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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

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
6Take one thing into your day. Note one point and one practice.

Read the full guide: how to read Caitanya Caritamrta ›

Madhya-līlā · Chapter 22: The Process of Devotional Service

Madhya 22.72 Madhya 22.74

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 22.73

ঈশ্বরে তদধীনেষু বালিশেষু দ্বিষৎসু চ ।

প্রেম-মৈত্রী-কৃপোপেক্ষা যঃ করোতি স মধ্যমঃ ॥ ৭৩ ॥

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu

bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca

prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā

yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ

Translation

“ ‘An intermediate, second-class devotee shows love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is friendly to all devotees and is very merciful to neophytes and ignorant people. The intermediate devotee neglects those who are envious of devotional service.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Love, Friendship, Mercy, and Appropriate Distance

1
The intermediate devotee shows love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead and friendship toward all devotees.
2
He is very merciful to neophytes and ignorant people.
3
He neglects those who are envious of devotional service.

Key points from the purport

This statement was made by the great sage Nārada while he was speaking to Vasudeva about devotional service.
This subject was originally discussed between Nimi, the King of Videha, and the nine Yogendras.

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 22.73 quotesSB 11.2.46

This is also a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.46).

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

Trust and resolution. Devotional practice and association offer a steady path for awakening love.

The mood of Madhya 22 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Madhya 22: The Process of Devotional Service

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

A pure devotee is the supreme transcendentalist, and one has to receive his mercy for one’s dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness to be awakened. One has to associate with pure devotees.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 22

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

īśvareunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
tat-adhīneṣuto persons who have taken fully to Kṛṣṇa consciousness
bāliśeṣuunto the neophytes or the ignorant
dviṣatsuto persons envious of Kṛṣṇa and the devotees of Kṛṣṇa
premalove
maitrīfriendship
kṛpāmercy
upekṣānegligence

Key ideas in this 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: “service”
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: “merciful”
Prema · Love of Godhead
The culminating devotional purpose that unites the narration: bestowed, cultivated, taught, celebrated, and tasted. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “love”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can I show greater friendship to devotees or mercy to someone just beginning?

Practice

Offer one kind word of encouragement to a beginner in devotional service today.

Live this todayLove, Friendship, Mercy, and Appropriate DistanceThis 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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