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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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Antya-līlā · 20 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 · Text Antya 17.36

ধর্ম ছাড়ায় বেণুদ্বারে, হানে কটাক্ষ-কামশরে, লজ্জা, ভয়, সকল ছাড়ায় ।

এবে আমায় করি’ রোষ, কহি’ পতিত্যাগে ‘দোষ’, ধার্মিক হঞা ধর্ম শিখায় ! ৩৬ ।। ॥ ৩৬ ॥

dharma chāḍāya veṇu-dvāre, hāne kaṭākṣa-kāma-śare,

lajjā, bhaya, sakala chāḍāya

ebe āmāya kari’ roṣa, kahi’ pati-tyāge ‘doṣa’,

dhārmika hañā dharma śikhāya!

Translation

“ ‘The vibration of Your flute, accompanied by Your glance, which pierces us forcibly with the arrows of lust, induces us to ignore the regulative principles of religious life. Thus we become excited by lusty desires and come to You, giving up all shame and fear. But now You are angry with us. You are finding fault with our violating religious principles and leaving our homes and husbands. And as You instruct us about religious principles, we become helpless.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Drawn Near, Then Left Helpless

  1. 1

    The gopīs said that Kṛṣṇa’s flute and glance pierced them with arrows of lust, drawing them beyond the regulative principles of religious life.

  2. 2

    They came to Him with excited desires, giving up shame and fear and leaving their homes and husbands.

  3. 3

    Yet Kṛṣṇa now found fault with these actions. His instructions about religious principles left them helpless.

How it feels

Inconceivable ecstatic absorption. The Lord’s overwhelming love manifests extraordinary bodily changes.

The mood of Antya 17 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Antya 17: The Bodily Transformations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Śrīla Prabhupāda's summary of this chapter:

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives the following summary of the seventeenth chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Absorbed in transcendental ecstasy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went out one night without opening the doors to His room. After crossing over three walls, He fell down among some cows belonging to the district of Tailaṅga. There He remained unconscious, assuming the aspect of a tortoise.
Back to this verse in Antya 17
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. dharmareligious principles
  2. chāḍāyainduces to reject
  3. veṇu-dvārethrough the flute
  4. hānepierces
  5. kaṭākṣaglancing
  6. kāma-śareby the arrows of lust
  7. lajjāshame
  8. bhayafear
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: “gopīs”

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

Why did Kṛṣṇa’s instructions leave the gopīs feeling helpless after His flute had drawn them to Him?

Practice

Write one sentence describing the contrast between Kṛṣṇa drawing the gopīs near and then finding fault with their coming.

Live this todayDrawn Near, Then Left HelplessThis 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 Antya 17.36? Get an answer from the verses themselves.