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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

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
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 18.86 Antya 18.88

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 18.87

প্রথমে যুদ্ধ ‘জলাজলি’, তবে যুদ্ধ ‘করাকরি’, তার পাছে যুদ্ধ ‘মুখামুখি’ ।

তবে যুদ্ধ ‘হৃদাহৃদি’, তবে হৈল ‘রদারদি’, তবে হৈল যুদ্ধ ‘নখানখি’ ॥ ৮৭ ॥

prathame yuddha ‘jalājali’, tabe yuddha ‘karākari’,

tāra pāche yuddha ‘mukhāmukhi’

tabe yuddha ‘hṛdāhṛdi’, tabe haila ‘radāradi’,

tabe haila yuddha ‘nakhānakhi’

Translation

“As the fight began, they splashed water on one another. Then they fought hand to hand, then face to face, then chest to chest, teeth to teeth and finally nail to nail.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Water Play Becomes Close Exchange

1
The playful fight began with Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs splashing water on one another.
2
The exchange then moved from hand to hand, to face to face, and to chest to chest.
3
The description continues with teeth to teeth and finally nail to nail, showing the increasingly close exchanges within the water pastime.

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

Antya 18: Rescuing the Lord from the Sea

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

After some inquiries, Svarūpa Dāmodara could understand that the fisherman had caught Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his net. Since the fisherman was afraid of being haunted by a ghost, Svarūpa Dāmodara gave him a slap and chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa, which immediately pacified him.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Antya 18

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

prathamein the beginning
yuddhathe fight
jalājalithrowing water upon one another
tabethereafter
yuddhathe fight
karākarihand to hand
tāra pācheafter that
yuddhathe fight

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

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.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the sequence of exchanges change your sense of the scene’s movement?

Practice

Reread this verse alongside the preceding verse, keeping its exchanges within the context of the sporting water pastime.

Live this todayThe Water Play Becomes Close ExchangeThis 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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