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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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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 20.261Madhya 20.263

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.262

এতৌ হি বিশ্বস্য চ বীজযোনী

রামো মুকুন্দঃ পুরুষঃ প্রধানম্ ।

অন্বীয় ভূতেষু বিলক্ষণস্য

জ্ঞানস্য চেশাত ইমৌ পুরাণৌ ॥ ২৬২ ॥

etau hi viśvasya ca bīja-yonī

rāmo mukundaḥ puruṣaḥ pradhānam

anvīya bhūteṣu vilakṣaṇasya

jñānasya ceśāta imau purāṇau

Translation

“ ‘Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are the original efficient and material causes of the material world. As Mahā-Viṣṇu and the material energy, They enter into the material elements and create the diversities by multi-energies. Thus They are the cause of all causes.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa: Cause of All Causes

  1. 1

    Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are the original efficient and material causes of the material world.

  2. 2

    As Mahā-Viṣṇu and the material energy, They enter into the material elements.

  3. 3

    They create the diversities through Their many energies. Thus They are the cause of all causes.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 20.262 quotesSB 10.46.31

This verse is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.31).

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:

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 summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 20
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. etauthese two, namely Rāma and Kṛṣṇa
  2. hicertainly
  3. viśvasyaof the universe
  4. caand
  5. bīja-yonīboth the cause and ingredient
  6. rāmaḥBalarāma
  7. mukundaḥKṛṣṇa
  8. puruṣaḥthe original Mahā-Viṣṇu
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this teaching change the way you see the diversity of the material world?

Practice

Notice one example of variety in the world today, and recall Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa as the cause of all causes.

4

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 todayBalarāma and Kṛṣṇa: Cause of All CausesThis 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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