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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 14.21

তবে কত দিনে প্রভুর জানু–চংক্রমণ ।

নানা চমৎকার তথা করাইল দর্শন ॥ ২১ ॥

tabe kata dine prabhura jānu-caṅkramaṇa

nānā camatkāra tathā karāila darśana

Translation

After some days the Lord began to crawl on His knees, and He caused various wonderful things to be seen.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Crawling Lord Reveals Wonderful Pastimes

  1. 1

    The Lord began crawling on His knees and caused wonderful things to be seen.

  2. 2

    The Caitanya-bhāgavata describes Him crawling with the bells on His waist ringing sweetly. Like a curious child, He captured a snake that entered the yard.

  3. 3

    The snake coiled over Him, and the child Lord rested on it. After some time, the snake went away, leaving Him aside.

Key points from the purport
  • The Caitanya-bhāgavata describes that one day while the Lord was crawling upon His knees, the bells on His waist ringing very sweetly, a snake came out to crawl in the yard of the Lord, who captured the snake like a curious child.
  • The Lord as a child then rested on the snake, and after some time the snake went away, leaving the Lord aside.

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
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. tabethereafter
  2. katasome
  3. dinedays
  4. prabhuraof the Lord
  5. jānuknees
  6. caṅkramaṇathe crawling
  7. nānāvarious
  8. camatkārawonderful
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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which detail of this wonderful childhood pastime draws your attention most?

Practice

Reread this pastime slowly today, noticing the details of the Lord’s crawling and resting.

Live this todayThe Crawling Lord Reveals Wonderful PastimesThis 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.

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