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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

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 ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Antya 20.55

সেই নারী জীয়ে কেনে, কৃষ্ণ-মর্ম ব্যথা জানে, তবু কৃষ্ণে করে গাঢ় রোষ ।

নিজ-সুখে মানে কাজ, পড়ুক তার শিরে বাজ, কৃষ্ণের মাত্র চাহিয়ে সন্তোষ ॥ ৫৫ ॥

sei nārī jīye kene,  kṛṣṇa-marma vyathā jāne,

tabu kṛṣṇe kare gāḍha roṣa

nija-sukhe māne kāja,  paḍuka tāra śire vāja,

kṛṣṇera mātra cāhiye santoṣa

Translation

“Why does a woman continue to live who knows that Kṛṣṇa’s heart is unhappy but who still shows her deep anger toward Him? She is interested in her own happiness. I condemn such a woman to be struck on the head with a thunderbolt, for We simply want the happiness of Kṛṣṇa.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Selfish Enjoyment Leads Away From Service

  1. 1

    The speaker strongly condemns anger that continues despite knowing Kṛṣṇa is unhappy. Such anger serves personal happiness rather than His.

  2. 2

    The purport warns that a devotee satisfied only with personal sense gratification falls down from Kṛṣṇa’s service.

  3. 3

    Attraction to material happiness can lead such a person to join the prākṛta-sahajiyās, whom the purport describes as nondevotees.

Key points from the purport
  • A devotee who is satisfied only with his own sense gratification certainly falls down from the service of Kṛṣṇa.
  • Being attracted by material happiness, he later joins the prākṛta-sahajiyās, who are considered to be nondevotees.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

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

Further reading

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 summaryBack to this verse in Antya 20
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. sei nārīthat woman
  2. jīyelives
  3. kenewhy
  4. kṛṣṇa-marmaKṛṣṇa’s heart
  5. vyathāunhappy
  6. jāneknows
  7. tabustill
  8. kṛṣṇeunto Kṛṣṇa
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Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Sevā · Love translated into service

    Devotional service expressed through cleansing, caring, teaching, honoring others, and living as Kṛṣṇa’s servant. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “service”, “serves”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Where might attachment to my own enjoyment be weakening my willingness to serve Kṛṣṇa?

Practice

Examine one service you do today and identify any wish for personal enjoyment that is overshadowing its purpose.

Live this todaySelfish Enjoyment Leads Away From ServiceThis 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 20.55? Get an answer from the verses themselves.