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Study a Verse

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 19: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī
Madhya 19.204Madhya 19.206

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 19.205

তং মত্বাত্মজমব্যক্তং মর্ত্যলিঙ্গমধোক্ষজম্ ।

গোপিকোলূখলে দাম্না ববন্ধ প্রাকৃতং যথা ॥ ২০৫ ॥

taṁ matvātmajam avyaktaṁ

martya-liṅgam adhokṣajam

gopikolūkhale dāmnā

babandha prākṛtaṁ yathā

Translation

“ ‘Although Kṛṣṇa is beyond sense perception and is unmanifest to human beings, He takes up the guise of a human being with a material body. Thus mother Yaśodā thought Him to be her son, and she bound Lord Kṛṣṇa with rope to a wooden mortar, as if He were an ordinary child.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Appears as Yaśodā’s Child

  1. 1

    Although Kṛṣṇa is beyond sense perception, He exhibited Himself like an ordinary child before mother Yaśodā.

  2. 2

    He played like a naughty boy, stealing butter and breaking butter pots. Mother Yaśodā became disturbed and wanted to bind Him to a mortar used for pounding spices.

  3. 3

    Mother Yaśodā bound Kṛṣṇa with rope to a wooden mortar. She considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead an ordinary child.

Key points from the purport
  • This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.14) is in reference to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s exhibiting Himself like an ordinary child before mother Yaśodā.
  • Mother Yaśodā became disturbed and wanted to bind the Lord to a mortar used for pounding spices.
  • In other words, she considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead an ordinary child.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 19.205 quotesSB 10.9.13-14

This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.9.14) is in reference to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s exhibiting Himself like an ordinary child before mother Yaśodā.

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

How it feels

Empowerment and hope. The seed of bhakti is received, planted, and watered; intimate realization becomes transmissible.

The mood of Madhya 19 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 19: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

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

After this, a brāhmaṇa scholar named Raghupati Upādhyāya arrived and discussed Kṛṣṇa consciousness with the Lord. Kavirāja Gosvāmī then extensively describes the living condition of Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana at Vṛndāvana.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 19
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. tamHim (Kṛṣṇa)
  2. matvāconsidering
  3. ātmajamown son
  4. avyaktamunmanifested
  5. martya-liṅgammanifested as if perishable
  6. adhokṣajambeyond the perception of the senses
  7. gopikāmother Yaśodā
  8. ulūkhaleto the mortar
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Vraja-smaraṇa · Remembrance of Vṛndāvana

    The remembered sweetness of Vraja that colors Mahāprabhu’s pilgrimage, Ratha-yātrā, and later states of separation. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “yaśodā”

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 Yaśodā’s response show that she considered Kṛṣṇa her own child?

Practice

Reread the verse and name one action that shows Yaśodā’s motherly relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Appears as Yaśodā’s ChildThis 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.

Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Madhya 19.205? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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