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Study a Verse

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

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 ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.359

জন্মাদ্যস্য যতোঽন্বয়াদিতরতশ্চার্থেষ্বভিজ্ঞঃ স্বরাট্

তেনে ব্রহ্ম হৃদা য আদিকবয়ে মুহ্যন্তি যৎ সূরয়ঃ ।

তেজোবারিমৃদাং যথা বিনিময়ো যত্র ত্রিসর্গোঽমৃষা

ধাম্না স্বেন সদা নিরস্তকুহকং সত্যং পরং ধীমহি ॥ ৩৫৯ ॥

janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ

tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ

tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā

dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Translation

“ ‘O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Kṛṣṇa Is Beyond Material Creation

  1. 1

    Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Absolute Truth beyond manifested and unmanifested material nature. This is accepted by all ācāryas.

  2. 2

    Kṛṣṇa always has a spiritual body and remembers everything about His previous appearances. He is beyond the material cosmic creation.

  3. 3

    Kṛṣṇa imparted Vedic knowledge into Brahmā’s heart, enabling him to create the universe. His remembrance of the past and His inspiration of Brahmā illustrate svarūpa-lakṣaṇa and taṭastha-lakṣaṇa.

Key points from the purport
  • It is stated that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, is the Absolute Truth beyond the material creation.
  • Since Kṛṣṇa is beyond the cosmic creation, He is in the exalted position of being able to remember everything in the past.
  • Everything within the cosmic creation has a material body, but Kṛṣṇa, being beyond the material cosmic creation, always has a spiritual body.

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 20.359 quotesSB 1.1.1

This verse, quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1), links the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with the Vedānta-sūtra with the words janmādy asya yataḥ.

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
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. janma-ādicreation, maintenance and dissolution
  2. asyaof this (the universe)
  3. yataḥfrom whom
  4. anvayātdirectly from the spiritual connection
  5. itarataḥindirectly from the lack of material contact
  6. caalso
  7. artheṣuin all affairs
  8. abhijñaḥperfectly cognizant
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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does Kṛṣṇa’s position beyond material nature shape your understanding of Him?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute meditating on Kṛṣṇa as the Absolute Truth, beyond material creation.

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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 Is Beyond Material CreationThis 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 20.359? Get an answer from the verses themselves.