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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 14.48

কভু শিশু–সঙ্গে স্নান করিল গঙ্গাতে ।

কন্যাগণ আইলা তাহাঁ দেবতা পূজিতে ॥ ৪৮ ॥

kabhu śiśu-saṅge snāna karila gaṅgāte

kanyāgaṇa āilā tāhāṅ devatā pūjite

Translation

Sometimes the Lord would go with other children to bathe in the Ganges, and the neighboring girls would also come there to worship various demigods.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Bathing and Worship Beside the Ganges

  1. 1

    Sometimes the Lord went with other children to bathe in the Ganges. Neighboring girls also came there to worship various demigods.

  2. 2

    According to the Vedic system, girls ten or twelve years old especially worshiped Lord Śiva, praying for good husbands. They wanted a husband like him because he is very peaceful and most powerful.

  3. 3

    Girls in Hindu families formerly worshiped Lord Śiva especially in Vaiśākha, during April-May. Bathing in the Ganges is a great pleasure for children as well as adults.

Key points from the purport
  • According to the Vedic system, when small girls ten or twelve years old would go to the bank of the Ganges to take their bath, they would especially worship Lord Śiva with prayers to get good husbands in the future.
  • Formerly, therefore, small girls in Hindu families would worship Lord Śiva, especially in the month of Vaiśākha (April-May).
  • To take a bath in the Ganges is a great pleasure for everyone, not only for adults but for children also.

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:

The chapter further describes how He displayed Himself as a naughty boy, how when His mother fainted He brought a coconut to her on His head, how He joked with girls of the same age on the banks of the Ganges, how He accepted worshipful paraphernalia from Śrīmatī Lakṣmīdevī, how He sat down in a garbage pit and instructed His mother in transcendental knowledge, how He left the pit on the order of His mother, and how He dealt with His father with full affection.”
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. kabhusometimes
  2. śiśu-saṅgealong with other children
  3. snānabathing
  4. kariladid
  5. gaṅgātein the Ganges
  6. kanyā-gaṇathe girls
  7. āilācame there
  8. tāhāṅon the bank of the Ganges
  9. devatādemigods
  10. pūjiteto worship
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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What qualities of Lord Śiva did the girls hope to find in their future husbands?

Practice

Write down the two qualities of Lord Śiva highlighted in the purport.

Live this todayBathing and Worship Beside the GangesThis 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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