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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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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 ›
Antya-līlā · Chapter 17: The Bodily Transformations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
Antya 17.58Antya 17.60

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 17.59

“মন মোর বাম-দীন, জল বিনা যেন মীন, কৃষ্ণ বিনা ক্ষণে মরি’ যায় ।

মধুর-হাস্য-বদনে, মন-নেত্র-রসায়নে, কৃষ্ণতৃষ্ণা দ্বিগুণ বাড়ায় ॥ ৫৯ ॥

“mana mora vāma-dīna, jala vinā yena mīna,

kṛṣṇa vinā kṣaṇe mari’ yāya

madhura-hāsya-vadane, mana-netra-rasāyane,

kṛṣṇa-tṛṣṇā dviguṇa bāḍāya

Translation

“If I do not think of Kṛṣṇa, My impoverished mind will die within a moment like a fish out of water. But when I see Kṛṣṇa’s sweetly smiling face, My mind and eyes are so pleased that My desire for Him redoubles.

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.

Remembering Kṛṣṇa Sustains and Deepens Longing

  1. 1

    Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī says that without thinking of Kṛṣṇa, Her impoverished mind would die within a moment.

  2. 2

    She compares Her mind without remembrance of Him to a fish out of water.

  3. 3

    Seeing Kṛṣṇa’s sweetly smiling face greatly pleases Her mind and eyes. Yet that pleasure redoubles Her desire for Him.

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. mana moraMy mind
  2. vāma-dīnaunagreeably poor
  3. jalawater
  4. vināwithout
  5. yenaas if
  6. mīnaa fish
  7. kṛṣṇaLord Kṛṣṇa
  8. vināwithout
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • 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”

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 fish-out-of-water comparison show about Her need to remember Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Spend a quiet moment remembering Kṛṣṇa’s sweetly smiling face as described here.

Live this todayRemembering Kṛṣṇa Sustains and Deepens LongingThis 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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