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Study a Verse

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 5.83

আদ্যোঽবতারঃ পুরুষঃ পরস্য

কালঃ স্বভাবঃ সদসন্মনশ্চ ।

দ্রব্যং বিকারো গুণ ইন্দ্রিয়াণি

বিরাট্‌ স্বরাট্‌ স্থাস্নু চরিষ্ণু ভূম্নঃ ॥ ৮৩ ॥

ādyo ’vatāraḥ puruṣaḥ parasya

kālaḥ svabhāvaḥ sad-asan manaś ca

dravyaṁ vikāro guṇa indriyāṇi

virāṭ svarāṭ sthāsnu cariṣṇu bhūmnaḥ

Translation

“The puruṣa [Mahā-Viṣṇu] is the primary incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Time, nature, prakṛti (as cause and effect), the mind, the material elements, false ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form, complete independence and the moving and nonmoving beings appear subsequently as His opulences.”

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Material Nature Depends on Mahā-Viṣṇu

  1. 1

    Mahā-Viṣṇu is the plenary portion through whom Lord Kṛṣṇa conducts the affairs of material creation. He is the primal beginning of all incarnations.

  2. 2

    Material nature cannot independently supply the material elements or cause the material manifestation. Both powers come from the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu.

  3. 3

    The Lord’s plenary expansions are as good as Viṣṇu Himself, like many flames lit from one flame. Their work of empowering material energy gives them a relationship with māyā.

Key points from the purport
  • Inexperienced observers presume that the material energy provides both the cause and the elements of the cosmic manifestation and that the living entities are the enjoyers of material nature.
  • Material nature gets the power to supply the material elements from the glance of the supreme puruṣa, Mahā-Viṣṇu, and when empowered by Him she is called the cause of the material manifestation.
  • Both features of material nature, as the cause of the material creation and as the source of its elements, exist due to the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Ādi 5.83 quotesSB 2.6.42

This is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.6.42).

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

How it feels

Shelter and wonder. The glory of Nityānanda reveals the intimate support behind the descent.

The mood of Ādi 5 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 5: The Glories Of Lord Nityānanda Balarāma

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

In the Causal Ocean is Mahā-Viṣṇu, the original puruṣa expansion from Saṅkarṣaṇa. Mahā-Viṣṇu places His glance over the material energy, and by a reflection of His transcendental body He amalgamates Himself within the material elements.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 5
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. ādyaḥ avatāraḥthe original incarnation
  2. puruṣaḥMahā-Viṣṇu
  3. parasyaof the Supreme Lord
  4. kālaḥtime
  5. svabhāvaḥnature
  6. sat-asatcause and effect
  7. manaḥ caas well as the mind
  8. dravyamthe five elements
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Bhāva & rasa · The language of sacred feeling

    Transcendental devotional moods and relationships, discussed explicitly in Rāmānanda’s dialogue and the teachings on prema. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “relationship”

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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this teaching change your understanding of material nature’s power?

Practice

Look at one natural object today and recall that material nature’s power depends on Mahā-Viṣṇu.

Live this todayMaterial Nature Depends on Mahā-ViṣṇuThis 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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