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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 · Text Madhya 20.113

শক্তয়ঃ সর্বভাবানামচিন্ত্যজ্ঞানগোচরাঃ ।

যতোঽতো ব্রহ্মণস্তাস্তু সর্গাদ্যা ভাবশক্তয়ঃ ।

ভবন্তি তপতাং শ্রেষ্ঠ পাবকস্য যথোষ্ণতা ॥ ১১৩ ॥

śaktayaḥ sarva-bhāvānām

acintya-jñāna-gocarāḥ

yato ’to brahmaṇas tās tu

sargādyā bhāva-śaktayaḥ

bhavanti tapatāṁ śreṣṭha

pāvakasya yathoṣṇatā

Translation

“ ‘All the creative energies, which are inconceivable to a common man, exist in the Supreme Absolute Truth. These inconceivable energies act in the process of creation, maintenance and annihilation. O chief of the ascetics, just as there are two energies possessed by fire — namely heat and light — these inconceivable creative energies are the natural characteristics of the Absolute Truth.’

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

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Creative Energies Naturally Belong to Absolute Truth

  1. 1

    All creative energies exist in the Supreme Absolute Truth. They are inconceivable to a common person.

  2. 2

    These inconceivable energies act in creation, maintenance, and annihilation.

  3. 3

    Heat and light naturally belong to fire. Similarly, the inconceivable creative energies are natural characteristics of the Absolute Truth.

Key points from the purport
  • This is also a quotation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.3.2).

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

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:

Sanātana Gosvāmī and his servant then spent the night in a small hotel on the way to Benares. The hotel owner knew that Sanātana Gosvāmī and his servant had eight gold coins, and he decided to kill them and take the money.
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. śaktayaḥenergies
  2. sarva-bhāvānāmof all types of creation
  3. acintyainconceivable
  4. jñāna-gocarāḥby the range of man’s knowledge
  5. yataḥfrom whom
  6. ataḥtherefore
  7. brahmaṇaḥfrom the Absolute Truth
  8. tāḥthose
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the example of heat and light help you understand the relationship between the Absolute Truth and His energies?

Practice

Write one sentence today explaining the verse’s comparison between fire’s heat and light and the Absolute Truth’s creative energies.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

2 lectures given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayCreative Energies Naturally Belong to Absolute TruthThis 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 20.113? Get an answer from the verses themselves.