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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 14: Performance of the Vṛndāvana Pastimes
Madhya 14.86Madhya 14.88

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 14.87

শুষ্কতর্ক-খলি খাইতে জন্ম গেল যাঁর ।

তাঁরে লীলামৃত পিয়াও, — এ কৃপা তোমার ॥ ৮৭ ॥

śuṣka-tarka-khali khāite janma gela yāṅra

tāṅre līlāmṛta piyāo, — e kṛpā tomāra

Translation

“Logic is like a dry oil cake from which all the oil has been extracted. The Bhaṭṭācārya passed his life in eating such dry cakes, but now You have made him drink the nectar of transcendental pastimes. It is certainly Your great mercy upon him.”

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

From Dry Logic to Transcendental Nectar

  1. 1

    Logic is compared to a dry oil cake from which all the oil has been extracted.

  2. 2

    The Bhaṭṭācārya had passed his life eating such dry cakes, but now he had been made to drink the nectar of transcendental pastimes.

  3. 3

    This change is described as great mercy upon him.

How it feels

Intimacy and ecstatic play. Mercy to Pratāparudra and discussion of the gopīs reveal deep relational sweetness.

The mood of Madhya 14 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 14: Performance of the Vṛndāvana Pastimes

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

The Lord, in His ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, immediately embraced the King and thus bestowed mercy upon him. When there was an offering of prasādam in the garden, Lord Caitanya also partook of it.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 14
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. śuṣka-tarkaof dry logic
  2. khalioil cakes
  3. khāiteeating
  4. janmathe whole life
  5. gelapassed
  6. yāṅraof whom
  7. tāṅrehim
  8. līlā-amṛtathe nectar of Your pastimes
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Kṛpā & transformation · Mercy changes a life

    Transformative encounters with grace, from scholars and travelers to renunciants and householders. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “mercy”

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

What does the contrast between dry cakes and nectar help you understand?

Practice

Reread the verse and write down what is compared to dry cake and what is called nectar.

Live this todayFrom Dry Logic to Transcendental NectarThis 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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