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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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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 ›
Ādi-līlā · Chapter 14: Lord Caitanya’s Childhood Pastimes
Ādi 14.4Ādi 14.6

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 14.5

বন্দে চৈতন্যকৃষ্ণস্য বাল্যলীলাং মনোহরাম্ ।

লৌকিকীমপি তামীশ–চেষ্টয়া বলিতান্তরাম্ ॥ ৫॥

vande caitanya-kṛṣṇasya

bālya-līlāṁ mano-harām

laukikīm api tām īśa-

ceṣṭayā valitāntarām

Translation

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the childhood pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Although such pastimes appear exactly like those of an ordinary child, they should be understood as various pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Ordinary Appearance, Supreme Lord’s Pastimes

  1. 1

    Respectful obeisances are offered to the childhood pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

  2. 2

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

  3. 3

    Although His pastimes appear exactly like those of an ordinary child, they should be understood as pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) this statement is confirmed as follows:

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

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Ādi 14.5 quotesBG 9.11

In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) this statement is confirmed as follows:

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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. vandeI worship
  2. caitanya-kṛṣṇasyaof Lord Caitanya, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself
  3. bālya-līlāpastimes of childhood
  4. manaḥ-harāmwhich are so beautiful
  5. laukikīmappearing ordinary
  6. apialthough
  7. tāmthose
  8. īśa-ceṣṭayāby manifestation of supreme authority
  9. valita-antarāmquite fit although appearing differently
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Sevā · Love translated into service

    Devotional service expressed through cleansing, caring, teaching, honoring others, and living as Kṛṣṇa’s servant. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “offered”

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 should you remember when the Lord’s childhood activities seem ordinary?

Practice

Offer respectful obeisances to the Lord’s childhood pastimes before reading about them today.

Live this todayOrdinary Appearance, Supreme Lord’s 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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