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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 20: The Śikṣāṣṭaka Prayers

Antya 20.21 Antya 20.23

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 20.22

উত্তম হঞা আপনাকে মানে তৃণাধম ।

দুইপ্রকারে সহিষ্ণুতা করে বৃক্ষসম ॥ ২২ ॥

uttama hañā āpanāke māne tṛṇādhama

dui-prakāre sahiṣṇutā kare vṛkṣa-sama

Translation

“These are the symptoms of one who chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Although he is very exalted, he thinks himself lower than the grass on the ground, and like a tree, he tolerates everything in two ways.

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.

An Exalted Chanter Remains Humble

1
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu describes the symptoms of one who chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
2
Although such a person is very exalted, he thinks himself lower than the grass on the ground.
3
He tolerates everything like a tree. The next verse illustrates this tolerance through the tree’s lack of protest or demand.

How it feels

Unconditional devotion. Eight prayers move from cleansing the heart to love that endures even without reciprocation.

The mood of Antya 20 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Antya 20: The Śikṣāṣṭaka Prayers

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

Sometimes He recited verses from Jayadeva Gosvāmī’s Gīta-govinda, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya’s Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka or from Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In this way, He became absorbed in ecstatic emotions.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Antya 20

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

uttama hañāalthough being very much exalted
āpanākehimself
mānethinks
tṛṇa-adhamalower than a blade of the grass on the ground
dui-prakārein two ways
sahiṣṇutātolerance
kareperforms
vṛkṣa-samalike the tree

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

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: “lower than”
Nāma-saṅkīrtana · The holy name shared together
Chanting the holy names as the yuga-dharma, the Lord’s public movement, and the opening prayer of Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “chants”

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

When I receive praise, can I remain humble rather than feel superior?

Practice

If you receive praise today, accept it simply without using it as a reason to feel above others.

Live this todayAn Exalted Chanter Remains HumbleThis 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 20.22? Get an answer from the verses themselves.

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