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Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.
Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 18.19
প্রেমার বিকার বর্ণিতে চাহে যেই জন ।
চান্দ ধরিতে চাহে, যেন হঞা ‘বামন’ ॥ ১৯ ॥
premāra vikāra varṇite cāhe yei jana
cānda dharite cāhe, yena hañā ‘vāmana’
One who wants to describe the transformations of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa is like a dwarf trying to catch the moon in the sky.
Read this verse on Vedabase.ioThis verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.
Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.
The verse speaks of the difficulty of describing the transformations of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.
Such an attempt is compared to a dwarf trying to catch the moon in the sky.
This comparison invites humility about how much our descriptions can reach.
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
From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:
As soon as the fisherman touched the Lord’s body, he became mad in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. His own madness frightened him, however, because he thought that he was being haunted by a ghost.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Antya 18
Learn the words of the verse.
The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.
Prema · Love of Godhead
The culminating devotional purpose that unites the narration: bestowed, cultivated, taught, celebrated, and tasted. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “love of krsna”, “ecstatic love”
Dainya & humility · Making room for grace
The humility expressed by the author, devotees, transformed scholars, renunciants, and the Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “humility”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
How can this comparison help you approach descriptions of ecstatic love with humility?
Pause before studying today and acknowledge that ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa exceeds what you can fully describe.
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 18.19? Get an answer from the verses themselves.