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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
  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 24.156Madhya 24.158

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.157

এবং হরৌ ভগবতি প্রতিলব্ধভাবো

ভক্ত্যা দ্রবদ্ধৃদয় উৎপুলকঃ প্রমোদাত্‌ ।

ঔৎকণ্ঠ্যবাষ্পকলয়া মুহুরর্দ্যমান-

স্তচ্চাপি চিত্তবড়িশং শনকৈর্বিযুঙ্‌ক্তে ॥ ১৫৭ ॥

evaṁ harau bhagavati pratilabdha-bhāvo

bhaktyā dravad-dhṛdaya utpulakaḥ pramodāt

autkaṇṭhya-bāṣpa-kalayā muhur ardyamānas

tac cāpi citta-baḍiśaṁ śanakair viyuṅkte

Translation

“ ‘When one is in ecstatic love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s heart is melted by bhakti-yoga and one feels transcendental bliss. There are bodily symptoms manifest, and due to eagerness, there are tears in the eyes. Thus one is subjected to spiritual bliss. When the heart is overly afflicted, the meditative mind, like a fishing hook, is gradually separated from the object of meditation.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Bhakti-Yoga Melts the Heart

  1. 1

    In ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the heart is melted by bhakti-yoga and one feels transcendental bliss.

  2. 2

    Bodily symptoms appear, including tears in the eyes due to eagerness. The person is thus subjected to spiritual bliss.

  3. 3

    When the heart is overly afflicted, the meditative mind is gradually separated from the object of meditation. The verse compares that mind to a fishing hook.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 24.157 quotesSB 3.28.34

This is also a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.28.34).

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

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:

Adding the words ca and api, He described all the different meanings of the 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. evamthus
  2. harauunto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  3. bhagavatithe Lord
  4. pratilabdha-bhāvaḥone who has awakened a sense of ecstatic love
  5. bhaktyāby devotional service
  6. dravatmelting
  7. hṛdayaḥthe heart
  8. utpulakaḥvery pleased
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: “ecstatic love”

  • 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: “separated”

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

What does this description teach me about the depth of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Practice

Spend a quiet minute reflecting on the phrase ‘one’s heart is melted by bhakti-yoga’.

Live this todayBhakti-Yoga Melts 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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