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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 23: Life’s Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead
Madhya 23.79-81Madhya 23.84-85

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Texts Madhya 23.82-83

সর্বাদ্ভুতচমৎকার-লীলাকল্লোলবারিধিঃ ।

অতুল্যমধুরপ্রেম-মণ্ডিতপ্রিয়মণ্ডলঃ ॥ ৮২ ॥

sarvādbhuta-camatkāra-

līlā-kallola-vāridhiḥ

atulya-madhura-prema-

maṇḍita-priya-maṇḍalaḥ

Translation

“ ‘Apart from these sixty transcendental qualities, Kṛṣṇa has an additional four transcendental qualities, which are not manifested even in the personality of Nārāyaṇa. These are: (1) Kṛṣṇa is like an ocean filled with waves of pastimes that evoke wonder within everyone in the three worlds. (2) In His activities of conjugal love, He is always surrounded by His dear devotees who possess unequaled love for Him. (3) He attracts the minds of all three worlds with the melodious vibration of His flute. (4) His personal beauty and opulence are beyond compare. No one is equal to Him, and no one is greater than Him. Thus the Personality of Godhead astonishes all living entities, both moving and nonmoving, within the three worlds. He is so beautiful that He is called Kṛṣṇa.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Understand Kṛṣṇa’s Unique Personal Qualities

  1. 1

    Beyond the sixty qualities, Kṛṣṇa has four not manifested even in Nārāyaṇa: wonderful pastimes, devotees with unequaled conjugal love, His melodious flute, and incomparable beauty and opulence.

  2. 2

    The purport rejects reducing the meaning of Kṛṣṇa to “black” while failing to understand His qualities and accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Great personalities, ācāryas and sages describe and accept Him.

  3. 3

    Simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa, one can become free from the cycle of birth and death. Those preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness must try to understand Him from the statements in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

Key points from the purport
  • Māyāvādī philosophers, who have a poor fund of knowledge, simply dismiss the subject by explaining that kṛṣṇa means “black.”
  • Not understanding the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, these atheistic rascals do not accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • Unfortunately this great science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness has been impeded by Māyāvādī philosophers, who are opposed to the personality of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

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

Further reading

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 summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 23
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. sarva-adbhuta-camatkārabringing wonder to all
  2. līlāof pastimes
  3. kallolafull of waves
  4. vāridhiḥan ocean
  5. atulya-madhura-premawith incomparable conjugal love
  6. maṇḍitadecorated
  7. priya-maṇḍalaḥwith a circle of favorite personalities
  8. tri-jagatof the three worlds
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • 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”

  • Bhāva & rasa · The language of sacred feeling

    Transcendental devotional moods and relationships, discussed explicitly in Rāmānanda’s dialogue and the teachings on prema. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “conjugal”

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

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How can attending to Kṛṣṇa’s personal qualities deepen your understanding of Him?

Practice

List Kṛṣṇa’s four unique qualities from this passage and slowly reread them.

Live this todayUnderstand Kṛṣṇa’s Unique Personal QualitiesThis 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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