Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Ādi 13.123
Choose the Nectar of Devotional Service
“Anyone who attains a human body but does not take to the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is baffled in his opportunity. Amṛtadhunī is a flowing river of the nectar of devotional service. If after getting a human body one drinks the water in a poison pit of material happiness instead of the water of such a river, it would be better for him not to have lived, but to have died long ago.”
What the purport teaches
- A human body offers an opportunity to take to the path of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Not accepting this opportunity means wasting it.
- Amṛtadhunī is a flowing river of the nectar of devotional service. The translation contrasts this nectar with the poison pit of material happiness.
- Choosing material happiness instead of devotional service defeats the purpose of human life. The verse uses strong language to impress upon us the value of this opportunity.
Try this today
Today, set aside one small material pleasure and use that time for devotional service.
Ask yourself
Where am I choosing material happiness over the opportunity for devotional service?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.