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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 17.249
কৃষ্ণনাম না লও কেনে, কৃষ্ণনাম—ধন্য ।
‘গোপী’ ‘গোপী’ বলিলে বা কিবা হয় পুণ্য ॥ ২৪৯ ॥
kṛṣṇa-nāma nā lao kene, kṛṣṇa-nāma — dhanya
‘gopī’ ‘gopī’ balile vā kibā haya puṇya
“Why are You chanting the names ‘gopī gopī’ instead of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is so glorious? What pious result will You achieve by such chanting?”
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
The activities of a pure devotee cannot be understood even by a learned person. The neophyte student could not understand why Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was chanting the names of the gopīs.
To chant Kṛṣṇa’s holy name in exchange for the achievement of piety is an offense. The student did not know this when he asked what pious result such chanting would bring.
Chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa or the holy name gopī is on the transcendental platform of loving affairs. It is not a question of piety or impiety.
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:
All the Lord’s other associates, situated in their original love, engage in the service of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The same Absolute Truth who enjoys as Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, who plays His flute and dances with the gopīs, sometimes takes birth in a brāhmaṇa family and plays the part of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, accepting the renounced order of life.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 17
Learn the words of the 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”, “names of”
Vraja-smaraṇa · Remembrance of Vṛndāvana
The remembered sweetness of Vraja that colors Mahāprabhu’s pilgrimage, Ratha-yātrā, and later states of separation. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “gopī”, “gopīs”
Sādhu-saṅga · Love grows through association
Spiritual association shapes the movement, empowers disciples, and reveals truths through loving conversations. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “pure devotee”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
Do I approach chanting as loving service or as a way to gain pious results?
Chant Kṛṣṇa’s holy name today without asking for a pious reward.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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