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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 14.88

বিপ্র কহে,—পুত্র যদি দৈব–সিদ্ধ হয় ।

স্বতঃসিদ্ধজ্ঞান, তবে শিক্ষা ব্যর্থ হয় ॥ ৮৮ ॥

vipra kahe, — putra yadi daiva-siddha haya

svataḥ-siddha-jñāna, tabe śikṣā vyartha haya

Translation

The brāhmaṇa replied, “If your son is a transcendental mystic boy with self-effulgent perfect knowledge, what is the use of your education?”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Perfect Knowledge Needs No Education

  1. 1

    The brāhmaṇa in Jagannātha Miśra’s dream told him that his son was not an ordinary human being.

  2. 2

    A transcendental person would possess self-effulgent, perfect knowledge.

  3. 3

    The brāhmaṇa therefore questioned the need to educate Him.

Key points from the purport
  • The brāhmaṇa Jagannātha Miśra saw in his dream told him that his son was not an ordinary human being.
  • If He were a transcendental person, He would have self-effulgent knowledge, and thus there would be no need to educate Him.

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. vipra kahethe brāhmaṇa replied
  2. putrason
  3. yadiif
  4. daivatranscendental
  5. siddhamystic
  6. hayawere
  7. svataḥ-siddha-jñānaself-illuminated perfect knowledge
  8. tabeat that time
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does self-effulgent, perfect knowledge differ from knowledge gained through education?

Practice

Write one sentence explaining why the brāhmaṇa said that such a transcendental person would not need education.

Live this todayPerfect Knowledge Needs No EducationThis 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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