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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 Madhya 12.20
কাণে মুদ্রা লই’ মুঞি হইব ভিখারী ।
রাজ্যভোগ নহে চিত্তে বিনা গৌরহরি ॥ ২০ ॥
kāṇe mudrā la-i’ muñi ha-iba bhikhārī
rājya-bhoga nahe citte vinā gaurahari
Nityānanda Prabhu continued, “The King has decided to become a mendicant and accept the sign of a mendicant by wearing an ivory earring. He does not want to enjoy his kingdom without seeing the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
Mahārāja Pratāparudra was so depressed at not seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that he decided to become a mendicant yogī. He did not want to enjoy his kingdom without seeing the Lord’s lotus feet.
The purport describes professional mendicants called yogīs or kāṇaphāṭā yogīs. Kāṇaphāṭā refers to someone who has pierced his ear to wear an ivory earring.
Ordinary people may think an ivory earring marks a yogī, but it is not the sign of a real yogī. Mahārāja Pratāparudra also thought such an earring was necessary to become a mendicant yogī.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.
Purification through joyful service. Collective cleansing becomes a visible devotional act before Ratha-yātrā.
The mood of Madhya 12 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:
While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu washed the temple of Guṇḍicā, a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava washed the lotus feet of the Lord and drank the water. This incident is very significant, for it awoke within the devotee ecstatic love.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 12
Learn the words of the verse.
The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.
Śaraṇāgati · Taking shelter
Turning toward Kṛṣṇa through shelter, surrender, dependence on guru, and unconditional devotional fidelity. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “lotus feet”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
Do you ever mistake an outward sign for genuine spiritual standing?
Today, notice one outward appearance you associate with spirituality, and remind yourself that appearance alone does not establish spiritual standing.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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