Most recently I received a comment on one of my blog-entries:

“And is there any evidence for bhakti not being rooted in the heart/soul?

CC Mad 22.107/BRSB p. 27

Here is evidence contrary to this statement.

nitya-siddha krishna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya 

Krishna-prema is a potentiality which eternally exists in the hearts of the living entities.
It is not something to be gained from another source.
When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting (under the guidance of sad-guru) this love naturally awakens.

– Please reconcile.” 

So…let us try to reconcile.

First of all, I wanted to say that there are a lot of misconceptions “out there”, some of them based on mistranslations.

This quote here from the Caitanya Caritamrita is a very famous verse. But unfortunately also one of the most misunderstood verses.
Like here in this “challenge”, the devotee quotes it to say that BHAKTI is eternally rooted in the heart.
This concept is not supported by any Vaishnava-acarya after Sri Gauranga Maharaprabhu.

Let us check the words of the verse:

nitya-siddha krishna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

“Krishna prema is eternal and perfect. It is never to be “attained” (by endeavours).
Prema arises in the citta (heart/consciousness) which has been purified by devotional activities (hearing, chanting,..).”

So, nitya-siddha krishna-prema: Pure love of Krishna is ETERNAL and PERFECT (nitya + siddha).
The translation used by the devotee reads: “Krishna-prema is a potentiality which eternally exists in the hearts of the living entities.”
Now, I dare to ask, WHERE in the original verse can we read these words: potentiality, hearts, living entity, exists???
Nope, they are just NOT THERE, sorry…
I really don´t know who translated this verse, but the verse is for sure NOT about the “living entities”. The living entity is called “jiva”.
The word “jiva” is not in this verse. It is also NOT about “something” which is “rooted” “somewhere”…
This very famous verse is about something else entirely: It is about HOW DO WE, the living entities,
RECEIVE krishna-prema and WHAT IS THE NATURE of such a wonderful krishna-prema.

Krishna-prema is eternal and perfect.

So step by step let us break down this wonderful verse. PREMA is the highest goal of human life. It is the zenith of all kinds of LOVE…it is the most elevated and most spiritual emotion.

It is A PERFECT state of being. Krishna-prema is not something that is subjected to anything material. It is always existing. It originates in Krishna´s inner BLISS potency.
This potency is called HLADINI-shakti.
This HLADINI-shakti is the bliss POTENCY of Krishna and NOT a POTENTIALITY. This is a very big difference.

Radhika is the personification of this HLADINI-sakti. By Her mercy alone can PREMA be achieved.

Krishna-prema is not eternally existing in the hearts of the living entities.
It exists eternally in the hearts of the nitya-siddhas, the eternally perfect souls like Radhika, Nanda Maharaja, Yashoda, etc…
It is true however that the living entity has the potentiality to receive PREMA, to become a PERFECTED soul.
But not that PREMA is already there in the heart of the jiva and that we can´t remember PREMA or that we forgot PREMA.
We living entities are of a different kind of sakti: We belong to the tatastha-sakti.
We are inbetween the material energy AND the innermost spiritual energy. PREMA is not inherent in the tatastha-sakti, only the capability to RECEIVE PREMA.

Next step:

It is never to be “attained” (by endeavours). 

So clearly another complete misunderstanding:
The challenger wrote: “It is not something to be gained from another source.”
Of course PREMA is gained from “another source”.
How do we receive PREMA? ONLY BY MERCY. Like mentioned above, Radhika is the personification of HLADINI-sakti.
By Her mercy, we, the living entities, can receive this most precious gift: PREMA.
How? By practicing BHAKTI, which is essentially a combination of HLADINI-sakti & SAMVIT-sakti, both energies from Krishna´s INNER realm.

So, by engaging in BHAKTI, the living entity can achieve the highest goal of life: PUREST LOVE, Krishna-prema. And not just ANY kind of PREMA: the highest kind.
Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu came to give us the utmost limit of PREMA: unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam.

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ
kalausamarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in this Age of Kali to exhibit the superexcellence of mādhurya-rasa, a gift never previously bestowed by any ācārya or incarnation.
Consequently Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is accepted as the most magnanimous incarnation. It is He only who distributed love of Kṛṣṇa while exhibiting the superexcellence of loving Kṛṣṇa in the conjugal rasa.”
( CC Madhya 11.31)

How do we come into contact with BHAKTI?

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru krsna prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

“By the causeless mercy of guru and Krsna, the devotee can receive the seed of bhakti by the mercy of Gurudeva.”

So, clearly the goal AND the means are coming from an EXTERNAL source.
Sri Gurudeva as a “messenger” of Radhika plants the seed of bhakti in our hearts.
Then BHAKTI grows in us and magically enables us to reach the highest goal: PREMA.
We all go through the famous stages in BHAKTI, starting from sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya,…reaching the end at PREMA.
So by the mercy of Sri Gurudeva, PREMA is attained, “not by any other SADHYA (SADHYA KABU NAYA) or endeavour”.

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi
dhyayan stuvams tasya yashas trisandhyam
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krsna.
Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.
Therefore, I should always remember and praise the spiritual master.
At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.”

Does this mean that we need to give up our endeavours because it is anyway hopeless?
Nope. SADHYA KABU NAYA only reminds us that WE ARE NOT THE DOER.
It shows us that BHAKTI (and ultimately PREMA then too) is completely acting on Her own will. BHAKTI is not caused by anything.
BHAKTI is causeless mercy. BHAKTI only comes from BHAKTI.
BHAKTI comes from the Lotus Feet of our Swamini, Srimati Radhika.
So, are we lost?
Nope again…

sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya
Prema arises in the citta (heart/consciousness) which has been purified by devotional activities (hearing, chanting,..).

This is what we need to do. We need to clean out our heart and form a solid container where BHAKTI can be received and “kept”.
By engaging in BHAKTI under the guidance of Sri Gurudeva, we purify our heart and then the touchstone called BHAKTI can unleash the magic and we can attain the highest goal of life, PREMA.
First sadhana-bhakti (bhakti through endeavours), then bhava-bhakti (bhakti with deep emotions) and finally prema-bhakti.
For further reference, please check Srila Rupa Goswami´s Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu.

PREMA does not sleep the whole time that we are here in this material world, which would mean an eternal sleep.
PREMA lies not “dormant” in our hearts and needs to be awakened like the beautiful princess is awakened by a kiss from a prince in the famous fairy tale.
UDAYA means “to rise”. So, PREMA arises in a heart suitable for PREMA to forever dwell in there.
But we don´t have to feel the despair of not being able to become suitably pure.
BHAKTI is so wonderful, She helps us even to get purified.
In fact, practicing BHAKTI makes us pure.

It is said that when the “citta” (consciousness/heart) is pure, Krishna-prema will descend into it.
But this doesn´t mean that FIRST we have to become COMPLETELY pure, THEN bhakti or prema will descend.

bhaktes tu ‘vikriditam vrajavadhubhih’ ityadau—
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam hrid rogam asvapahinotyacirena dhirah
(bhag. 10.33.39)

ityatra ‘ktva’ pratyayena hrid rogavatyevadhikarini paramaya api tasyah prathamam eva pravesas tatas tayaiva parama svatantraya kamadinam apagamas ca. tesham kadacit sattve’pi ‘api cet suduracaro bhajate mam’ iti ‘badhyamano’pi mad bhakta’ ityadibhis ca tadvatam na kvapi sastreshu ninda leso’pi. ajamilasya bhaktatvam vishnudutair nirupitam. ‘sanketa bhagavannama putra snehanushangajam ityadi drishtya tad abhasavatam apyajamiladinam bhaktatvam sarvaih sangitam eva’ tad evam karma yogadinam antah karana suddhi dravya desa suddhyadayah sadhakas tad vaigunyadayo badhaka bhaktis tu prana dayinyeveti. sarvatha paratantryam eva tesham. nahi svatantrah kenapi sadhyante badhyante veti.
– (Madhurya Kadambini)

Although lust is also considered a fault on the path of bhakti, one can still enter the devotional path, despite being still afflicted by lust and other material desires.
Srimad-Bhagavata (10.33.39) says:

“A person who faithfully hears or describes the Lord’s pastimes of rasa-lila with the gopis of Vraja attains supreme devotion of the Lord. He quickly becomes steady and conquers over the senses, giving up lust, the disease of the heart.”

In this text “after attaining supreme devotion” is an unfinished act showing that bhakti can be attained even though one has lusty desires. This shows the most independent nature and power of bhakti to destroy lusty desires. Sometimes lusty desires exist even while practicing devotion. From verses like,
“If the most sinful person worships Me exclusively…” and “Though my devotee is afflicted by lusty desires…” it is clear that though lusty desires may exist in a devotee, still he is not condemned even slightly.
The messengers of Vishnu judged Ajamila as a devotee. From sastric evidence it is seen, “Ajamila uttered the name of the Lord, though he was calling his son’s name out of affection.” Uttering of the Lord’s name by Ajamila was just an abhasa (glimpse). He did not chant the Lord’s name, but merely used it to call his own son named Narayana. Still, he is glorified as a devotee by all. With karma-yoga and jnana-yoga, perfection depends on purity of heart, materials, place, and so on.
Purity of all these factors assists in attaining the fruits of karma and jnana.
Their lack obstructs the attainment of their respective fruits.
Bhakti, however, infuses life in them. Karma, jnana, and yoga are always dependent on bhakti, and they are never independent. They are nourished by certain factors and obstructed by others.
There are many stages on the way to the highest stage of bhakti.
Actually, bhakti starts to appear in our hearts and by this appearance all unwanted things will disappear and finally it will turn from sadhana-bhakti to bhava-bhakti into the highest bhakti, prema-bhakti.
(Madhurya Kadambini with the commentary of Srila Ananta das Babaji)

Another very deep and equally fitting meaning of this very famous “nitya-siddha krishna-prema” – verse runs as follows (translated by my beloved Gurudeva):

“We can never receive the eternal love for Sri Krishna that His eternal associates possess by means of any spiritual practice.
When our heart becomes clean due to hearing, etc…it manifests itself.”

Here, “nitya” belongs to “siddha” and we arrive at the “nitya siddhas”, the eternal associates of Sri Krishna.
This meaning actually adds more beauty to the first above mentioned translation.
What kind of “eternal” and “perfect” Krishna-prema? Only the prema of the eternal associates is eternal and perfect.
They are called ragatmika-devotees: perfect RAGA in their ATMA. We are raganuga-devotees, we follow the ragatmika-devotees.
So, pure Krishna-prema comes down from the eternal spiritual world like the river Ganges and it flows through a riverbed made of the hearts of pure Vaishnavas who form a guru-parampara.

In Srila Rupa Goswami´s “Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu”, we find the following line:

“kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā”
– Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Purva-vibhaga 2.2

“Action of the senses, which produces the stage of bhava, is called sadhana-bhakti.
This attained stage of bhava-bhakti is an eternal bhava (mood of love) which is never created, but simply MANIFESTS by the spiritual energy of the Lord.”

My good friend Advaita das sums all this up very nicely:

“Bhakti is svarūpa-śakti and the jīva is taṭastha sakti.
Therefore, bhakti cannot be intrinsic to the jīva. ānanda that comes with bhakti is a function of cit-sakti which manifests as sandhini, samvit and hlādinī. bhaktyānanda is the hlādinī-aspect of cit-sakti.
The Lord’s ānanda is two-fold according to Jīva Gosvāmi’s Prīti Sandarbha (66): svarūpānanda and svarūpa-śaktyānanda.

The Lord Himself is depending on svarūpa-śaktyānanda (svarūpa-śaktyānanda-rūpā yadānanda-parādhīnaḥ śrī-bhagavān apīti). This ānanda is bhakti.

The Śruti quite clearly says that ānanda is not a property of the jīva: raso vai saḥ, rasam hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati, “God is verily rasa. If one attains rasa, one becomes blissful“.
Apart from that, in the ānandamayādhikaraṇa of Vedānta-sūtras, the ācāryas explain that the jīva is not ānandamaya.

In the ṭīkā to the sūtra vikāra-śabdān neti cen na prācuryāt, our Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa refutes the idea that the word ānanda-maya could be applied to the jīva (tasmād ānandamayo na jīvaḥ), and this is the case also in the liberated state which means non-existence of suffering (na cānandamaya-śabdena muktau duḥkhāpty-asadbhāvāj jīva iti vācyam). 

In addition, commenting on the definition of the jīva as cid-ānandātmaka, Jīva Gosvāmī explains in Paramātma Sandarbha (29), that the jīva is not ānanda in the proper sense of the word: duḥkha-pratiyogitvena tu jñānatvam ānandatvaṁ ca … ānandatvaṁ nirupādhi-premāspadatvena sādhayati.

“Because the jīva is beyond misery it is said to be of the nature of consciousness and bliss … The jīva attains bliss when it attains love of God.“

However, Jīva Goswāmī mentions the ānanda of the jīva in Prīti Sandarbha (Anu. 65): ato natarāṁ jīvasya svarūpānanda-rūpā, atyanta-kṣudratvāt.
He says that it is extremely minute. However, one has to understand the statement in connection with the previous one, i.e. that the ānanda means just non-existence of misery. 

If one argues “What about the verse jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa from Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.108)?
How to explain that in the light of bhāva not being inherent? The words nitya and svarūpa also imply inherence, after all.”
The answer to that will be: “The verse jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa does not say that bhakti is inherent to the jīva.
It just means that the jīva is a śakti of the Lord, and thus it is subordinate to Him who is the śaktimān, the Owner of the śakti.
This relationship is eternal. It never was and will never be different. The verses subsequent to this one in Caitanya Caritāmṛta make the point clearly.
The Bhagavad Gītā statement mad bhaktiṁ labhate paraṁ (18.54) “He attains My devotion and thus the Supreme” proves bhakti is not intrinsic but gotten (labhate) from outside.

The translation of the word udaya in the famous “nitya-siddha krishna-prema” – verse should not be ‘awakened’, but ‘arises’, as prema is not dormant in the heart.

If it were described in scripture as dormant it would have been called supta prema or nidrita prema, but such terminology does not exist at all in scripture.”

Jay Sri Radhe

PS: It is written in the shastra that we living entities can´t experience PREMA. Our bodies would simply burn to ashes by the sheer power of PREMA.
Our bodies are not suitable to sustain such a huge energy, the purest kind of spiritual love.
Therefore we need to give up our bodies short before the full attainment of PREMA.
Yogamaya then takes us to the womb of a gopi in the manifested lila where we “take birth”.
This spiritual body then is suitable to sustain and experience PREMA and then some…LOL

So HOW CAN PREMA ALREADY BE DORMANT IN OUR HEART?
Right. It can´t be.