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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 23: Life’s Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead

Madhya 23.67 Madhya 23.69

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 23.68

দেবী কৃষ্ণময়ী প্রোক্তা রাধিকা পরদেবতা ।

সর্বলক্ষ্মীময়ী সর্বকান্তিঃ সম্মোহিনী পরা ॥ ৬৮ ॥

devī kṛṣṇa-mayī proktā

rādhikā para-devatā

sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva-

kāntiḥ sammohinī parā

Translation

“ ‘The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attraction to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Attracts the All-Attractive Lord

1
The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
2
She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attraction to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead.
3
She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.

How it feels

Theological emotional crescendo. Bhāva, prema, the devotional rasas, and mahābhāva are systematically expounded.

The mood of Madhya 23 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Madhya 23: Life’s Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead

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

There is also a description of the sixty-four transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the twenty-five transcendental qualities of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then describes those candidates who are eligible to taste the mellows of devotional service.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 23

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

devīwho shines brilliantly
kṛṣṇa-mayīnondifferent from Lord Kṛṣṇa
proktācalled
rādhikāŚrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
para-devatāmost worshipable
sarva-lakṣmī-mayīpresiding over all the goddesses of fortune
sarva-kāntiḥin whom all splendor exists
sammohinīwhose character completely bewilders Lord Kṛṣṇa
parāthe superior energy

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

Rādhā-bhāva · The confidential inner purpose
The Lord’s desire to taste the love and perspective of Śrī Rādhā, illuminated by later ecstatic pastimes. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “rādhārāṇī”

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

What draws your attention in the description of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as attracting the all-attractive Lord?

Practice

Read the translation slowly and reflect for a moment on Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as the Lord’s primeval internal potency.

Live this todayŚrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Attracts the All-Attractive LordThis 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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