1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

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

Or browse by līlā and chapter

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 14.58

যদি নৈবেদ্য না দেহ হইয়া কৃপণী ।

বুড়া ভর্তা হবে, আর চারি চারি সতিনী ॥ ৫৮ ॥

yadi naivedya nā deha ha-iyā kṛpaṇī

buḍā bhartā habe, āra cāri cāri satinī

Translation

“If you are miserly and do not give Me the offerings, every one of you will have an old husband with at least four co-wives.”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Challenges Their Unwillingness to Offer

  1. 1

    The Lord warned the girls that if they withheld the offerings, each would have an old husband with at least four co-wives.

  2. 2

    The purport explains that polygamy was allowed in India in those days, especially among the higher castes. Even a man more than fifty years old could marry.

  3. 3

    Having a husband with many wives was not pleasing because his love would be divided. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu apparently wanted to curse the girls who were unwilling to offer Him the naivedya.

Key points from the purport
  • In India in those days and even until fifty years ago, polygamy was freely allowed.
  • In the Mahābhārata, or the old history of India, we see that kṣatriya kings especially used to marry many wives.
  • To punish the girls unwilling to offer Him the naivedya, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu apparently wanted to curse them to be married to men who had at least four wives.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. yadiif
  2. naivedyaoffering
  3. nādo not
  4. dehagive Me
  5. ha-iyābecoming
  6. kṛpaṇīmiser
  7. buḍāold
  8. bhartāhusband
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Prema · Love of Godhead

    The culminating devotional purpose that unites the narration: bestowed, cultivated, taught, celebrated, and tasted. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “love”

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

How does the explanation of divided affection help you understand why the girls would fear this warning?

Practice

Reflect for a moment on your willingness to give an offering to the Lord.

Live this todayThe Lord Challenges Their Unwillingness to OfferThis 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 14.58? Get an answer from the verses themselves.