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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 4.144
দর্পণাদ্যে দেখি’ যদি আপন মাধুরী ।
আস্বাদিতে হয় লোভ, আস্বাদিতে নারি ॥ ১৪৪ ॥
darpaṇādye dekhi’ yadi āpana mādhurī
āsvādite haya lobha, āsvādite nāri
“If I see My sweetness in a mirror, I am tempted to taste it, but nevertheless I cannot.
Read this verse on Vedabase.ioThis verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.
Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.
Kṛṣṇa speaks of seeing His own sweetness in a mirror.
Seeing it tempts Him to taste it.
Nevertheless, He says that He cannot taste it.
Profound longing. Kṛṣṇa desires to taste Rādhā’s love, His own sweetness as She sees it, and Her joy.
The mood of Ādi 4 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:
Rādhārāṇī’s attraction for Kṛṣṇa is sublime, and to experience that attraction and understand the transcendental sweetness of Himself, He accepted the mentality of Rādhārāṇī. The third reason that Lord Caitanya appeared was to enjoy the bliss tasted by Rādhārāṇī.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 4
Learn the words of the verse.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What strikes me about the difference between seeing His sweetness and tasting it?
Read the verse once more and briefly reflect on Kṛṣṇa’s expressed desire to taste His own sweetness.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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