Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 2.18
Love’s Pain and Life’s Uncertainty
“[Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī used to lament:] “ ‘Our Kṛṣṇa does not realize what We have suffered from injuries inflicted in the course of loving affairs. We are actually misused by love because love does not know where to strike and where not to strike. Even Cupid does not know of Our very much weakened condition. What should I tell anyone? No one can understand another’s difficulties. Our life is actually not under Our control, for youth will remain for two or three days and soon be finished. In this condition, O creator, what will be Our destination?’””
What the purport teaches
- Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī laments that Kṛṣṇa does not realize the injuries suffered in loving affairs. Love does not know where to strike and where not to strike.
- Even Cupid does not know Their weakened condition. She asks what She can tell anyone, since no one can understand another’s difficulties.
- She laments that life is not under Their control and youth will soon be finished. This lament comes from Rāmānanda Rāya’s Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka.
Try this today
Listen to someone today without assuming you already understand their difficulties.
Ask yourself
How might remembering that another’s difficulties are hard to understand change the way you listen?
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.