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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 14.40

শিশু সব লয়ে পাড়া–পড়সীর ঘরে ।

চুরি করি’ দ্রব্য খায় মারে বালকেরে ॥ ৪০ ॥

śiśu saba laye pāḍā-paḍasīra ghare

curi kari’ dravya khāya māre bālakere

Translation

As usual for small children, He learned to play, and with His playmates He went to the houses of neighboring friends, stealing their eatables and eating them. Sometimes the children fought among themselves.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Plays with His Childhood Companions

  1. 1

    Like small children generally, the Lord learned to play.

  2. 2

    With His playmates, He visited the houses of neighboring friends, stealing their eatables and eating them.

  3. 3

    Sometimes the children fought among themselves.

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. śiśuchildren
  2. sabaall
  3. layetaking with Him
  4. pāḍā-paḍasīraneighboring
  5. gharein the houses
  6. curi kari’stealing
  7. dravyaeatables
  8. khāyaeats
  9. mārefights
  10. bālakerewith other children
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which details show the Lord taking part in the ordinary activities of small children?

Practice

Reread the verse and name its three descriptions of the children’s activities.

Live this todayThe Lord Plays with His Childhood CompanionsThis 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 14.40? Get an answer from the verses themselves.