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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

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 · Texts Madhya 20.108-109

জীবের ‘স্বরূপ’ হয় — কৃষ্ণের ‘নিত্যদাস’ ।

কৃষ্ণের ‘তটস্থা-শক্তি’, ‘ভেদাভেদ-প্রকাশ’ ॥ ১০৮ ॥

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’

kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’

Translation

“It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Our Eternal Position Is Service to Kṛṣṇa

  1. 1

    You are neither the gross material body nor the subtle body of mind and intelligence. You are a spirit soul, eternally part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore His eternal servant.

  2. 2

    The living entity belongs to Kṛṣṇa’s marginal potency, situated between the material and spiritual potencies. This means having a relationship with both the material and spiritual worlds.

  3. 3

    The soul is one in spiritual quality with Kṛṣṇa but different as a very minute particle. The examples are the sun and particles of sunshine, or a blazing fire and its small particles.

Key points from the purport
  • Actually you are a spirit soul, eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa.
  • Because you are spirit soul, you are one in quality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because you are a very minute particle of spirit soul, you are different from the Supreme Soul.
  • Therefore your position is simultaneously one with and different from the Supreme Soul.

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· 4

Quoted in the purport ofSB 4.24.77

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: every living entity is an eternal servant of the Lord.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.1.41

Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’. To act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the perfection of life and the highest perfection of yoga.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 10.39.15

The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.108) states, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa: “The self, or individual soul, is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.”

Quoted in the purport ofSB 11.2.22

As stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.108), jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa.’

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

Humility and restored identity. A seeker relinquishes status, asks fundamental questions, and receives sambandha knowledge.

The mood of Madhya 20 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 20: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Science of the Absolute Truth

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

First they discussed the constitutional position of the living entities, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī how the living entity is one of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s energies. After this, the Lord explained the way of devotional service.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 20
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. jīveraof the living entity
  2. svarūpathe constitutional position
  3. hayais
  4. kṛṣṇeraof Lord Kṛṣṇa
  5. nitya-dāsaeternal servant
  6. kṛṣṇeraof Lord Kṛṣṇa
  7. taṭasthāmarginal
  8. śaktipotency
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Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Sevā · Love translated into service

    Devotional service expressed through cleansing, caring, teaching, honoring others, and living as Kṛṣṇa’s servant. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “servant”

  • Bhāva & rasa · The language of sacred feeling

    Transcendental devotional moods and relationships, discussed explicitly in Rāmānanda’s dialogue and the teachings on prema. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “relationship”

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

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might seeing yourself as Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant change your sense of who you are?

Practice

Take a quiet moment today to reflect: “I am a spirit soul, an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa—not merely my body or mind.”

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

5 lectures given on it · quoted in 154 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 3 more lectures on it
Quoted in 154 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayOur Eternal Position Is Service to KṛṣṇaThis 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 20.108-109? Get an answer from the verses themselves.