1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min
Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.
Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.217
বিষ্ণুকাঞ্চীতে বিষ্ণু, হরি রহে, মায়াপুরে ।
ঐছে আর নানা মূর্তি ব্রহ্মাণ্ড-ভিতরে ॥ ২১৭ ॥
viṣṇu-kāñcīte viṣṇu, hari rahe, māyāpure
aiche āra nānā mūrti brahmāṇḍa-bhitare
“At Viṣṇu-kāñcī there is Lord Viṣṇu, at Māyāpur Lord Hari, and throughout the universe a variety of other forms.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
At Viṣṇu-kāñcī is Lord Varadarāja, and at Māyāpur is Lord Hari. Throughout the universe, various Deities in temples bestow Their causeless mercy upon devotees.
These Deity forms are nondifferent from the mūrtis in the spiritual world of the Vaikuṇṭhas. Although the arcā-mūrti appears to be made of material elements, it is as good as the spiritual forms there.
The Lord appears as the arcā-mūrti so that devotees in conditioned life can see Him with material eyes. It is forbidden to consider this worshipable Deity form to be made of stone or wood.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.
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
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
Learn the words of the verse.
The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.
Nāma-saṅkīrtana · The holy name shared together
Chanting the holy names as the yuga-dharma, the Lord’s public movement, and the opening prayer of Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “hari”
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: “mercy”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
How does understanding the Deity as the Lord’s merciful presence change my attitude toward worship?
Pause today to reflect on this teaching: the Lord appears as the arcā-mūrti so that we can see Him.
His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.
1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.
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 20.217? Get an answer from the verses themselves.