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Study a Verse

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 24: The Sixty-One Explanations of the Ātmārāma Verse

Madhya 24.127 Madhya 24.129

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.128

অস্মিন্ সুখঘনমূর্তৌ পরমাত্মনি বৃষ্ণিপত্তনে স্ফুরতি ।

আত্মারামতয়া মে বৃথা গতো বত চিরং কালঃ ॥ ১২৮ ॥

asmin sukha-ghana-mūrtau param-ātmani vṛṣṇi-pattane sphurati

ātmārāmatayā me vṛthā gato bata ciraṁ kālaḥ

Translation

“ ‘In this Dvārakā-dhāma, I am being attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is personified spiritual bliss. Simply by seeing Him, I am feeling great happiness. Oh, I have wasted so much time trying to become self-realized through impersonal cultivation. This is a cause for lamentation!’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Seeing Kṛṣṇa Surpasses Impersonal Cultivation

1
In Dvārakā-dhāma, the speaker is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is personified spiritual bliss.
2
Simply seeing Kṛṣṇa brings the speaker great happiness.
3
The speaker laments having wasted so much time seeking self-realization through impersonal cultivation.

How it feels

Intellectual wonder humbled. Many explanations converge on the attractiveness of devotion; a hunter’s heart is transformed.

The mood of Madhya 24 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Madhya 24: The Sixty-One Explanations of the Ātmārāma Verse

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

He then concluded that different classes of transcendentalists ( jñānīs, karmīs, yogīs ) utilize this verse according to their own interpretation, but if they would give up this process and surrender to Kṛṣṇa, as indicated by the verse itself, they would be able to comprehend the real meaning of the verse.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 24

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

asminwhen this
sukha-ghana-mūrtauform of complete happiness
parama-ātmanithe Supreme Person
vṛṣṇi-pattanein Dvārakā-dhāma
sphuratiexists
ātmārāmatayāby the process of cultivating Brahman realization
memy
vṛthāuselessly

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

Vipralambha · Love in separation
Separation that intensifies remembrance and longing; especially central to the confidential pastimes at Purī. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “lamentation”, “laments”

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 does the speaker’s happiness reveal about the attraction of Kṛṣṇa Himself?

Practice

Spend a minute reflecting on the description of Kṛṣṇa as personified spiritual bliss.

Live this todaySeeing Kṛṣṇa Surpasses Impersonal CultivationThis 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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