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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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Madhya-līlā · 25 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 ›
Madhya-līlā · Chapter 10: The Lord’s Return to Jagannātha Purī
Madhya 10.12Madhya 10.14

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 10.13

বৈষ্ণবের এই হয় এক স্বভাব নিশ্চল ।

তেঁহো জীব নহেন, হন স্বতন্ত্র ঈশ্বর ॥ ১৩ ॥

vaiṣṇavera ei haya eka svabhāva niścala

teṅho jīva nahena, hana svatantra īśvara

Translation

“A Vaiṣṇava travels to places of pilgrimage to purify them and reclaim fallen conditioned souls. This is one of the duties of a Vaiṣṇava. Actually, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not a living entity but the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Consequently, He is a fully independent controller, yet in His position as a devotee, He carries out the activities of a devotee.”

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Teaches Devotee Service

  1. 1

    Exalted devotees visit holy places to reclaim residents who do not precisely follow the rules for living there. A Vaiṣṇava is unhappy to see others materially enmeshed.

  2. 2

    Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not a living entity but the complete and independent Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although worshipable by all Vaiṣṇavas, He carries out and teaches the activities of a devotee.

  3. 3

    He is complete, completely uncontaminated and eternally liberated. He has no beginning or end.

Key points from the purport
  • Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura points out that because there are many permanent residents in holy places who do not precisely follow the rules and regulations governing living in a sacred place, exalted devotees have to go to these places to reclaim such persons.
  • A Vaiṣṇava is unhappy to see others materially enmeshed.
  • Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught these activities of a Vaiṣṇava although He is the worshipable Deity of all Vaiṣṇavas, the complete and independent Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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

Relief and affectionate reunion. Devotees gather as the Lord returns; separation is temporarily relieved.

The mood of Madhya 10 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 10: The Lord’s Return to Jagannātha Purī

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

When Mahārāja Pratāparudra requested the Bhaṭṭācārya to arrange an interview with the Lord, the Bhaṭṭācārya assured him that he would try to do so as soon as Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned from South India. When the Lord returned to Jagannātha Purī from His South Indian tour, He lived at the home of Kāśī Miśra.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 10
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. vaiṣṇaveraof great devotees
  2. eithis
  3. hayais
  4. ekaone
  5. svabhāvanature
  6. niścalaunflinching
  7. teṅhoHe
  8. jīvaconditioned soul
3

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: “fallen”

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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can concern for someone caught in material difficulties shape my actions?

Practice

Offer one small act of thoughtful help today to someone you see struggling.

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Teaches Devotee 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.

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