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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 ›
Ādi-līlā · Chapter 7: Lord Caitanya in Five Features
Ādi 7.4Ādi 7.6

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Ādi 7.5

পঞ্চতত্ত্ব—একবস্তু, নাহি কিছু ভেদ ।

রস আস্বাদিতে তবু বিবিধ বিভেদ ॥ ৫॥

pañca-tattva — eka-vastu, nāhi kichu bheda

rasa āsvādite tabu vividha vibheda

Translation

Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas, for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute. Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world, and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Oneness Includes Eternal Variety

  1. 1

    The members of the Pañca-tattva are on the same absolute spiritual platform. Their different manifestations allow the tasting of eternal spiritual varieties, or rasas.

  2. 2

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the form of a devotee, Nityānanda Prabhu a devotee’s spiritual master, and Advaita Prabhu a devotee incarnation. Gadādhara Prabhu is the energy of a devotee, and Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is a pure devotee.

  3. 3

    Lord Viṣṇu is the predominator, while His spiritual and marginal energies are predominated subjects. These spiritual distinctions do not separate the worshiper from the worshipable; on the absolute platform, neither can be understood without the other.

Key points from the purport
  • In his Anubhāṣya commentary Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura describes the Pañca-tattva as follows: The supreme energetic, the Personality of Godhead, manifesting in order to enjoy five kinds of pastimes, appears as the members of the Pañca-tattva.
  • Actually there is no difference between them because they are situated on the absolute platform, but they manifest different spiritual varieties as a challenge to the impersonalists to taste different kinds of spiritual humors (rasas).
  • On the absolute platform, one cannot be understood without the other.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. pañca-tattvathe five subjects
  2. eka-vastuthey are one in five
  3. nāhithere is not
  4. kichuanything
  5. bhedadifference
  6. rasamellows
  7. āsvāditeto taste
  8. tabuyet
  9. vividhavarieties
  10. vibhedadifferences
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Sādhu-saṅga · Love grows through association

    Spiritual association shapes the movement, empowers disciples, and reveals truths through loving conversations. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “pure devotee”

  • 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: “rasas”

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 help me understand spiritual oneness without denying spiritual variety?

Practice

Write the names of the five members of the Pañca-tattva beside their distinct roles given here.

5

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todaySpiritual Oneness Includes Eternal VarietyThis 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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