The Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener

Expressions researched:
"Although I am acting as a gardener, I also want to be the tree" |"Caitanya Mahaprabhu was also the gardener" |"Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree" |"Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who Himself is the tree of transcendental love of Krsna, its gardener" |"Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Visvambhara, to be the gardener of this tree" |"Lord Caitanya as the gardener and the tree" |"The Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener" |"The seed of devotional service next fructified in the form of Sri Isvara Puri, and then the gardener Himself, Caitanya Mahaprabhu" |"the desire tree of devotional service. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself is the gardener"

CC Adi-lila

The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has devised a figurative example by describing "the desire tree of bhakti." He considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Viśvambhara, to be the gardener of this tree because He is the main personality who has taken charge of it.

CC Adi 9 Summary:

A summary of Chapter Nine has been given as follows by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this chapter the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has devised a figurative example by describing "the desire tree of bhakti." He considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Viśvambhara, to be the gardener of this tree because He is the main personality who has taken charge of it. As the supreme enjoyer, He enjoyed the fruits Himself and distributed them as well. The seed of the tree was first sown in Navadvīpa, the birth site of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then the tree was brought to Puruṣottama-kṣetra (Jagannātha Purī), and then to Vṛndāvana. The seed fructified first in Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī, and then in his disciple Śrī Īśvara Purī. It is figuratively described that both the tree itself and the trunk of the tree are Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paramānanda Purī and eight other great sannyāsīs are like the spreading roots of the tree. From the main trunk there extend two special branches, Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, and from those branches grow other branches and twigs. The tree surrounds the entire world, and the fruits of the tree are to be distributed to everyone. In this way the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu intoxicates the entire world. It should be noted that this is a figurative example meant to explain the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Adi 9.6, Translation:

I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who Himself is the tree of transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa, its gardener and also the bestower and enjoyer of its fruits.

The Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener. He sowed the seed and sprinkled upon it the water of His will.

CC Adi 9.9, Translation and Purport:

Thus the Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener. He sowed the seed and sprinkled upon it the water of His will.

In many places devotional service has been compared to a creeper. One has to sow the seed of the devotional creeper, bhakti-latā, within his heart. As he regularly hears and chants, the seed will fructify and gradually grow into a mature plant and then produce the fruit of devotional service, namely love of Godhead, which the gardener (mālā-kāra) can then enjoy without impediments.

The seed of devotional service next fructified in the form of Śrī Īśvara Purī, and then the gardener Himself, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, became the main trunk of the tree of devotional service.

CC Adi 9.11, Translation and Purport:

The seed of devotional service next fructified in the form of Śrī Īśvara Purī, and then the gardener Himself, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, became the main trunk of the tree of devotional service.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Śrī Īśvara Purī was a resident of Kumāra-haṭṭa, where there is now a railroad station known as Kāmarhaṭṭa. Nearby there is another station, named Hālisahara, which belongs to the Eastern Railway. This railway runs from the eastern section of Calcutta."

Īśvara Purī appeared in a brāhmaṇa family and was the most beloved disciple of Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī. In the last portion of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya 8.28–31) (CC Antya 8.28), it is stated:

īśvara-purī gosāñi kare śrī-pada sevana

sva-haste karena mala-mūtrādi mārjana

nirantara kṛṣṇa-nāma karāya smaraṇa

kṛṣṇa-nāma kṛṣṇa-līlā śunāya anukṣaṇa

tuṣṭa hañā purī tāṅre kaila āliṅgana

vara dilā kṛṣṇe tomāra ha-uka prema-dhana

sei haite īśvara-purī premera sāgara

"At the last stage of his life Śrī Mādhavendra Purī became an invalid and was completely unable to move, and Īśvara Purī so completely engaged himself in his service that he personally cleaned up his stool and urine. Always chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and reminding Śrī Mādhavendra Purī about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the last stage of his life, Īśvara Purī gave the best service among his disciples. Thus Mādhavendra Purī, being very pleased with him, blessed him, saying, "My dear boy, I can only pray to Kṛṣṇa that He will be pleased with you." Thus Īśvara Purī, by the grace of his spiritual master, Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, became a great devotee in the ocean of love of Godhead." Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states in his Gurv-aṣṭaka prayer, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi: ** "By the mercy of the spiritual master one is blessed by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement." It is by the mercy of the spiritual master that one becomes perfect, as vividly exemplified here. A Vaiṣṇava is always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but if he appears to be an invalid, this gives a chance to his disciples to serve him. Īśvara Purī pleased his spiritual master by service, and by the blessings of his spiritual master he became such a great personality that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted him as His spiritual master.

Śrīla Īśvara Purī was the spiritual master of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but before initiating Lord Caitanya he went to Navadvīpa and lived for a few months in the house of Gopīnātha Ācārya. At that time Lord Caitanya became acquainted with him, and it is understood that he served Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by reciting his book, Kṛṣṇa-līlāmṛta. This is explained in Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Eleven.

To teach others by example how to be a faithful disciple of one's spiritual master, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, visited the birthplace of Īśvara Purī at Kumāra-haṭṭa and collected some earth from his birth site. This He kept very carefully, and He used to eat a small portion of it daily. This is stated in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Seventeen. It has now become customary for devotees, following the example of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to go there and collect some earth from that place.

Although I am acting as a gardener, I also want to be the tree, for thus I can bestow benefit upon all.

CC Adi 9.45, Translation and Purport:

“Although I am acting as a gardener, I also want to be the tree, for thus I can bestow benefit upon all.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the most benevolent personality in human society because His only desire is to make people happy. His saṅkīrtana movement is especially meant for the purpose of making people happy. He wanted to become the tree Himself because a tree is said to be the most benevolent living entity. In the following verse, which is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.22.33), Kṛṣṇa Himself highly praises the existence of a tree.

CC Adi 10.3, Translation:

The description of Lord Caitanya as the gardener and the tree is inconceivable. Now hear with attention about the branches of this tree.

CC Adi 12.5, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was also the gardener, and as He poured the water of His mercy on the tree, all the branches and subbranches grew, day after day.

Śrī Advaita Ācārya is one of the important trunks of the bhakti-kalpataru, or desire tree of devotional service. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree and thus nourished all its trunks and branches.

CC Adi 12.73, Translation and Purport:

The descendants of Advaita Ācārya who accepted the path of Śrī Acyutānanda were all great devotees.

In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, gives this short note: "Śrī Advaita Ācārya is one of the important trunks of the bhakti-kalpataru, or desire tree of devotional service. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree and thus nourished all its trunks and branches. But nevertheless, under the spell of māyā, the most unfortunate condition of a living entity, some of the branches, not accepting the gardener who poured water on them, considered the trunk the only cause of the great bhakti-kalpataru. In other words, the branches or descendants of Advaita Ācārya who considered Advaita Ācārya the original cause of the devotional creeper, and who thus neglected or disobeyed the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, deprived themselves of the effect of being watered and thus dried up and died. It is further to be understood that not only the misguided descendants of Advaita Ācārya but anyone who has no connection with Caitanya Mahāprabhu—even if he is independently a great sannyāsī, learned scholar or ascetic—is like a dead branch of a tree."

This analysis by Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, supporting the statements of Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, depicts the position of the present so-called Hindu religion, which, being predominantly conducted by the Māyāvāda philosophy, has become a hodgepodge institution of various concocted ideas. Māyāvādīs greatly fear the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and accuse it of spoiling the Hindu religion because it accepts people from all parts of the world and all religious sects and scientifically engages them in the daiva-varṇāśrama-dharma. As we have explained several times, however, we find no such word as "Hindu" in the Vedic literature. The word most probably came from Afghanistan, a predominantly Muslim country, and originally referred to a pass in Afghanistan known as Hindukush, which is still a part of a trade route between India and various Muslim countries.

The actual Vedic system of religion is called varṇāśrama-dharma, as confirmed in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

varṇāśramācāra-vatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān

viṣṇur ārādhyate panthā nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṇam

(CC Madhya 8.58) (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.8.9)

The Vedic literature recommends that a human being follow the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma. Accepting the process of varṇāśrama-dharma will make a person's life successful because this will connect him with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the goal of human life. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for all of humanity. Although human society has different sections or subdivisions, all human beings belong to one species, and therefore we accept that they all have the ability to understand their constitutional position in connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms, jīvera "svarūpa" haya—kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa: (CC Madhya 20.108). "Every living entity is an eternal part, an eternal servant, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Every living entity who attains the human form of life can understand the importance of his position and thus become eligible to become a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. We take it for granted, therefore, that all humanity should be educated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Indeed, in all parts of the world, in every country where we preach the saṅkīrtana movement, we find that people very easily accept the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without hesitation. The visible effect of this chanting is that the members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, regardless of their backgrounds, all give up the four principles of sinful life and come to an elevated standard of devotion.

Although posing as great scholars, ascetics, householders and svāmīs, the so-called followers of the Hindu religion are all useless, dried-up branches of the Vedic religion. They are impotent; they cannot do anything to spread the Vedic culture for the benefit of human society. The essence of the Vedic culture is the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Lord Caitanya instructed:

yāre dekha, tāre kaha "kṛṣṇa"-upadeśa

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

(CC Madhya 7.128)

One should simply instruct everyone he meets regarding the principles of kṛṣṇa-kathā, as expressed in Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. One who has no interest in kṛṣṇa-kathā or the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is like dry, useless wood with no living force. The ISKCON branch, being directly watered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is becoming undoubtedly successful, whereas the disconnected branches of the so-called Hindu religion that are envious of ISKCON are drying up and dying.

CC Adi 17.322, Translation:

The Ninth Chapter describes the desire tree of devotional service. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself is the gardener who planted it.