26 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

receives the favor of a Vaishnava, a devotee of the Lord, at that time he accu-
mulates some asset in the matter of approaching the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. This is very plainly understood from the Srimad Bhagwatam in the
matter of the life of the great sage Narada. Narada got the chance of serving
the Vaishnavas in his previous life, and thus he was favored by the devotees
of the Lord, with the result that he became a great sage, as he is known—
Narada Muni.

The Vaishnavas or devotees are generally very compassionate toward the
conditioned souls, and even being uninvited by any conditioned soul, a
devotee goes from door to door to enlighten people from the darkness of
nescience, and to inject in them knowledge in various ways about their consti-
tutional position of being engaged in devotional service, or Krishna Con-
sciousness. Such persons are devotees empowered by the Lord, and they are
especially empowered to distribute devotional consciousness, or Krishna Con-
sciousness, to the people in general. They are known as authorized Spiritual
Masters. It is just by the mercy of such an authorized Spiritual Master that a
conditioned soul gets the seed of devotional service. The causeless mercy of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead is first appreciated when one is in touch
with a bona fide Spiritual Master who can enlighten the conditioned soul
to the highest position of devotional life. Therefore, Lord Chaitanya said that
by the mercy of the Spiritual Master, one can achieve the causeless mercy of
the Lord; and by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can
get the mercy of the bona fide Spiritual Master.

By such mercy from the Spiritual Master and Krishna one receives the
seed of devotional service, and one has to sow the seed in the field of his
heart just as a gardener sows the seed of a valuable tree. After sowing the seed
one has to pour water in the form of chanting and hearing the Holy Name of
the Supreme Lord, or by taking part in the discussion of the science of devo-
tional service in the society of pure devotees. When the plant of devotional
service sprouts up from the seed of devotion, it begins to grow freely, and
when it is full grown it then surpasses the length and breadth of this Universe
and enters into the transcendental position of the spiritual world, where
everything is effulgent in the Brahmajyoti, and the plant penetrates even the
Brahmajyoti, and then gradually enters into the planet known as Goloka
Vrindaban, and there the plant takes shelter at the Lotus Feet of Krishna.
That is the ultimate goal of devotional service. After attaining such a position,
the plant produces fruit which is known as the fruit of love of Godhead. The
