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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 24.177 Madhya 24.179

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.178

সরসি সারসহংসবিহঙ্গাশ্চারুগীতহৃতচেতস এত্য ।

হরিমুপাসত তে যতচিত্তা হন্ত মীলিতদৃশো ধৃতমৌনাঃ ॥ ১৭৮ ॥

sarasi sārasa-haṁsa-vihaṅgāś

cāru-gīta-hṛta-cetasa etya

harim upāsata te yata-cittā

hanta mīlita-dṛśo dhṛta-maunāḥ

Translation

“ ‘All the cranes and swans in the water are being enchanted by the melodious song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. They have approached and are worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full attention. Alas, they are closing their eyes and are becoming completely silent.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Worshiping Kṛṣṇa with full attention

1
When Kṛṣṇa went to the forest of Vṛndāvana during the day, the gopīs lamented in separation from Him.
2
They described cranes and swans enchanted by the melodious song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. The birds approached Him and worshiped with full attention.
3
The birds closed their eyes and became completely silent, absorbed in worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Key points from the purport

In the day, Kṛṣṇa went to the forest of Vṛndāvana, and at that time the gopīs, being morose due to separation from Him, were lamenting in this way.

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

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 24.178 quotesSB 10.35.8-11

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.35.11).

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

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.

sarasiin the water
sārasacranes
haṁsaswans
vihaṅgāḥbirds
cāru-gītaby the melodious song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute
hṛta-cetasaḥdevoid of material consciousness
etyacoming near
harimthe Supreme Personality of Godhead

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: “separation”, “lamented”
Vraja-smaraṇa · Remembrance of Vṛndāvana
The remembered sweetness of Vraja that colors Mahāprabhu’s pilgrimage, Ratha-yātrā, and later states of separation. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “vṛndāvana”, “gopīs”

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 distracts me from giving Kṛṣṇa my full attention?

Practice

Set aside one quiet minute to reflect on the birds’ attentive worship of Kṛṣṇa.

Live this todayWorshiping Kṛṣṇa with full attentionThis 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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