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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

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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 20: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Science of the Absolute Truth
Madhya 20.117Madhya 20.119

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.118

কভু স্বর্গে উঠায়, কভু নরকে ডুবায় ।

দণ্ড্যজনে রাজা যেন নদীতে চুবায় ॥ ১১৮ ॥

kabhu svarge uṭhāya, kabhu narake ḍubāya

daṇḍya-jane rājā yena nadīte cubāya

Translation

“In the material condition, the living entity is sometimes raised to higher planetary systems and material prosperity and sometimes drowned in a hellish situation. His state is exactly like that of a criminal whom a king punishes by submerging him in water and then raising him again from the water.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Material Rewards Are Not Liberation

  1. 1

    The eternally liberated living entity, called nitya-mukta, never forgets Kṛṣṇa as his master. His only attempt is to serve Kṛṣṇa.

  2. 2

    One who forgets his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa comes under material conditions. Without the Lord’s transcendental loving service, he is subjected to the reactions of fruitive activity.

  3. 3

    Material nature sometimes rewards the living entity with prosperity and sometimes punishes him with distress. Both conditions belong to material existence.

Key points from the purport
  • Any living entity who forgets his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa is under the sway of the material condition.
  • Thus material nature awards and punishes the living entity.
  • When the living entity is materially opulent, material nature is rewarding him.

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· 2

Quoted in the purport ofSB 5.14.38

It is therefore said: daṇḍya-jane rājā yena nadīte cubāya.

Quoted in the purport ofSB 6.4.44

As confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.118), kabhu svarge uṭhāya, kabhu narake ḍubāya: the conditioned soul sometimes descends into nescience and sometimes gets some relief by being relatively freed from it.

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
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. kabhusometimes
  2. svargeto higher planetary systems
  3. uṭhāyahe rises
  4. kabhusometimes
  5. narakein hellish conditions of life
  6. ḍubāyahe is drowned
  7. daṇḍya-janea criminal
  8. rājāa king
3

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: “service”, “serve”

  • 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.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Do I mistake material prosperity for freedom from material conditions?

Practice

Reflect on one recent success or difficulty, and remind yourself that your eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa matters beyond either condition.

5

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

2 lectures given on it · quoted in 1 more lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 other lecture

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 todayMaterial Rewards Are Not LiberationThis 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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