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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 20.122Madhya 20.124

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.123

‘শাস্ত্র-গুরু-আত্ম’-রূপে আপনারে জানান ।

‘কৃষ্ণ মোর প্রভু, ত্রাতা’ — জীবের হয় জ্ঞান ॥ ১২৩ ॥

‘śāstra-guru-ātma’-rūpe āpanāre jānāna

‘kṛṣṇa mora prabhu, trātā’ — jīvera haya jñāna

Translation

“The forgetful conditioned soul is educated by Kṛṣṇa through the Vedic literatures, the realized spiritual master and the Supersoul. Through these, he can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is, and he can understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa is his eternal master and deliverer from the clutches of māyā. In this way one can acquire real knowledge of his conditioned life and can come to understand how to attain liberation.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Guides the Forgetful Soul

  1. 1

    The conditioned soul can take help from śāstra, the realized spiritual master and the Supersoul within his heart. Through these, Kṛṣṇa educates him.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa is situated within everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. Through His guidance, the soul can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is.

  3. 3

    The soul learns that Kṛṣṇa is his eternal master and deliverer from māyā. He can then understand his conditioned life and how to attain liberation.

Key points from the purport
  • Being forgetful of his real position, the conditioned soul may take help from śāstra, guru and the Supersoul within his heart.
  • Kṛṣṇa is situated within everyone’s heart as the Supersoul.

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 20.123 quotesBG 18.61

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.61):

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:

Thus the Lord described the many forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also described the incarnations of God within the material world, incarnations such as the puruṣa-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, guṇa-avatāras and śaktyāveśa-avatāras.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 20
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. śāstra-guru-ātma-rūpein the form of the Vedic literature, the spiritual master and the Supersoul
  2. āpanāre jānānainforms about Himself
  3. kṛṣṇaLord Kṛṣṇa
  4. moramy
  5. prabhuLord
  6. trātādeliverer
  7. jīveraof the conditioned soul
  8. hayathere is
  9. jñānaknowledge
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Kṛpā & transformation · Mercy changes a life

    Transformative encounters with grace, from scholars and travelers to renunciants and householders. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “deliverer”

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 am I making room for the guidance Kṛṣṇa provides through scripture and the spiritual master?

Practice

Write down one teaching from this translation about your relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

5

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

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

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayKṛṣṇa Guides the Forgetful SoulThis 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 20.123? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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