Bhakti-latā-bīja; “The Seed of Devotional Service”
“When
a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care
of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he
waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana [hearing
and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.
“As one
waters the bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually
increases to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe
and goes beyond the Virajā River between the spiritual world and the
material world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and,
penetrating through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the
spiritual planet Goloka Vṛndāvana.”
“Being situated in
one's heart and being watered by śravaṇa-kīrtana, the bhakti creeper
grows more and more. In this way it attains the shelter of the desire
tree of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally situated in the planet
known as Goloka Vṛndāvana in the topmost region of the spiritual sky.”
“The
creeper greatly expands in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, and there it
produces the fruit of love for Kṛṣṇa. Although remaining in the material
world, the gardener regularly sprinkles the creeper with the water of
hearing and chanting.
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Madhya-līlā, Chapter 19, Text 152-156
TEXT 152
mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana
mālī
hañā—becoming a gardener; kare—does; sei—that; bīja—seed of devotional
service; āropaṇa—sowing; śravaṇa—of hearing; kīrtana—of chanting;
jale—with the water; karaye—does; secana—sprinkling.
“When a
person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of
it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters
the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana [hearing and
chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.
PURPORT
To
live with devotees or to live in a temple means to associate with the
śravaṇa-kīrtana process. Sometimes neophyte devotees think that they can
continue the śravaṇa-kīrtana process without worshiping the Deity, but
the execution of śravaṇa-kīrtana is meant for highly developed devotees
like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who engaged in the śravaṇa-kīrtana process
without worshiping the Deity. However, one should not falsely imitate
Haridāsa Ṭhākura and abandon Deity worship just to try to engage in
śravaṇa-kīrtana. This is not possible for neophyte devotees.
The
word guru-prasāda indicates that the spiritual master is very merciful
in bestowing the boon of devotional service upon the disciple. That is
the best possible gift the spiritual master has to offer. Those with a
background of pious life are eligible to receive life's supreme benefit,
and to bestow this benefit, the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends
His representative to impart His mercy. Endowed with the mercy of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master distributes the
mercy to those who are elevated and pious. Thus the spiritual master
trains his disciples to render devotional service unto the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. This is called guru-kṛpā. It is kṛṣṇa-prasāda,
Kṛṣṇa's mercy, that He sends a bona fide spiritual master to the
deserving disciple. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one meets the bona fide
spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, the disciple
is fully trained in the devotional service of the Lord.
Bhakti-latā-bīja
means "the seed of devotional service." Everything has an original
cause, or seed. For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first of
all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called bīja, or the
seed. The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly
trained in devotional service constitute the bhakti-latā-bīja, or seed
of devotional service. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received from the
spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Other seeds are called
anyābhilāṣa-bīja, karma-bīja and jñāna-bīja. If one is not fortunate
enough to receive the bhakti-latā-bīja from the spiritual master, he
instead cultivates the seeds of karma-bīja, jñāna-bīja, or political and
social or philanthropic bīja. However, bhakti-latā-bīja is different
from these other bījas. Bhakti-latā-bīja can be received only through
the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the
spiritual master to get bhakti-latā-bīja (yasya prasādād
bhagavat-prasādaḥ). Bhakti-latā-bīja is the origin of devotional
service. Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bīja, or
root cause, of karma, jñāna and yoga without the benefit of devotional
service. However, one who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the
bhakti-latā-bīja. This bhakti-latā-bīja is received when one is
initiated by the bona fide spiritual master. After receiving the
spiritual master's mercy, one must repeat his instructions, and this is
called śravaṇa-kīrtana-hearing and chanting. One who has not properly
heard from the spiritual master or who does not follow the regulative
principles is not fit for chanting (kīrtana). This is explained in
Bhagavad-gītā (2.41): vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana. One who
has not listened carefully to the instructions of the spiritual master
is unfit to chant or preach the cult of devotional service. One has to
water the bhakti-latā-bīja after receiving instructions from the
spiritual master.
TEXT 153
upajiyā bāḍe latā 'brahmāṇḍa' bhedi' yāya
'virajā' 'brahma-loka' bhedi' 'para-vyoma' pāya
upajiyā—being
cultivated; bāḍe—increases; latā—the creeper of devotional service;
brahmāṇḍa—the whole universe; bhedi'-penetrating; yāya—goes; virajā—the
river between the spiritual world and the material world;
brahma-loka—the Brahman effulgence; bhedi'-penetrating; para-vyoma—the
spiritual sky; pāya—attains.
“As one waters the
bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually increases
to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe and goes
beyond the Virajā River between the spiritual world and the material
world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and, penetrating
through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the spiritual
planet Goloka Vṛndāvana.”
PURPORT
A creeper generally
takes shelter of a big tree, but the bhakti-latā, being the creeper of
spiritual energy, cannot take shelter of any material planet, for there
is no tree on any material planet that the bhakti-latā creeper can
utilize for shelter. In other words, devotional service cannot be
utilized for any material purpose. Devotional service is meant only for
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes men with a poor fund of
knowledge maintain that bhakti can be applied to material things also.
In other words, they say that devotional service can be rendered to
one's country or to the demigods, but this is not a fact. Devotional
service is especially meant for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and
it is beyond this material range. There is a river, or causal ocean,
between the spiritual and material natures, and this river is free from
the influence of the three modes of material nature; therefore it is
called Virajā. The word vi means vigata (completely eradicated), and
rajaḥ means "the influence of the material world." On this platform, a
living entity is completely free from material entanglement. For the
jñānīs who want to merge into the Brahman effulgence, there is
brahma-loka. Bhakti-latā, however, has no shelter in the material world,
nor has it shelter in brahma-loka, although brahma-loka is beyond the
material world. The bhakti-latā increases until it reaches the spiritual
sky, where Goloka Vṛndāvana is situated.
TEXT 154
tabe yāya tad-upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana'
'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpa-vṛkṣe kare ārohaṇa
tabe—thereafter;
yāya—goes; tat-upari—to the top of that (the spiritual sky);
goloka-vṛndāvana—to the planet known as Goloka Vṛndāvana where Kṛṣṇa
lives; kṛṣṇa-caraṇa—of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa; kalpa-vṛkṣe—on the
desire tree; kare ārohaṇa—climbs.
“Being situated in one's
heart and being watered by śravaṇa-kīrtana, the bhakti creeper grows
more and more. In this way it attains the shelter of the desire tree of
the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally situated in the planet known
as Goloka Vṛndāvana in the topmost region of the spiritual sky.”
PURPORT
In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) it is said:
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
"I
worship Govinda, the primeval Lord. He resides in His own realm,
Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who
embodies the ecstatic potency [hlādinī]. Their companions are Her
confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued
and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa." In the spiritual
world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has expanded Himself
in His spiritual potency. He has His eternal form of bliss and knowledge
(sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha). Everything in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet is a
spiritual expansion of sac-cid-ānanda. Everyone there is of the same
potency-ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. The relationship between the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and His servitor is cinmaya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa and His
entourage and paraphernalia are of the same cinmaya potency. When the
cinmaya-rasa potency goes through the material potency, it becomes
all-pervading. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists on His
own planet Goloka Vṛndāvana, He is present everywhere.
Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham. He is present within all
universes, although they are innumerable. He is present within the atom.
Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati: He is also present
within the heart of all living entities. This is His all-pervasive
potency.
Goloka Vṛndāvana is the highest planet in the spiritual
world. In order to go to the spiritual world after penetrating the cover
of the material universe, one must penetrate brahma-loka, the spiritual
effulgence. Then one can come to the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. There are
also other planets in the spiritual world called Vaikuṇṭha planets, and
on these planets Lord Nārāyaṇa is worshiped with awe and veneration. On
these planets the śānta-rasa is prevalent, and some of the devotees are
also connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the
dāsya-rasa, the mellow of servitorship. As far as the mellow of
fraternity is concerned, the Vaikuṇṭha rasa is represented by
gaurava-sakhya, friendship in awe and veneration. The other fraternity
rasa is exhibited as viśrambha (friendship in equality), and this is
found in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet. Above that is service to the Lord
in vātsalya-rasa (paternal love), and above all is the relationship with
the Lord in the mādhurya-rasa (conjugal love). These five rasas are
fully exhibited in the spiritual world in one's relationship with the
Lord. Therefore in the spiritual world the bhakti-latā creeper finds its
resting place at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 155
tāhāṅ vistārita hañā phale prema-phala
ihāṅ mālī sece nitya śravaṇādi jala
tāhāṅ—there
in the spiritual world (in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet);
vistārita—expanded; hañā—becoming; phale—produces; prema-phala—the fruit
known as love of Godhead; ihāṅ—in the material world, where the devotee
is still present; mālī—exactly like a gardener; sece—sprinkles;
nitya—regularly, without fail; śravaṇa-ādi jala—the water of śravaṇa,
kīrtana and so on.
“The creeper greatly expands in the Goloka
Vṛndāvana planet, and there it produces the fruit of love for Kṛṣṇa.
Although remaining in the material world, the gardener regularly
sprinkles the creeper with the water of hearing and chanting.
PURPORT
In
Goloka Vṛndāvana the devotees have very intimate relationships with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. The devotee engages in the Lord's
service in great ecstatic love. Such love was exhibited personally by
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His teachings to the people of the material
world. The fruit of the devotional creeper is pure desire to serve and
please the senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare 'prema' nāma. (Cc. Ādi 4.165) In the
spiritual world one has no desire other than to please the senses of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. The conditioned soul within the
material world can neither understand nor appreciate how the devotee in
the material world can render confidential service to the Lord out of
feelings of ecstatic love and always engage in pleasing the Supreme
Lord's senses. Although seen within this material world, the pure
devotee always engages in the confidential service of the Lord. An
ordinary neophyte devotee cannot realize this; therefore it is said,
vaiṣṇavera kriyā-mudrā vijñāneha nā bujhaya. The activities of a pure
Vaiṣṇava cannot be understood even by a learned scholar in the material
world.
Every living entity is wandering within this universe in
different species and on different planetary systems according to his
fruitive activities. Out of many millions of living entities, one may be
fortunate enough to receive the seed of bhakti-latā, the creeper of
devotional service. By the grace of the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa, one
nourishes the bhakti-latā by regularly sprinkling it with the water of
śravaṇa-kīrtana, hearing and chanting. In this way the seed of
bhakti-latā sprouts and grows up and up through the whole universe until
it penetrates the covering of the material universe and reaches the
spiritual world. The bhakti-latā continues to grow until it reaches the
topmost planetary system, Goloka Vṛndāvana, where Kṛṣṇa lives. There the
creeper takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord, and that is its
final destination. At that time the creeper begins to grow the fruits of
ecstatic love of God. It is the duty of the devotee who nourishes the
creeper to be very careful. It is said that the watering of the creeper
must continue: ihāṅ mālī sece nitya śravaṇādi jala. It is not that at a
certain stage one can stop chanting and hearing and become a mature
devotee. If one stops, one certainly falls down from devotional service.
Although one may be very exalted in devotional service, he should not
give up the watering process of śravaṇa-kīrtana. If one gives up that
process, it is due to an offense. This is described in the following
verse.
TEXT 156
yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā
upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi' yāya pātā
yadi—if;
vaiṣṇava-aparādha—an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava; uṭhe—arises;
hātī—an elephant; mātā—mad; upāḍe—uproots; vā—or; chiṇḍe—breaks; tāra—of
the creeper; śukhi'-shriveling up; yāya—goes; pātā—the leaf.
“If
the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while
cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his
offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and
breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.
PURPORT
One's devotional attitude increases in the association of a Vaiṣṇava.
tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta-sane vāsa
janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa
By
his personal example, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura stresses that a devotee
must always remember to please his predecessor ācārya. The Gosvāmīs are
represented by one's spiritual master. One cannot be an ācārya
(spiritual master) without following strictly in the disciplic
succession of the ācāryas. One who is actually serious in advancing in
devotional service should desire only to satisfy the previous ācāryas.
Ei chaya gosāñi yāra, mui tāra dāsa. One should always think of oneself
as a servant of the servant of the ācāryas, and thinking this, one
should live in the society of Vaiṣṇavas. However, if one thinks that he
has become very mature and can live separate from the association of
Vaiṣṇavas and thus gives up all the regulative principles due to
offending a Vaiṣṇava, one's position becomes very dangerous. Offenses
against the holy name are explained in Ādi-līlā (Chapter Eight, verse
24). Giving up the regulative principles and living according to one's
whims are compared to a mad elephant, which by force uproots the
bhakti-latā and breaks it to pieces. In this way the bhakti-latā
shrivels up. Such an offense is especially created when one disobeys the
instructions of the spiritual master. This is called guru-avajñā. The
devotee must therefore be very careful not to commit offenses against
the spiritual master. As soon as one is deviated from the spiritual
master, the uprooting of the bhakti-latā begins, and gradually all the
leaves dry up.
Text pasted from;
Causless Mercy
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