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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 17.154
পিতা–মাতা মারি’ খাও—এবা কোন্ ধর্ম ।
কোন্ বলে কর তুমি এমত বিকর্ম ॥ ১৫৪ ॥
pitā-mātā māri’ khāo — ebā kon dharma
kon bale kara tumi e-mata vikarma
“Since the bull and cow are your father and mother, how can you kill and eat them? What kind of religious principle is this? On what strength are you so daring that you commit such sinful activities?”
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
The cow gives milk and the bull helps produce food grains, so they are considered mother and father. According to Vedic civilization, the cow is one of seven mothers.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu challenges killing and eating the cow and bull, asking what religious principle could support such sinful activities.
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement prohibits eating any kind of flesh. It especially stresses the prohibition against cows’ flesh because śāstra identifies the cow as our mother.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.
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
From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:
The King of Vrajabhūmi is Nanda Mahārāja, and the same person in Navadvīpa is Jagannātha Miśra, the father of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similarly, mother Yaśodā is the Queen of Vrajabhūmi, and in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya she is Śacīmātā.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 17
Learn the words of the verse.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
How can my food choices reflect respect for the lives that sustain us?
Eat no flesh today, remembering the cow’s position as mother.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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