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Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.
Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 20.81
সনাতন কহে, — “আমি মাধুকরী করিব ।
ব্রাহ্মণের ঘরে কেনে একত্র ভিক্ষা লব ?” ৮১ ॥
sanātana kahe, — “āmi mādhukarī kariba
brāhmaṇera ghare kene ekatra bhikṣā laba?”
Sanātana replied, “I shall practice the process of mādhukarī. Why should I accept full meals in the house of a brāhmaṇa?”
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioThree study points drawn from the translation and purport.
Sanātana chose mādhukarī rather than full meals at one house. Like bees collecting honey from flower to flower, a mendicant takes a little food from each household, avoiding overeating and unnecessary trouble for householders.
A person in the renounced order may beg but not cook, and his begging should not burden householders. Mādhukarī is strictly to be followed by a bābājī who has attained the paramahaṁsa stage.
The purport warns against imitating Sanātana Gosvāmī to lead an idle life. It is better to accept food offered to Kṛṣṇa in the temple than to try to imitate Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī.
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:
One of his servants, Īśāna, followed him, carrying eight gold coins. Sanātana Gosvāmī and his servant then spent the night in a small hotel on the way to Benares.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.
Sevā · Love translated into service
Devotional service expressed through cleansing, caring, teaching, honoring others, and living as Kṛṣṇa’s servant. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “offered”
Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
How can I respect Sanātana Gosvāmī’s renunciation without trying to imitate his advanced practice?
At one meal today, take a modest portion and avoid overeating.
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 20.81? Get an answer from the verses themselves.