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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 15.71 Antya 15.73

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 15.72

বান্ধব কৃষ্ণ করে ব্যাধের আচার ।

নাহি মানে ধর্মাধর্ম, হরে নারী-মৃগী-মর্ম, করে নানা উপায় তাহার ।। ৭২ ।। ধ্রু ।। ॥ ৭২ ॥

bāndhava kṛṣṇa kare vyādhera ācāra

nāhi māne dharmādharma, hare nārī-mṛgī-marma,

kare nānā upāya tāhāra

Translation

“My dear friend, Kṛṣṇa acts just like a hunter. This hunter does not care for piety or impiety; He simply creates many devices to conquer the cores of the hearts of the doelike gopīs.

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 Conquers the Hearts of the Gopīs

1
Kṛṣṇa is compared to a hunter, and the gopīs are described as doelike.
2
In this comparison, the hunter does not care for piety or impiety.
3
He creates many devices to conquer the very cores of the gopīs’ hearts.

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:

On the night of the rāsa dance, the gopīs, bereaved by Kṛṣṇa’s absence, searched for Kṛṣṇa from one forest to another. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu adopted the same transcendental thoughts as those of the gopīs and was filled with ecstatic emotion.

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

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

bāndhavaO friend
kṛṣṇaLord Kṛṣṇa
karedoes
vyādhera ācārathe behavior of a hunter
nāhinot
mānecares for
dharma-adharmapiety and impiety
hareattracts

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: “gopīs”

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 conquering the cores of the gopīs’ hearts suggest about the depth of their attraction to Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Read this verse together with the preceding description of Kṛṣṇa’s face and smile, noticing how the hunter comparison continues.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Conquers the Hearts of the GopīsThis 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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