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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

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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 ›
Ādi-līlā · Chapter 17: The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Youth
Ādi 17.20Ādi 17.22

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 17.21

হরের্নাম হরের্নাম হরের্নামৈব কেবলম্‌ ।

কলৌ নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব গতিরন্যথা ॥ ২১ ॥

harer nāma harer nāma

harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva

nāsty eva gatir anyathā

Translation

“ ‘In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.’

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Chanting Is the Only Means

  1. 1

    In the Age of Kali, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari is the means for self-realization.

  2. 2

    The translation repeats “chanting the holy name” three times, placing chanting at the center of the instruction.

  3. 3

    It also repeats “no other means” three times. The teaching presents chanting as the only means, not merely one option.

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:

The seventeenth chapter, as summarized by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, describes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes from His sixteenth year until the time He accepted the renounced order of life. Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has already vividly described these pastimes in the Caitanya-bhāgavata; therefore Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī describes them only briefly.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 17
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. hareḥ nāmathe holy name of the Lord
  2. hareḥ nāmathe holy name of the Lord
  3. hareḥ nāmathe holy name of the Lord
  4. evacertainly
  5. kevalamonly
  6. kalauin the Age of Kali
  7. na astithere is none
  8. evacertainly
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: “chanting”, “holy name”, “hari”

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

How could you give chanting the holy name a more definite place in your day?

Practice

Set aside a few minutes today to chant the holy name of Lord Hari.

5

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

1 lecture given on it · quoted in 24 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 24 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayChant the holy nameA practice of bhakti taught in this verse

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

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