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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 24: The Sixty-One Explanations of the Ātmārāma Verse
Madhya 24.155Madhya 24.157

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.156

কেচিৎ স্বদেহান্তর্হৃদয়াবকাশে প্রাদেশমাত্রং পুরুষং বসন্তম্ ।

চতুর্ভুজং কঞ্জরথাঙ্গশঙ্খগদাধরং ধারণয়া স্মরন্তি ॥ ১৫৬ ॥

kecit sva-dehāntar hṛdayāvakāśe

prādeśa-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vasantam

catur-bhujaṁ kañja-rathāṅga-śaṅkha-

gadā-dharaṁ dhāraṇayā smaranti

Translation

“ ‘Some yogīs think of the Lord within their hearts as measuring about six inches. The Lord has four hands, in which He holds a conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower. Those who worship this form of Viṣṇu within the heart are called sagarbha-yogīs.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Worshiping Viṣṇu Within the Heart

  1. 1

    Some yogīs think of the Lord within their hearts as measuring about six inches.

  2. 2

    The Lord has four hands holding a conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower.

  3. 3

    Those who worship this form of Viṣṇu within the heart are called sagarbha-yogīs.

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

Further reading

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 summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 24
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. kecitsome of them
  2. sva-deha-antaḥwithin one’s own body
  3. hṛdaya-avakāśein the cavity of the heart
  4. prādeśa-mātramwith the measurement of six inches
  5. puruṣamthe Supreme Personality of Godhead
  6. vasantamresiding
  7. catuḥ-bhujamwith four hands
  8. kañjaa lotus flower
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

Which details help me understand the form worshiped by sagarbha-yogīs?

Practice

Read the description once more and name the four objects held by the Lord.

Live this todayWorshiping Viṣṇu Within the HeartThis 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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