Seva in Sanskrit is the act of selfless-service.
It comes from the root saha, which means ‘with that’ and eva, which means ‘too’ or ‘together with’.
Seva = With that too.
Selfless service is an important conviction in Sikhism (Hindu religion), as well as in most other Indian religions, as well as in yoga.
Seva is a service that is performed without any expectation of a certain result or award for the one performing it. I guess you could say it is a form of aparigraha, one of the five (5) Yamas.
Seva is intended to be self-less even though the act of seva itself leads to benefit, not only for the one performing the seva, but for the one receiving; therefore it has ‘collective’ outcome for all involved. Seva is intended to be performed without regard for the outcome of either individual.
Seva is an act of understanding, sensitivity and compassion for someone else and what they are going through in Life.
The Bhagavad Gita (sacred text) encourages seva as a way to develop spiritually as the human soul is one with Brahmana (God). However, the soul is embodied and unaware that it is one with God. So, the body must go through Samsara, which is the cycle of birth and rebirth until it realizes its oneness with Brahman (God); therefore, it is closely linked to Karma yoga. Unlike other forms of yoga, which may focus on performing asanas to transform the mind and physical body, performing seva is said to transform the personality.
BG 2.39 “The science of transcendental knowledge has been imparted to you, O Arjuna. No effort ever goes to waste in selfless service, and there is no adverse effect. There is always an opportunity to serve, and there is always time.
BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.
Seva may be performed in a variety of ways. Seva is often associated with ashrams, which are places for practicing yoga, meditation and other spiritual practices to evolve and grow spiritually.
Engaging in, doing, or performing seva may prove to be quite a challenge as it can raise awarenesses that were not previously on one’s mind. Seva tends to raise one’s vibration when awarenesses are raised, which in turn serves as an instrument for self-growth, which brings us back to the beginning of this article and how seva benefits the receiver and the giver, as ‘the collective’.