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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

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 Madhya 18.156

বাহ্য বিকার নাহি, প্রেমাবিষ্ট মন ।

ভট্টাচার্য কহে, — চল, যাই মহাবন ॥ ১৫৬ ॥

bāhya vikāra nāhi, premāviṣṭa mana

bhaṭṭācārya kahe, — cala, yāi mahāvana

Translation

Although the Lord did not exhibit any external symptoms, His mind was filled with ecstatic love. At that time, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya said, “Let us go to Mahāvana [Gokula].”

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.

Ecstatic Love Without Outward Signs

  1. 1

    The Lord did not exhibit any external symptoms.

  2. 2

    Yet His mind was filled with ecstatic love.

  3. 3

    At that time, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya proposed going to Mahāvana [Gokula].

How it feels

Overwhelmed recognition. Seeing the places of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes evokes extraordinary remembrance and ecstasy.

The mood of Madhya 18 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 18: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Visit to Śrī Vṛndāvana

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

While stopping near a village on the way to Prayāga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fainted in ecstatic love. Some Pāṭhāna soldiers who were passing through saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and falsely concluded that the Lord’s associates, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and others, had killed the Lord with a poison named dhuturā and were taking His wealth.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 18
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. bāhyaexternal
  2. vikārasymptoms
  3. nāhithere were not
  4. prema-āviṣṭa manathe mind was full of ecstatic love
  5. bhaṭṭācārya kahethe Bhaṭṭācārya said
  6. calalet us go
  7. yāi mahāvanalet us go to Mahāvana
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Prema · Love of Godhead

    The culminating devotional purpose that unites the narration: bestowed, cultivated, taught, celebrated, and tasted. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “ecstatic love”

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 does this verse remind me that outward signs do not reveal everything within?

Practice

Pause today before judging someone’s inner feelings by outward appearance alone.

Live this todayEcstatic Love Without Outward SignsThis 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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