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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

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 ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 17.49

লোক সব উদ্ধারিতে তোমার অবতার ।

মুঞি বড় দুখী, মোরে করহ উদ্ধার ॥ ৪৯ ॥

loka saba uddhārite tomāra avatāra

muñi baḍa dukhī, more karaha uddhāra

Translation

“As an incarnation of God, You are delivering so many fallen souls. I am also a greatly unhappy fallen soul. Kindly deliver me by Your mercy.”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Deliverance Means More Than Bodily Relief

  1. 1

    Although sinful, talkative and insulting, Gopāla Cāpāla had the qualification of simplicity. He believed Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who delivers fallen souls.

  2. 2

    He sought the Lord’s mercy but wanted relief from leprosy. He did not understand that deliverance means freedom from material clutches, not merely curing bodily disease.

  3. 3

    The purport states that bodily diseases are automatically cured when one is delivered from material clutches. Śrī Caitanya accepted his sincere appeal but wanted to teach him the real cause of suffering.

Key points from the purport
  • Thus he believed Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who had come to deliver all fallen souls, and he appealed for his own deliverance, seeking the mercy of the Lord.
  • He did not know, however, that the deliverance of the fallen does not consist of curing their bodily diseases, although it is also a fact that when a man is delivered from the material clutches his material bodily diseases are automatically cured.
  • Gopāla Cāpāla simply wanted to be delivered from the bodily sufferings of leprosy, but Śrī Caitanya, although accepting his sincere appeal, wanted to inform him of the real cause of suffering.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

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:

In this chapter we shall find descriptions of the mango distribution festival and Lord Caitanya’s discourses with Chand Kazi. Finally, the chapter shows that the same son of mother Yaśodā, Lord Kṛṣṇa, tasted four transcendental mellows of devotional service in His form of Śacīnandana, the son of mother Śacī.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 17
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. lokapeople
  2. sabaall
  3. uddhāriteto deliver
  4. tomāraYour
  5. avatāraincarnation
  6. muñiI (am)
  7. baḍavery
  8. dukhīunhappy
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Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Kṛpā & transformation · Mercy changes a life

    Transformative encounters with grace, from scholars and travelers to renunciants and householders. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “mercy”, “delivering”, “delivers”

  • 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: “fallen”

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

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

When I seek the Lord’s mercy, do I seek only bodily relief or deliverance from material bondage?

Practice

Offer a brief, sincere prayer to Caitanya Mahāprabhu for His mercy and for understanding beyond bodily relief.

Live this todayDeliverance Means More Than Bodily ReliefThis 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.

Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Ādi 17.49? Get an answer from the verses themselves.