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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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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 7.119

বিষ্ণুশক্তিঃ পরা প্রোক্তা ক্ষেত্রজ্ঞাখ্যা তথাপরা ।

অবিদ্যাকর্মসংজ্ঞান্যা তৃতীয়া শক্তিরিষ্যতে ॥ ১১৯ ॥

viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā

kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā

avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā

tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate

Translation

“ ‘The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories — namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.’

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Three Categories of Lord Viṣṇu’s Potency

  1. 1

    Lord Viṣṇu’s potency is summarized in three categories: the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance.

  2. 2

    The spiritual potency is full of knowledge. The living entities belong to this potency but are subject to bewilderment.

  3. 3

    The third energy is full of ignorance and is always visible in fruitive activities.

Key points from the purport
  • This is a quotation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.7.61).

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

Collective delight. The Pañca-tattva gives divine love a relational and communal form.

The mood of Ādi 7 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Ādi 7: Lord Caitanya in Five Features

Back to this verse in Ādi 7
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. viṣṇu-śaktiḥthe potency of Lord Viṣṇu
  2. parāspiritual
  3. proktāit is said
  4. kṣetra-jña-ākhyāthe potency known as kṣetra-jña
  5. tathāas well as
  6. parāspiritual
  7. avidyāignorance
  8. karmafruitive activities
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does being spiritual yet subject to bewilderment teach me about myself?

Practice

Write down the three categories of Lord Viṣṇu’s potency and one characteristic of each.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

2 lectures given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayThree Categories of Lord Viṣṇu’s PotencyThis 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 7.119? Get an answer from the verses themselves.