R-s 6a 💦 Watering the Seed

❧ Cc Madhya 19.152 ❧

By the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa, this very fortunate jīva has received the seed of the vine of devotion, this tendency to serve Kṛṣṇa and faith and surrender. Now, under the loving care and direction of guru, he becomes a gardener and sows the seed and with the water of śravaṇa and kīrtana supplied by śrī guru, he waters the seed:

mālī haĩyā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
Having become a gardener, the devotee plants that seed.
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana
With the water of śravaṇa and kīrtana, he sprinkles it.

Revising some Bengali grammar

Before we get into the verse, I’d like to revise how you can turn nouns into verbs by adding korā, which we went over in the article on the second verse, and combining words together to make a samāsa, which we went over in first article in the previous verse.

First line: mālī haĩyā kare sei bīja āropaṇa

mālī haiyā – having become a gardener,
kare sei bija aropana – he plants that seed

Turning a noun into a verb with korā

When you add the verb korā (meaning to do) after many nouns in Bengali, you turn them into a verb.

For example, take a look at the word āropaṇa in this verse.  On its own, it is a noun meaning “the act of planting”. If you add korā to the end of it, it becomes a verb: āropaṇa korā – to plant.  And we change the verb tense to present indefinite in the third person, we get āropaṇa kare – he or she plants.

Now although in speech and prose this word korā always comes after the noun it’s turning into a verb, in poetry it often comes before, and sometimes even one or two words before like we see in this first line:
kare sei bīja āropaṇa

So in speech or prose this would be sei bīja – that seed; āropaṇa kare – he plants, he sows.

but in this verse we see it says kare sei bīja āropaṇa.  If we were to translate it keeping the same word order, it would be “he does, that seed, planting”

mālī haiyā – having become a gardener,
kare sei bija aropana – he plants that seed

Second line: śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana

śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale – with the water of sravana and kirtan
karaye secan – he waters it.

Samāsa – grouping words into a single unit

Again, like in the previous verse, we have a samāsa. A samāsa is when words are combined together to form a single unit. See how they’re connected with hyphens: śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale

In the previous verse we saw the samāsa guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde, by the mercy (prasāda) of guru and Vaiṣṇavas. And now here we have the samāsa śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale, with the water (jala) of hearing and chanting.

Samāsa occurs in Bengali verses all the time.

So what does this sādhaka gardener do with this water (jala) of śravaṇa and kīrtana? Secan karaye: he waters, or sprinkles, the seed.

From this verse 152 till verse 178 (the next 26 verses), Śrīman Mahāprabhu explains to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī how we can become an expert gardener under the direction and help of śrī guru and cultivate the growth of this vine of devotion in our hearts until finally, the fully ripened fruit of prema develops. Then from verse 179 till the end, Mahāprabhu will describe how prema further develops into various relationships with Kṛṣṇa.

mālī haĩyā – becoming a gardener

By the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa, we have gotten this seed. Now what? It’s not that we just do some gardening, but we actually have to /become/ a gardener. A complete identity shift.

I was reading in this book Atomic Habits about the importance of identity change. Ok, so yes, the author of this book wrote it in a context completely unrelated to bhakti, but what he said fits this topic on identity change nicely, so I’m sharing it here.

❝Imagine two people resisting a cigarette. When offered a smoke, the first person says, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” It sounds like a reasonable response, but this person still believes they are a smoker who is trying to be something else. They are hoping their behavior will change while carrying around the same beliefs. The second person declines by saying, “No thanks. I’m not a smoker.” It’s a small difference, but this statement signals a shift in identity. Smoking was part of their former life, not their current one. They no longer identify as someone who smokes. Most people don’t even consider identity change when they set out to improve. They just think, “I want to be skinny (outcome) and if I stick to this diet, then I’ll be skinny (process).” They set goals and determine the actions they should take to achieve those goals without considering the beliefs that drive their actions. They never shift the way they look at themselves, and they don’t realize that their old identity can sabotage their new plans for change.❞

James Clear, Atomic Habits (p. 32)

So now that I have this seed, it’s not not enough to just say, “okay, I’m gonna water this seed and take care of it so that it can grow.” We’re making a much bigger commitment. I’m a new person now, a gardener, and I’m taking on all the responsibility that comes with that title. We’ve accepted initiation, which means we have left our old identities behind and have taken on a completely new one: “I’m a sādhaka gardener.” We’ve embarked on this path of sādhana-bhakti.

Veśa, pariveśa, āveśa – Adjusting the external to help shift the internal

Now that I’m a gardener in bhakti, there are some external signs that I have accepted like neck-beads and tilaka. These various markings, although external, are very important for helping shift our inner identity.
I remember the day I put on saffron cloth, one senior brahmacārī mentor of mine explained these three words to me: veśa, pariveśa and āveśa. With the proper veśa and pariveśa, it is possible to become deeply absorbed (āveśa) in Kṛṣṇa.

veśa – dress

When a policeman wears his uniform, then his state of consciousness shifts. He’s on duty. He more strongly identifies “I am a policeman”. In a jail why can’t prisoners wear whatever kind of clothes they liked? I imagine there’d be a lot less control of the prisoners. When I wear these saffron clothes, I think, “Yes, I’m a brahmacārī. I’m under guru and Kṛṣṇa’s authority now.” I’d feel very awkward walking into a movie theater wearing these clothes. When I wear tilaka, I may not realize it, but on a very deep level I feel, “I am devotee of Kṛṣṇa, I’m Kṛṣṇa’s property.”

When you wear tilaka, you’re inviting the Lord, “I’ve stamped myself as Yours. I have made my body a temple for You to sit in. Please come.” Without tilaka, our body is, in the words of Mahāprabhu, a crematorium. Quite the opposite of the residence of the Lord!

tulasīra hāra, nā pare ĵe chāra,
yamālaye vāsa tā’ra
tilaka dhāraṇa, nā kare ĵe-jana,
bṛthāya janama tā’ra

"The contemptible person who does not wear a necklace of tulasī beads has residence in the abode of Yama, and the person who never wears tilaka has a life that goes in vain." Nitāi-Gaura-nāma (2) by Śrīla Locana dāsa Ṭhākura

When Mahāprabhu was enacting his teaching pastimes as the brilliant young Nimāi Paṇḍita, He strongly enforced the wearing of tilaka. Here is a passage from Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata (Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter 15):

ito-madhye kadācit kehô kona dine
kapāle tilaka nā kariyā thāke bhrame (8)
During this time [while Nimāi was teaching] sometimes by chance or mistake a student would forget to mark his forehead with tilaka.

dharma sanātana prabhu sthāpe sarva-dharma
loka-rakṣā lāgi’ prabhu nā laṅghena karma (9)
As Sanātana-dharma Himself, the Lord establishes all principles of religion. In order to protect people’s religious principles, the Lord would not tolerate any transgression.

henô lajjā tāhāre dehen sei-kṣaṇe
se āra nā āise kabhu sandhyā kari’ bine (10)
At that very moment [Nimāi saw the boy without tilaka,] He’d shame him to such a degree that the boy would never again come without having first completed his morning duties.

prabhu bôle,—“kene bhāi, kapāle tomāra
tilaka nā dekhi kene, ki yukti ihāra? (11)
The Lord would say, “O brother, why I do not see any tilaka on your forehead? What is your explanation?

'tilaka nā thāke ĵadi viprer kapāle
se kapāla śmaśāna-sadṛśa’—vede bôle (12)
“The Vedas say that if a brāhmaṇa’s forehead is not decorated with tilaka, it is as good as a crematorium.

bujhilāiya,—āji tumi nāhi karô sandhyā
āji, bhāi! tomār hailô sandhyā bandhyā (13)
“I can understand that you have not performed your daily worship. Therefore, dear brother, your morning has become fruitless.

calô, sandhyā karô, giyā gṛhe punar-bāra
sandhyā kari’ tabe se āsihô paḓibāra (14)
“Go back home and perform your morning duties again. Then you may return to study.”

ei-mata prabhur ĵateka āche śiṣya-gaṇa
sabei atyanta nija-dharma-parāyaṇa (15)
In this way all the Lord’s students were conscientious about executing their religious duties.

It’s understandable if you can’t wear tilaka to work. But at least when you do your gāyatrī and chant harināma, you should be wearing tilaka. Then afterwards you can take it off.

pariveśa – the atmosphere, our surroundings

There is a beautiful song by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura that we sing every Ekādaśī, Śuddhā-bhakata-caraṇa-reṇu, which celebrates all the wonderful things we have in our devotional atmosphere: The foot dust of pure devotees and service to them, which is the root of the vine of prema-bhakti, holy days like Ekādaśī, holy places where Gaurahari wandered, the sounds of mṛdaṅga and kirtan in glorification of Gaurahari, the deity forms of the Divine Couple, prasāda-sevā, seeing devotees performing bhajana, the Gaṅgā, Tulasī-devī, the spinach preparations so dear to Gaurahari – all these things, which are most favorable for kṛṣṇa-bhajana, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says he embraces every day in supreme joy.

We can tailor our environment to include more and more of these types favorable elements. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says “e saba choḓata kãhi nāhi ĵā̃u, e saba choḓata parāṇa hārā̃u – I will not go anywhere giving up such stimuli, for to abandon them is to give up my very life.” Rādhā-kuṇḍa-taṭa (7)

Where I am in Navadvīpa, I can go to my Gurudeva’s samādhi and do parikramā of it every day. Every time I do circumambulate it, I’m reinforcing the idea within me – making a deep impression in my heart – that I am my Gurudeva’s brahmacārī.

Although it is definitely wonderful to be physically in the dhāma, you can make this type of pariveśa, atmosphere, anywhere. Keep a nice picture of your gurudeva somewhere prominent in your house or room. Now your gurudeva occupies the room as well. First thing you can go and offer him your obeisances, a flower, chant your harināma before him. Keep one of his books next to your bed. He is fully present in his words. We should always have those divine words near us to protect and nourish ourselves.

tulasī dekhi’, juḓāya prāṇa, mādhava-toṣaṇī jāni’ – Upon seeing tulasī, my heart becomes satisfied and soothed, because I know that she pleases Mādhava.

Offering praṇāma to Tulasī-devī, watering her, circumambulating her, chanting in front of her – all these things powerfully increase our absorption in Kṛṣṇa.
The most powerful pariveśa is that which is filled with the sanga of exalted Vaiṣṇavas – śuddha-bhakata-caraṇa-reṇu bhajana anukula.

So when we have proper veśa and pariveśa, then āveśa, deep absorption is possible. These external things nourish our internal absorption.

Kare āropaṇa – planting the seed

Now that I’ve become a gardener, a bhakti-sadhaka, what do I do? Step one is to plant the seed, the commencement of sādhana-bhakti, I can’t just hold on to it. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains:

Two things required: guru and Kṛṣṇa. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. Mālī haiyā sei bīja kare āropana. “I have got some seed of bhakti, and I keep it in the iron chest.” No. You must make cultivation of bhakti-bīja: mālī haiyā sei bīja karo āropaṇa. And how to nourish the bīja? Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye śecana: by śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. Water is this. Then the bhakti-latā will come out a tree, and you will get the fruits and enjoy.

Morning Walk — December 20, 1975, Bombay

Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that planting the seed means initiation and the cultivation of the seed requires patience:

Bhakti-latā-bīja.  Just like one small creeper, first of all to sow the seed and water it, then gradually it spouts and gradually, grows.
Similarly, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and His representative, guru, spiritual master, you get the seed of bhakti-latā, devotional service, and if you sow it within the heart,  mālī haya sei bīja kare āropaṇa.
Just like if you take a seed, nice seed, and if you sow it, and pour water little, little, then it will grow and it will become a big tree or big creeper and give you the fruits. You’ll enjoy it. Similarly, the bhakti-latā-bīja is given by the spiritual master in cooperation with Kṛṣṇa. That is initiation.
This initiation arrangement means sowing the seed of devotional service. Now, if you think that after getting initiation, ”I have become perfect. Now again, whatever nonsense I was doing, I shall go on doing it,” then it will be useless.
It will be useless. Suppose if you get a seed. If you don’t take proper care, water it nicely, then it will not grow; it will be stunned there.
You have to take: mālī haiyā sei bīja kare āropaṇa, śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana.

Hawaii, January 28, 1974

Utsāhān dhairyāt. Dhairya means patience. If you have sown some seed, you cannot expect immediately tree and fruits. You must wait.
You must nourish the plant, water it. Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana

Vipina: But if there is some difficulty that causes so much trouble in your service…

Prabhupāda: That is impatience. That is impatience. Either he does not do properly his duty, or he is impatient.
Śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana.

Morning Walk — July 5, 1976, Washington, D.C.

Watering the seed with śravaṇa and kīrtana

When we are nourishing the plant, many things need to be accounted for, good sun, the weather shouldn’t be too cold, and so on. but what is the most important thing? Water.

So what is the water that our vine of devotion needs to survive and grow? Śravaṇa and kīrtan.

If I’m actually aspiring to be a devotee, then the first thing I need to make sure is that my vine of devotion is getting adequate water. One unique thing with the bhakti-lata is that, unlike other plants, there is no way to overwater her. The more water you give her, the more she will flourish and grow. But that water must be clean and free from harmful chemicals.

Most liquid around, although it looks clean and pure, has harmful chemicals in it that will stunt the growth of the bhakti-latā. So we need to be extra mindful that we are getting pure water from a trustworthy source. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda writes what the water is:

"What we are hearing from Guru-padpadma, the activity of performing kīrtana of that – the kīrtana of the words we heard from Guru-pādpadma – is the watering. With that water, the seed gradually develops into a vine."

Śravaṇa is what we let in and kīrtana is what comes out. Our intake and output. Both processes are interdependent. You can’t do kīrtana unless you’ve done proper śravana. But then the desire for śravaṇa and quality of your śravaṇa increases when you do kīrtana.

There are different kinds of śravaṇa, intake, reading books is also considered a form of śravaṇa, which is especially essential to do when we’re not in the direct company of sādhus. My Paramgurudeva has an article about this called śāstriya sādhu-saṅga. But most importantly, we should always hear from a sādhu, whenever possible. That is a superior form of śravaṇa.

And our output? What are we letting out into the ether? That is our kīrtana. We’re either doing māyā-kīrtana or kṛṣṇa-kīrtana. Kīrtana means glorification, so any outward glorification of Kṛṣṇa, that is, His names, forms, qualities, pastimes, abodes, and associates, that is kīrtana. most people think of kīrtana only as devotional singing of the holy names and nāma-sankīrtana is certainly the topmost form but kīrtana, but from what I’ve observed in our ācāryas’ writings, more often the word kīrtana is used in reference to speaking hari-kathā. Śukadeva Gosvāmī is always glorified as being the topmost kīrtanīya.

Writing is also a form of kīrtana. I once published an article on the Gaudiya Kirtan mailing list called “Kirtan through the Pen” with quotes by our ācāryas talking about writing as a form of kīrtana.

So when we are allowing kīrtana to enter into us and when we are regurgitating what we heard, it would help us go deeper into these activities if we meditate on what we’re actually doing. Think of your seed and visualize the kīrtana, harikathā, drizzling down onto the seed and the seed starting to sprout and grow. I bet if I could actually see this, I’d be trying to do a lot more śravaṇa and kīrtana. But these are the words of Mahāprabhu so this is definitely what’s going on!

We just have to keep remembering this verse whenever we’re about to engage in śravaṇa and kīrtana and it will make us a lot more focused and aware.

If you’d like to memorize this verse, you can go through the memorization practice with me here.

In the next article, we’ll hear about the whole growth process of the bhakti-latā until it reaches Goloka Vṛndāvana and wraps around the kalpa-vṛkṣa, the wish-fulfilling tree, of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet and produces the fruit of prema.

See you in the next one! Jaya Śrī Rādhe!