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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 17.79
অধম-কাকেরে কৈলা গরুড়-সমান ।
‘স্বতন্ত্র ঈশ্বর’ তুমি — স্বয়ং ভগবান্ ॥” ৭৯ ॥
adhama-kākere kailā garuḍa-samāna
‘svatantra īśvara’ tumi — svayaṁ bhagavān”
“You have made me Your carrier Garuḍa, although I am no better than a condemned crow. Thus You are the independent Personality of Godhead, the original Lord.
Read this verse on Vedabase.ioThis verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.
Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.
Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya said the Lord had made him His carrier Garuḍa.
Yet he considered himself no better than a condemned crow.
He recognized the Lord as the independent Personality of Godhead, the original Lord.
Wonder and contagious joy. Even forest animals chant; nature seems drawn into the saṅkīrtana movement.
The mood of Madhya 17 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:
If there were no village, Balabhadra would cook whatever rice remained and collect some spinach from the forest for the Lord to eat. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very pleased with the behavior of Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya.Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 17
Learn the words of the verse.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
How does this contrast between a crow and Garuḍa express humility and the Lord’s favor?
Reflect for one minute on an opportunity to serve, regarding it as the Lord’s favor rather than your own achievement.
Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.
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