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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 17.127

কেহ কীর্তন না করিহ সকল নগরে ।

আজি আমি ক্ষমা করি’ যাইতেছোঁ ঘরে ॥ ১২৭ ॥

keha kīrtana nā kariha sakala nagare

āji āmi kṣamā kari’ yāitechoṅ ghare

Translation

“No one should perform saṅkīrtana on the streets of the city. Today I am excusing the offense and returning home.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Continue saṅkīrtana despite opposition

  1. 1

    The Kazi forbade saṅkīrtana in the city streets, saying that he would excuse the offense that day.

  2. 2

    Śrīla Prabhupāda describes similar restrictions and arrests faced by the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. Despite them, devotees continued street chanting to execute Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s order.

  3. 3

    The purport presents this continuing opposition as evidence that the saṅkīrtana movement remains pure and genuine, following in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s footsteps.

Key points from the purport
  • Such orders stopping saṅkīrtana in the streets of the world’s great cities have been imposed upon members of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement.
  • In most cities of the Western world we have been arrested many times by the police, but we are nevertheless executing the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by chanting on the streets of all the important cities, such as New York, London, Chicago, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and Hamburg.
  • Similar demons are trying to obstruct the saṅkīrtana movement we are executing all over the world, and this proves that our saṅkīrtana movement is still pure and genuine, following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

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

Public courage and ecstatic joy. The saṅkīrtana movement confronts opposition and moves toward recognition and expansion.

The mood of Ādi 17 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 17: The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Youth

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa assumed the form of the four-armed Nārāyaṇa, the gopīs showed their respect, but they were not very interested in Him. In the ecstatic love of the gopīs, all worshipable forms but Kṛṣṇa are rejected.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 17
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. kehaanyone
  2. kīrtanachanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra
  3. nādo not
  4. karihaperform
  5. sakala nagarein the whole town
  6. ājitoday
  7. āmiI
  8. kṣamā kari’excusing
  9. yāitechoṅam returning
  10. gharehome
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Nāma-saṅkīrtana · The holy name shared together

    Chanting the holy names as the yuga-dharma, the Lord’s public movement, and the opening prayer of Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “saṅkīrtana”, “chanting”

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 helps me remain steady in chanting when I meet discouragement?

Practice

Set aside a short time for chanting today, even if you feel discouraged.

Live this todayContinue saṅkīrtana despite oppositionThis 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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