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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

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
6Take one thing into your day. Note one point and one practice.

Read the full guide: how to read Caitanya Caritamrta ›

Madhya-līlā · Chapter 2: The Ecstatic Manifestations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Madhya 2.39 Madhya 2.41

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 2.40

শুন মোর প্রাণের বান্ধব ।

নাহি কৃষ্ণ-প্রেমধন, দরিদ্র মোর জীবন,

দেহেন্দ্রিয় বৃথা মোর সব ॥ ৪০ ॥

śuna mora prāṇera bāndhava

nāhi kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana,—daridra mora jīvana,

dehendriya vṛthā mora saba

Translation

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “My dear friends, you are all My life and soul; therefore I tell you that I possess no wealth of love for Kṛṣṇa. Consequently My life is poverty-stricken. My limbs and senses are useless.”

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Love for Kṛṣṇa Is True Wealth

1
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu addresses His friends as His life and soul and speaks openly to them.
2
He declares that He possesses no wealth of love for Kṛṣṇa and therefore describes His life as poverty-stricken.
3
In this expression of humility, He calls His limbs and senses useless without that love.

How it feels

Overwhelming divine separation. A preview of the last years reveals the Lord’s intense separation from Kṛṣṇa.

The mood of Madhya 2 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Madhya 2: The Ecstatic Manifestations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

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

The author expects that reading the pastimes of the Lord will gradually help a person awaken his dormant love of Kṛṣṇa. Actually this Caitanya-caritāmṛta was compiled by the author during very old age.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

śunakindly hear
moraMy
prāṇeraof life
bāndhavafriends
nāhithere is none
kṛṣṇa-prema-dhanawealth of love of Kṛṣṇa
daridrapoverty-stricken
moraMy

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: “love for krsna”
Dainya & humility · Making room for grace
The humility expressed by the author, devotees, transformed scholars, renunciants, and the Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “humility”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does describing love for Kṛṣṇa as wealth challenge your usual measure of a rich life?

Practice

Write one sentence reflecting on why love for Kṛṣṇa is more precious than material wealth.

Live this todayLove for Kṛṣṇa Is True WealthThis 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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