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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

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

Madhya 20.149 Madhya 20.151

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.150

বৈকুণ্ঠ, ব্রহ্মাণ্ডগণ — শক্তি-কার্য হয় ।

স্বরূপশক্তি শক্তি-কার্যের — কৃষ্ণ সমাশ্রয় ॥ ১৫০ ॥

vaikuṇṭha, brahmāṇḍa-gaṇa — śakti-kārya haya

svarūpa-śakti śakti-kāryera — kṛṣṇa samāśraya

Translation

“The material and the spiritual world are transformations of Kṛṣṇa’s external and internal potencies respectively. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the original source of both the material and the spiritual manifestations.

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.

Kṛṣṇa Is the Source of Both Worlds

1
The material world is a transformation of Kṛṣṇa’s external potency.
2
The spiritual world is a transformation of Kṛṣṇa’s internal potency.
3
Kṛṣṇa is the original source of both the material and the spiritual manifestations.

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

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:

He also described the incarnations of God within the material world, incarnations such as the puruṣa-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, guṇa-avatāras and śaktyāveśa-avatāras. The Lord also discussed the divisions of Kṛṣṇa’s different ages, such as bālya and paugaṇḍa, and the different pastimes of the different ages.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 20