CC Madhya 19.155

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta - Madhya-līlā - Chapter 19: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

Madhya-līlā 19.154 - Madhya-līlā 19.156

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His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 155

tāhāṅ vistārita hañā phale prema-phala

ihāṅ mālī sece nitya śravaṇādi jala

SYNONYMS

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.

TRANSLATION

“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 the pure desire to serve and please the senses of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare ‘prema’ nāma. (CC Adi 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 a pure 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 vijñeha nā bujhaya (CC Madhya 23.39). 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 the 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 the 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 much 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.

Madhya-līlā 19.154 - Madhya-līlā 19.156