine upkeep of your responsibilities as itself an act of devotion, not a chore beneath your real work.

Vehicles, seating, and gold thrones are to be prepared with sustained effort (yetnem) — the servant's diligence is measured in ongoing labor, not occasional gestures.

Show your commitment through consistent effort over time rather than isolated bursts of enthusiasm.

Storage and provisioning — dwellings, chests, grain-silos, water-pots, and a complete stock of wealth — should likewise be maintained with great effort; the servant is also a steward of resources.

Keep your practical resources — savings, supplies, backups — properly organized and stocked, since good intentions alone are not enough.

Underground chambers, secret doors, and treasuries of priceless things round out the picture of what a diligent steward maintains — even the hidden, unseen parts of the household deserve careful attention.

Do not neglect the parts of your responsibilities that no one else sees; maintain them as carefully as the visible ones.

Ornaments, fine garments, jewels, and gold vessels are to be prepared with effort — continuing the theme that dāsya includes real material stewardship of what beauty and value surround the deity.

Take pride in maintaining the quality of what you are responsible for, even in small material details.

Gardens and groves of trees should be kept watered and thriving — dāsya extends even to the care of plant life around the sacred space.

Extend your sense of responsibility to the living things — plants, animals, shared environments — around whatever you tend.

Stables, aviaries, dance-halls, and a company of skilled musicians and singers are also part of what a devoted servant maintains — the full cultural and living richness of the household.

Support the arts and living culture around your community, not only its material or ritual needs.

Kitchens, dining-halls, storerooms, rest-houses, and sleeping-corridors — the practical infrastructure of hospitality — are likewise the servant's charge.

Make sure basic hospitality — food, rest, shelter — is well provided for anyone who depends on you.

Stores of fragrances, edible fruits, and juices should be maintained with effort — continuing the exhaustive picture of what full-scale devoted stewardship entails.

Attend even to the pleasant, sensory comforts of those you serve, not only their bare necessities.

Rāmdās closes this long inventory by saying that broken things everywhere should be renewed, and admits that words cannot fully capture the deity's splendour — the list has been illustrative, not exhaustive.

Do not wait for a complete checklist of duties before acting; use the examples given as a guide and extend the same care to whatever else needs attention.

The servant should be extremely attentive everywhere and always ready for service, so that no task is ever forgotten — the ideal here is comprehensive vigilance.

Cultivate the habit of noticing what needs doing around you, rather than waiting to be asked.

On festival days and jayantīs (birth-anniversaries), the servant should sustain such extraordinary splendour that even the devas of heaven, seeing it, stand transfixed — Rāmdās uses hyperbole to stress that celebration deserves the servant's fullest effort.

Give your best effort to the moments that matter most — celebrations and milestones — not just routine days.

Such magnificence should be maintained, and at the same time, lowly, humble service (nīca dāsyatva) should also be performed; one should stay alert at all times for whatever occasion demands.

Be equally willing to do the humble, unglamorous tasks as the impressive ones — true service does not pick and choose.

Whatever is needed should be given instantly, and all service performed with the utmost love (āvaḍīm) — promptness and warmth together define genuine dāsya.

When someone you serve or care for asks for something, respond right away and with genuine warmth, not delay or reluctance.

A detailed ritual of personal attendance follows — washing the feet, bathing, sipping water (ācamana), applying sandal-paste and rice, offering clothing, ornaments, seating, water, flowers, incense, lamp, and food — the intimate, bodily care given to the deity as if to an honored guest.

When hosting or caring for someone important to you, attend to their physical comfort in concrete, specific ways, not just in general goodwill.

Good sleeping-places should be prepared, cool water kept ready, and betel and sweet song offered with proper mood — hospitality extends into rest and pleasure, not only worship.

Make sure the people you care for have proper rest and small pleasures available, not just their basic needs met.

Fragrant substances, flowers, perfumed oils, and abundant fruit should be kept close at hand — readiness and anticipation of need are part of good service.

Prepare in advance so that what someone needs is already at hand when they need it, rather than scrambling afterward.

Basic domestic cleanliness is emphasized: sweeping and sprinkling done, water vessels filled, and the finest washed cloths brought — devoted service includes ordinary housekeeping, not only grand ceremony.

Keep the ordinary, unglamorous details of cleanliness and order in good shape; they are part of genuine care, not beneath it.

Rāmdās summarizes: care should be taken of everyone, and hospitality (ātithya) offered to whoever arrives — this, he says, is truly the seventh bhakti, dāsya.

Treat unexpected visitors or newcomers with the same generosity you would give someone you were expecting.

Beyond material service, speech itself becomes an act of dāsya: compassionate words and various kinds of genuine praise should be spoken, so as to cool and comfort everyone's heart.

Use kind, encouraging words deliberately, as a form of service in their own right, not just as a byproduct of good deeds.

Rāmdās closes the samāsa, noting he has expounded the seventh bhakti to the best of his ability (yethāmatī); as with the earlier bhaktis, if direct, physical service cannot actually be performed, mental worship (mānasa-pūjā) should be done instead.

When circumstances prevent you from actively helping someone, at least hold them with focused, caring attention in your mind.

The same rule of dāsya toward God applies equally toward the Sadguru; and again, if direct service is impossible, mānasa-pūjā should be continued — closing the samāsa with the same fallback principle given at the end of samāsa five.

Apply the same standard of devoted service to your teacher or mentor that you would apply to your highest ideals.