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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

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
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 17.301 Ādi 17.303

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 17.302

তিহঁ শ্যাম,—বংশীমুখ, গোপবিলাসী ।

ইহঁ গৌর—কভু দ্বিজ, কভু ত’ সন্ন্যাসী ॥ ৩০২ ॥

tihaṅ śyāma, — vaṁśī-mukha, gopa-vilāsī

ihaṅ gaura — kabhu dvija, kabhu ta’ sannyāsī

Translation

In kṛṣṇa-līlā the Lord’s complexion is blackish. Holding a flute to His mouth, He enjoys as a cowherd boy. Now the selfsame person has appeared with a fair complexion, sometimes acting as a brāhmaṇa and sometimes accepting the renounced order of life.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Same Lord Appears in Different Forms

1
In kṛṣṇa-līlā, the Lord has a blackish complexion and enjoys as a cowherd boy, holding a flute to His mouth.
2
The selfsame person has now appeared with a fair complexion.
3
He sometimes acts as a brāhmaṇa and sometimes accepts the renounced order of life.

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

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

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

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. It appears contradictory that the same Kṛṣṇa accepted the ecstasy of the gopīs, and of course this is very difficult for an ordinary person to understand.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Ādi 17

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

tihaṅin kṛṣṇa-līlā
śyāmablackish color
vaṁśī-mukhaa flute in the mouth
gopa-vilāsīan enjoyer as a cowherd boy
ihaṅnow
gaurafair complexion
kabhusometimes
dvijabrāhmaṇa

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks 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: “cowherd”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this description help me recognize the same Lord in His different appearances?

Practice

Read the translation once more, noting what changes in the Lord’s appearance and what remains the same.

Live this todayThe Same Lord Appears in Different FormsThis 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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