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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 24.179 Madhya 24.181

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.180

কিংবা ‘ধৃতি’-শব্দে নিজপূর্ণতাদি-জ্ঞান কয় ।

দুঃখাভাবে উত্তমপ্রাপ্ত্যে মহাপূর্ণ হয় ॥ ১৮০ ॥

kiṁvā ‘dhṛti’-śabde nija-pūrṇatādi-jñāna kaya

duḥkhābhāve uttama-prāptye mahā-pūrṇa haya

Translation

“The word ‘dhṛti’ is also used when one is fully perfect in knowledge. When, due to having obtained the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has no material miseries, he attains mahā-pūrṇa, the highest level of perfection.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

This verse has no purport; its meaning is explained by the verses around it.

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Full perfection at the Lord’s lotus feet

1
The word dhṛti can describe one who is fully perfect in knowledge.
2
The verse connects freedom from material miseries with having obtained the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
3
This attainment is called mahā-pūrṇa, the highest level of perfection. Its fullness is centered on the Lord.

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 analyzed all the words and described each word with its different connotations. Adding the words ca and api, He described all the different meanings of the verse.

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

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

kiṁvāor
dhṛti-śabdeby the word dhṛti
nijaown
pūrṇatā-ādiperfection and so on
jñānaknowledge
kayasays
duḥkha-abhāvein the absence of all material miseries
uttamathe best
prāptyeby obtaining
mahā-pūrṇa hayabecomes perfectly perfect

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

Śaraṇāgati · Taking shelter
Turning toward Kṛṣṇa through shelter, surrender, dependence on guru, and unconditional devotional fidelity. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “lotus feet”

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

How does this description of perfection differ from the goals I usually pursue?

Practice

Write one sentence describing perfection in terms of shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet rather than material achievement.

Live this todayFull perfection at the Lord’s lotus feetThis 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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