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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 · Texts Ādi 6.14-15

মায়া যৈছে দুই অংশ—‘নিমিত্ত’, ‘উপাদান’ ।

মায়া—‘নিমিত্ত’–হেতু, উপাদান—‘প্রধান’ ॥ ১৪ ॥

পুরুষ ঈশ্বর ঐছে দ্বিমূর্তি হইয়া ।

বিশ্ব–সৃষ্টি করে ‘নিমিত্ত’ ‘উপাদান’ লঞা ॥ ১৫ ॥

māyā yaiche dui aṁśa — ‘nimitta’, ‘upādāna’

māyā — ‘nimitta’-hetu, upādāna — ‘pradhāna’

Translation

Just as the external energy consists of two parts — the efficient cause [nimitta] and the material cause [upādāna], māyā being the efficient cause and pradhāna the material cause — so Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, assumes two forms to create the material world with the efficient and material causes.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Causes Both Worlds

  1. 1

    The external energy has two parts: māyā is the efficient cause, and pradhāna is the material cause. Lord Viṣṇu assumes two forms to create the material world with these causes.

  2. 2

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is indirectly the cause of the material cosmos and directly the cause of the spiritual world. The spiritual world includes innumerable Vaikuṇṭhas and His personal abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

  3. 3

    The Supreme Lord is the cause of both the material and spiritual worlds. The purport rejects as meaningless the argument that the cosmos comes from an inexplicable unmanifested void.

Key points from the purport
  • One conclusion is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-blissful, eternal, all knowing form, is indirectly the cause of this cosmic manifestation and directly the cause of the spiritual world, where there are innumerable spiritual planets known as Vaikuṇṭhas, as well as His personal abode, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana.
  • As in the material world there are innumerable planets and universes, so in the spiritual world there are also innumerable spiritual planets and universes, including the Vaikuṇṭhas and Goloka.
  • The Supreme Lord is the cause of both the material and spiritual worlds.

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

Devotional appeal. The glory of Advaita frames service as the deepest form of greatness.

The mood of Ādi 6 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 6: The Glories of Śrī Advaita Ācārya

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

It is said that material nature has two features, namely the material cause and the efficient cause. The efficient causal activities are caused by Mahā-Viṣṇu, and the material causal activities are caused by another form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, known as Advaita.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Ādi 6
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. māyāthe external energy
  2. yaicheas
  3. dui aṁśatwo parts
  4. nimittathe cause
  5. upādānathe ingredients
  6. māyāthe material energy
  7. nimitta-hetuoriginal cause
  8. upādānaingredients
3

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: “vṛndāvana”

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 recognizing the Supreme Lord as the cause of both worlds shape your understanding of creation?

Practice

Write down the two causes named in the translation and match each with māyā or pradhāna.

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Causes Both WorldsThis 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 6.14-15? Get an answer from the verses themselves.