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Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.
Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 16.79
‘গঙ্গাতে কমল জন্মে’—সবার সুবোধ ।
‘কমলে গঙ্গার জন্ম’—অত্যন্ত বিরোধ ॥ ৭৯ ॥
‘gaṅgāte kamala janme’ — sabāra subodha
‘kamale gaṅgāra janma’ — atyanta virodha
“Everyone knows that lotus flowers grow in the water of the Ganges. But to say that the Ganges takes birth from a lotus flower seems extremely contradictory.
Read this verse on Vedabase.ioThis verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.
Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.
Everyone knows that lotus flowers grow in the water of the Ganges.
The statement being considered says that the Ganges takes birth from a lotus flower.
This reversal seems extremely contradictory.
Grief and transformed pride. Lakṣmīdevī’s departure brings sorrow; Keśava Kāśmīrī’s pride yields to surrender.
The mood of Ādi 16 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas
From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:
This chapter also describes the Lord’s argument with Keśava Kāśmīrī, the celebrated scholar, and the Lord’s criticism of his prayer glorifying mother Ganges. In this prayer the Lord found five kinds of literary ornaments and five kinds of literary faults, thus defeating the paṇḍita.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 16
Learn the words of the verse.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
Why does saying that the Ganges comes from a lotus flower seem contradictory?
Write the two statements side by side: lotus flowers grow in the Ganges; the Ganges takes birth from a lotus flower.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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