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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

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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 18: Rescuing the Lord from the Sea
Antya 18.13Antya 18.15

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 18.14

কোটিযুগ পর্যন্ত যদি লিখয়ে গণেশ ।

একদিনের লীলার তবু নাহি পায় শেষ ॥ ১৪ ॥

koṭi-yuga paryanta yadi likhaye gaṇeśa

eka-dinera līlāra tabu nāhi pāya śeṣa

Translation

If Gaṇeśa, Lord Śiva’s son and the expert scribe of the demigods, tried for millions of millenniums to fully describe one day of the Lord’s pastimes, he would be unable to find their limit.

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.

Skill and time cannot reach their limit

  1. 1

    Gaṇeśa is Lord Śiva’s son and the expert scribe of the demigods.

  2. 2

    Even millions of millenniums would not enable him to describe one day of the Lord’s pastimes fully.

  3. 3

    Despite his expertise and such an immense span of time, he would be unable to find their limit.

How it feels

Desperate longing and relief. Mistaking the sea for Yamunā, the Lord enters it; devotees find and revive Him.

The mood of Antya 18 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Antya 18: Rescuing the Lord from the Sea

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Mistaking the sea for the Yamunā River, He jumped into it, hoping to see the water pastimes Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the other gopīs. As He floated in the sea, however, He was washed away to the Koṇārka temple, where a fisherman, thinking that the Lord’s body was a big fish, caught Him in his net and brought Him ashore.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Antya 18
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. koṭi-yugamillions of millenniums
  2. paryantato the extent of
  3. yadiif
  4. likhayewrites
  5. gaṇeśathe demigod Gaṇeśa (son of Lord Śiva)
  6. eka-dineraof one day
  7. līlāraof pastimes
  8. tabustill
  9. nāhi pāyacan not reach
  10. śeṣathe limit
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this comparison shape your expectations of any written account of the Lord’s pastimes?

Practice

Notice the contrast between “millions of millenniums” and “one day” as you reread the verse today.

Live this todaySkill and time cannot reach their limitThis 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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