1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min
Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.
Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 17.31
তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥ ৩১ ॥
tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
One who is humbler than grass, more tolerant than a tree, and respectful without expecting honor can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.
Grass is mentioned because everyone tramples upon it, yet it never protests.
A spiritual master or leader should not be proud of his position. Remaining humbler than an ordinary common man, he should continue preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
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:
As Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa Himself assumed the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to taste Her ecstatic situation. No one else could do this.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.
Dainya & humility · Making room for grace
The humility expressed by the author, devotees, transformed scholars, renunciants, and the Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “lower than”, “tolerant”, “humbler”
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: “chant”, “holy name”
Śikṣāṣṭaka · The eightfold inner culmination
Eight prayers that lead from glorifying the holy name through humility and selfless love to unconditional attachment to Kṛṣṇa. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “tolerant than a tree”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
Does any position I hold make me expect special honor from others?
Before chanting today, recall the example of grass and resolve to give respect without expecting it.
His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.
Quoted in 75 lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.
In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Ādi 17.31? Get an answer from the verses themselves.