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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 17.55

“দেখি এই উপায়ে, কৃষ্ণ-আশা ছাড়ি’ দিয়ে, আশা ছাড়িলে সুখী হয় মন ।

ছাড়’ কৃষ্ণকথা অধন্য, কহ অন্যকথা ধন্য, যাতে হয় কৃষ্ণ-বিস্মরণ ।।” ৫৫ ।। ॥ ৫৫ ॥

“dekhi ei upāye, kṛṣṇa-āśā chāḍi’ diye,

āśā chāḍile sukhī haya mana

chāḍa’ kṛṣṇa-kathā adhanya, kaha anya-kathā dhanya,

yāte haya kṛṣṇa-vismaraṇa”

Translation

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “If I give up hope of meeting Kṛṣṇa, I shall then be happy. Therefore, let us stop this most inglorious discussion of Kṛṣṇa. It would be better for us to talk of glorious topics and forget Him.”

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.

Hoping for Relief by Forgetting Kṛṣṇa

  1. 1

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that giving up hope of meeting Kṛṣṇa would bring Him happiness.

  2. 2

    He proposes stopping the discussion of Kṛṣṇa and speaking of glorious topics instead.

  3. 3

    In the surrounding verses, this wish to forget is followed by Kṛṣṇa’s appearance within Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s heart. These words express a moment within intense ecstatic longing.

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. dekhiI see
  2. ei upāyethis means
  3. kṛṣṇa-āśāhope for Kṛṣṇa
  4. chāḍi’ diyeI give up
  5. āśāhope
  6. chāḍileif I give up
  7. sukhīhappy
  8. hayabecomes
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: “discussion”

  • Rādhā-bhāva · The confidential inner purpose

    The Lord’s desire to taste the love and perspective of Śrī Rādhā, illuminated by later ecstatic pastimes. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “rādhārāṇī’s”

  • 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: “longing”

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 the next verse help you understand this wish to forget Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Read this verse together with the next, noticing the contrast between the wish to forget and sudden remembrance.

Live this todayHoping for Relief by Forgetting KṛṣṇaThis 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 17.55? Get an answer from the verses themselves.