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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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Antya-līlā · 20 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
6Take one thing into your day. Note one point and one practice.

Read the full guide: how to read Caitanya Caritamrta ›

Antya-līlā · Chapter 15: The Transcendental Madness of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Antya 15.22 Antya 15.24

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 15.23

কৃষ্ণের অধরামৃত, তাতে কর্পূর মন্দস্মিত, স্ব-মাধুর্যে হরে নারীর মন ।

অন্যত্র ছাড়ায় লোভ, না পাইলে মনে ক্ষোভ, ব্রজনারীগণের মূলধন ।।” ২৩ ।। ॥ ২৩ ॥

kṛṣṇera adharāmṛta, tāte karpūra manda-smita,

sva-mādhurye hare nārīra mana

anyatra chāḍāya lobha, nā pāile mane kṣobha,

vraja-nārī-gaṇera mūla-dhana”

Translation

“Kṛṣṇa’s lips are so sweet when combined with the camphor of His gentle smile that they attract the minds of all women, forcing them to give up all other attractions. If the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s smile is unobtainable, great mental difficulties and lamentation result. That sweetness is the only wealth of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana.”

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa’s Smile Is the Gopīs’ Only Wealth

1
The sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s lips combines with the camphor of His gentle smile. Together they attract the minds of all women.
2
This sweetness forces them to give up all other attractions. When it is unobtainable, great mental difficulties and lamentation follow.
3
The sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s smile is the only wealth of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana.

How it feels

Absorbed searching. The Lord lives the gopīs’ search for Kṛṣṇa with ecstatic transformations.

The mood of Antya 15 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Antya 15: The Transcendental Madness of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

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

When He saw the garden on the beach by the sea, He again thought that He was in Vṛndāvana, and when He began to think of Kṛṣṇa engaging in His different pastimes, transcendental emotions excited Him again. On the night of the rāsa dance, the gopīs, bereaved by Kṛṣṇa’s absence, searched for Kṛṣṇa from one forest to another.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Antya 15

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

kṛṣṇeraof Lord Kṛṣṇa
adhara-amṛtathe sweetness of the lips
tātewith that
karpūracamphor
manda-smitagentle smile
sva-mādhuryeby His sweetness
hareattracts
nārīra manathe minds of all women

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”, “gopīs”
Vipralambha · Love in separation
Separation that intensifies remembrance and longing; especially central to the confidential pastimes at Purī. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “lamentation”
Kīrtana community · A movement of shared hearts
Devotional community as a living network of branches, service, festivals, care, and collective chanting. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “together”

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

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does calling Kṛṣṇa’s smile the gopīs’ “only wealth” reveal about their attraction to Him?

Practice

Copy the final sentence of the translation and pause to reflect on the words “only wealth.”

Live this todayKṛṣṇa’s Smile Is the Gopīs’ Only WealthThis 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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