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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
  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 21: The Opulence and Sweetness of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Madhya 21.7Madhya 21.9

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 21.8

এইমত ষড়ৈশ্বর্য, স্থান, অবতার ।

ব্রহ্মা, শিব অন্ত না পায় — জীব কোন্ ছার ॥ ৮ ॥

ei-mata ṣaḍ-aiśvarya, sthāna, avatāra

brahmā, śiva anta nā pāya — jīva kon chāra

Translation

“Each Vaikuṇṭha planet is full of spiritual bliss, complete opulence and space, and each is inhabited by incarnations. If Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot estimate the length and breadth of the spiritual sky and the Vaikuṇṭha planets, how can ordinary living entities begin to imagine them?

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Vastness Exceeds Ordinary Imagination

  1. 1

    Each Vaikuṇṭha planet is full of spiritual bliss, complete opulence and space, and each is inhabited by incarnations.

  2. 2

    Even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot estimate the length and breadth of the spiritual sky and the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

  3. 3

    The verse asks how ordinary living entities can even begin to imagine these expanses.

How it feels

Awe becoming attraction. The Lord’s vast opulence is placed beside the intimate sweetness of Kṛṣṇa.

The mood of Madhya 21 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 21: The Opulence and Sweetness of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

In this chapter Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fully describes Kṛṣṇaloka, the spiritual sky, the Causal Ocean and the material world, which consists of innumerable universes. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then describes Lord Brahmā’s interview with Kṛṣṇa at Dvārakā and the Lord’s curbing the pride of Brahmā.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 21
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. ei-matasuch
  2. ṣaṭ-aiśvaryasix opulences
  3. sthānaabode
  4. avatāraincarnations
  5. brahmāLord Brahmā
  6. śivaLord Śiva
  7. anta nā pāyacannot find the limit
  8. jīvaa living entity
  9. konwhat of
  10. chāraworthless
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this description help me recognize the limits of my own imagination?

Practice

Read the verse once more and briefly acknowledge that its spiritual vastness exceeds what you can imagine.

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 todaySpiritual Vastness Exceeds Ordinary ImaginationThis 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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