R-s 5c 🌱 The SEED of the Vine of Devotion

After a long time, I’m finally getting around to making articles for all these parts of Rūpa-śikṣā. In this article, we’ll look at a few definitions of śraddhā, faith.

You may have already seen on the Vine of Devotion YouTube channel that soon after I made the last posting here, my iPhone was stolen. It was from that iPhone that I recorded all the previous Vine of Devotion videos. So I’ll be taking a break from recording videos for this Rūpa-śikṣā program for a while. I’ll probably start it up again next near before Rūpa Gosvāmī’s disappearance day. Hopefully by that time I’ll have a camera.

So let’s return to the verse we've been focusing on (Cc Madhya 19.151):

In part one for this verse, we focused on the words bhāgyavān and guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāda, in part two we focused on the word pāya, and now here in part three we will focus on the bhakti-latā-bīja – what this seed of the vine of devotion is.

As I was trying to research this verse, at first I got confused because I was so used to hearing this seed being described as kṛṣṇa-sevā-vāsanā – a deep impression in the heart to always serve Kṛṣṇa. But then I saw many ācāryas like Śrīla Bhakti Pramoda Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja and Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja explaining it as śraddhā.

My confusion was cleared when I heard a class by my Gurudeva where he explained that it is both:

The inner portion of the seed is kṛṣṇa-sevā-vāsanā.

The outer portion of the seed is śraddhā

Śaraṇāgati, surrender, is synonymous with śraddhā. It is the outer, visible symptom of śraddhā.

Śraddhā is the only qualification needed

Mahāprabhu explains in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.64): “śraddhāvān jana haya bhakti-adhikārī – one who has faith is an eligible candidate for bhakti.”

There is no other qualification necessary. It doesn’t matter if you’re stupid, have bad habits, are extremely shy or anything else. Everyone has equal opportunity for bhakti.

There is a beautiful kirtan by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (listen to it here) in which he explains how Nityananda Prabhu looks out for this śraddhā in each devotee. If He sees it in you, He’ll give you the pure holy name.

baḓô sukher khabor gāi
I am singing news of great happiness!
surabhi-kuñjete nāmer hāṭa khuleche khoda-nitāi (1)
At Surabhi-kuñja, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu has opened a marketplace of the holy name.

baḍô môjār kathā tāy
It is a matter of great bliss
śraddhā-mūlye śuddha-nām sei hāṭete bikāy (2)
He is selling the pure holy name at that marketplace for merely the price of one’s faith.

jatô bhakta-vṛnda bôsi’
Everyone in the assembly of devotees is waiting
adhikārī dekhe’ nāma becche darô kaṣi (3)
He examines the qualification [the śraddhā] of each devotee sitting there and bargains the proper price.

jadi nāma kinbe bhāi
My dear brothers, if you want to purchase the pure holy name…
āmār saṅge calô mahājaner kāche jāi (4)
then come with me to meet this magnanimous personality.

baḍô dayāl nityānanda
Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is extraordinarily merciful.
śraddhā-mātra la’ye dena parama ānanda (6)
Merely for the price of one’s faith, He bestows the topmost divine bliss.

ek-bār dekhle cakṣe jal
gaura bô’le nitāi dena sakala sambal (7)
If Nitāi only once sees tears welling in the eyes of someone chanting the name of Gaura, He gives His full support to that person.

So let’s find out how to get some bargaining power for this śuddha-nāma, which Nityānanda Prabhu has full monopoly over and gives at such a low price. Although He gives it so easily, it’s not entirely free. He’s going to first examine us to see our śraddhā. So it is absolutely mandatory to know what śraddhā is and how we can develop it. My Gurudeva explains that śraddhā is an atomic particle of prema. It’s the first part of my eternal, true nature that can begin to develop within me right now.

Without śraddhā, whatever we do is a waste of energy

Bhagavad-gītā (17.28) states that whatever we do without śraddhā is asat: it’s not real, you don’t get any benefit from it. If I wash the pots in the temple but I’m not doing it with any śraddhā – I don’t see how lucky I am to be able to act according to my true nature in service to Kṛṣṇa – and I’m forcefully making myself do it because, well, I gotta do something to feel welcome here and people not think I’m a freeloader – if merely this is what's impelling me to do any service, then I’m missing out on the amazing benefit I could be receiving. Instead, I get nothing. I’m basically wasting energy. Maybe I’ll get a little sukṛti? But that's it.

What is śraddhā? Four descriptions.

Note: the numbering below has no particular significance.

1. Śraddhā is absolute happiness of the heart

SOURCE: Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtras.
This definition was actually written in for śraddhā in the practice of yoga, which is in the mode of goodness, sattva-guṇa, but it also applies to bhakti, which is nirguṇa beyond the modes, transcendental.

śraddhā cetasaḥ samprasādaḥ –
śraddhā is the complete satisfaction/happiness (samprasādaḥ) of the heart (ceta).

So this is the seedling-like stage of śraddhā when you start to feel favorably disposed to something, you start to believe in it and your doubts flee away. You feel a deep samprasādaḥ, a deep satisfaction and happiness. Like when you’re sitting in harikathā and you feel “Yes, yes! Oh, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now! It’s true, I really am Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant and He is my eternal master.”

sā hi jananīva kalyāṇī yoginaṁ pāti –
Like a mother (janani iva), śraddhā, makes the life of the yogī auspicious (kalyāṇī) and always protects him (pāti). This loving mother protects the yogī from doubt, she protects his faith.

So this is for sattva-guṇa śraddhā, faith in the mode of goodness. Imagine how much more loving and caring is the mother of nirguṇa-śraddhā, faith that is beyond the modes, bhakti-śraddhā. But this nirguṇa-śraddhā can only come from someone who is also nirguṇa, beyond the modes of material nature. Sādhu-saṅga is everything: kṛṣṇa-bhakti-janma-mūla haya sādhu-saṅga – the root cause of the awakening of kṛṣṇa-bhakti is sādhu-saṅga. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 22.83)

2. Śraddhā is the tendency of the heart, which is (1) directed towards Kṛṣṇa and (2) rejects all other processes toward fulfillment

SOURCE: Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Āmnaya-sūtra 57

kṛṣṇonmukhī
Usually if someone has a desire to serve, it will be toward some person one can actually see and know directly. But when śraddhā develops, one becomes inclined toward serving Kṛṣṇa, who is beyond the grasp of our perception. In this world, it’s very rare to find someone who wants to serve someone they’ve never seen or had any interaction with, but through hearing harikathā, this desire to serve Kṛṣṇa develops. So again, sādhu-saṅga is everything.

anyopāya-varjaṁ
When one becomes inclined towards serving Kṛṣṇa, one rejects all other methods, remedies, and techniques for finding fulfillment. That includes the paths of karma (reward-seeking activity) and jñāna (impersonal knowledge). One with śraddhā wants to serve simply for Kṛṣṇa’s happiness.

3. Śraddhā is unflinching conviction that I only need to serve Kṛṣṇa and everything else will be taken care of.

SOURCE:
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.62). This was spoken by Śrīman Mahāprabhu to Sanātana Gosvāmī.

By the word śraddhā (‘śraddhā’-śabde), it is said to be deep belief (viśvāsa kahe). There is unflinching conviction (sudṛḓha niścaya) that when I engage in bhakti to Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile), all activities (sarva-karma) — that is, anything and everything I need to do – becomes accomplished (kṛta haya).

Just by engaging in kṛṣṇa-bhakti all other responsibilities and other necessities are automatically fulfilled. So why do I do anything else? It is because I don’t have real śraddhā.

Why do I watch one of those YouTube videos with the silly pranks? Because I don’t have the conviction that I’m going to get more happiness by chanting harināma instead.

When we hear harikathā from śrī guru and elevated devotees, we realize that serving Kṛṣṇa is the only thing of importance because that is the nature of my soul. Doing anything else goes against my very nature. When we fully understand that nothing else matters, that is śraddhā.

4. (1) Śraddhā and śaraṇāgati are synonymous, (2) śraddhā means deep belief in the words of śastra

SOURCE:
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-sandarbha (Anuccheda 176)

Categorizes of śraddhā

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura categorizes śraddhā as

(1) svābhāvikī – śraddhā that occurs naturally
and
(2) bala-pūrvaka-utpādita – śraddhā that is awakened by force

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī categorizes śraddhā as
(1) śāstrīya-śraddhā – śraddhā in the injunctions of the scriptures.
and
(2) laukika-śraddhā – ordinary, temporal materialistic faith

Sometimes we hear śraddhā categorized as komala-śraddhā (pliable faith) and paramārthika-śraddhā (spiritual faith). There is much to say about these categories of śraddhā and so much more about śraddhā in general. But I think this article is already long enough as it is. Maybe in the future I’ll post more on this topic. My Gurudeva gives a very in depth explanation of śraddhā in his Pīyuṣa-varśiṇī-vṛtti of Mādhurya-kadambinī (Chapter 3, Text 5, Page 142), which you can download here.

We'll end with this prayer of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (Gurudeve, Vraja-vane, verse 3):

sakala chāḓiyā bhāi,    śraddhā-devīra guṇa gāi,
ĵā̃’ra kṛpā bhakti dite pāre

O brother, abandon all pursuits [for enjoyment and relief from suffering], and extoll the glories of Śraddhā-devī, whose grace can award bhakti.

Aspiring to please Śrīla Gurudeva and the Vaiṣṇavas,
—Madhukar das