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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 14.75

ইহা শুনি’ মাতাকে কহিল ব্রহ্মজ্ঞান ।

বিস্মিত হইয়া মাতা করাইল স্নান ॥ ৭৫ ॥

ihā śuni’ mātāke kahila brahma-jñāna

vismitā ha-iyā mātā karāila snāna

Translation

Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His mother about absolute knowledge. Although amazed by this, His mother forced Him to take a bath.

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Understand Everything in Relationship with Viṣṇu

  1. 1

    The Lord explained that calling these pots pure or impure was a worldly sentiment without a factual basis. Food had been cooked in them and offered to Lord Viṣṇu.

  2. 2

    Everything in relationship with Viṣṇu is to be considered an expansion of Viṣṇu’s energy. Viṣṇu, the Supersoul, is eternal and uncontaminated.

  3. 3

    Mother Śacī was astonished by the Lord’s explanation of absolute knowledge. Nevertheless, she forced Him to take a bath.

Key points from the purport
  • The absolute knowledge explained by the Lord to His mother is described by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya as follows: “The Lord said, ‘Mother, that this is pure and that is impure is surely a worldly sentiment with no basis in fact.
  • How then may these pots be considered pure or impure?’
  • Hearing this discourse on absolute knowledge, His mother was very much astonished and forced Him to take a bath.”

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. ihā śuni’hearing this
  2. mātākeunto His mother
  3. kahilaexplained
  4. brahma-jñānaabsolute knowledge
  5. vismitāamazed
  6. ha-iyābecoming
  7. mātāthe mother
  8. karāilaforced
  9. snānabathing
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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: “cooked”, “offered”

  • Bhāva & rasa · The language of sacred feeling

    Transcendental devotional moods and relationships, discussed explicitly in Rāmānanda’s dialogue and the teachings on prema. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “relationship”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the pots’ relationship with Viṣṇu change the way they are understood?

Practice

Write one sentence today explaining why the Lord said these pots should not be considered untouchable.

Live this todayUnderstand Everything in Relationship with ViṣṇuThis 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 14.75? Get an answer from the verses themselves.