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Study a Verse

Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Ādi-līlā · 17 chapters

How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
  4. 4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
  5. 5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
  6. 6Take one thing into your day. Note one point and one practice.
Read the full guide: how to read Caitanya Caritamrta ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 14.19

সর্বলোকের করিবে ইহঁ ধারণ, পোষণ ।

‘বিশ্বম্ভর’ নাম ইহার,—এই ত’ কারণ ॥ ১৯ ॥

sarva-lokera karibe ihaṅ dhāraṇa, poṣaṇa

‘viśvambhara’ nāma ihāra, — ei ta’ kāraṇa

Translation

“In the future this child will protect and maintain all the world. For this reason He is to be called Viśvambhara.”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Viśvambhara Protects and Maintains the World

  1. 1

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is called Viśvambhara because He protects and maintains the world. The name refers to one who feeds the entire world.

  2. 2

    The Caitanya-bhāgavata confirms that His birth made the whole world peaceful, as Nārāyaṇa previously protected the earth as Varāha.

  3. 3

    The purport describes people being saved, protected and maintained by the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. Followers expressed their safety, happiness and gratitude in many letters.

Key points from the purport
  • The Caitanya-bhāgavata confirms that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by His birth, has made the whole world peaceful, as in the past Nārāyaṇa protected this earth in His incarnation as Varāha.
  • Because of His protecting and maintaining this world in the present Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is known as Viśvambhara, which refers to one who feeds the entire world.
  • The movement inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was present five hundred years ago is again being propagated all over the world, and factually we are seeing its practical results.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Parental tenderness and play. Nimāi’s childhood alternates affection, mischief, and revelations.

The mood of Ādi 14 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 14: Lord Caitanya’s Childhood Pastimes

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given a summary of this chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya: “In the fourteenth chapter there is a description of how Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed His childhood pastimes — crawling, crying, eating dirt and giving intelligence to His mother, favoring a brāhmaṇa guest, riding on the shoulders of two thieves and misleading them to His own house, and, on the plea of being diseased, taking prasādam in the house of Hiraṇya and Jagadīśa on the Ekādaśī day.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 14
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. sarva-lokeraof all people
  2. karibewill do
  3. ihaṅthis child
  4. dhāraṇaprotection
  5. poṣaṇamaintenance
  6. viśvambharathe name Viśvambhara
  7. nāmaname
  8. ihāraHis
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Kīrtana community · A movement of shared hearts

    Devotional community as a living network of branches, service, festivals, care, and collective chanting. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “followers”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What stands out to you about the meaning of the name Viśvambhara?

Practice

Take a moment today to say the name Viśvambhara and recall its meaning: one who feeds the entire world.

Live this todayViśvambhara Protects and Maintains the WorldThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Ādi 14.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.