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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

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 17.38

বেণুনাদ অমৃত-ঘোলে, অমৃত-সমান মিঠা বোলে, অমৃত-সমান ভূষণ-শিঞ্জিত ।

তিন অমৃতে হরে কাণ, হরে মন, হরে প্রাণ, কেমনে নারী ধরিবেক চিত ?” ৩৮ ।। ॥ ৩৮ ॥

veṇu-nāda amṛta-ghole, amṛta-samāna miṭhā bole,

amṛta-samāna bhūṣaṇa-śiñjita

tina amṛte hare kāṇa, hare mana, hare prāṇa,

kemane nārī dharibeka cita?”

Translation

“ ‘The nectarean buttermilk of Your flute’s vibration, the nectar of Your sweet words and the nectarean sound of Your ornaments mix together to attract our ears, minds and lives. In this way You are killing us.’”

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.

Sweet Sounds Attract Their Whole Lives

  1. 1

    The gopīs described the flute’s vibration as nectarean buttermilk and Kṛṣṇa’s sweet words as nectar.

  2. 2

    Together with the nectarean sound of His ornaments, these sounds attracted their ears, minds, and lives.

  3. 3

    Their cry, “You are killing us,” expressed the intense distress accompanying this sweetness.

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. veṇu-nādathe vibration of the flute
  2. amṛta-gholelike nectarean buttermilk
  3. amṛta-samānaequal to nectar
  4. miṭhā bolesweet talking
  5. amṛta-samānaexactly like nectar
  6. bhūṣaṇa-śiñjitathe vibration of ornaments
  7. tinathree
  8. amṛtenectars
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • 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”

  • 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

What does the phrase “ears, minds and lives” suggest about the depth of the gopīs’ attraction?

Practice

Read the verse slowly, pausing at each of the three sounds: flute, words, and ornaments.

Live this todaySweet Sounds Attract Their Whole LivesThis 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 17.38? Get an answer from the verses themselves.