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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 24.20Madhya 24.22

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.21

বিষ্ণোর্নু বীর্যগণনাং কতমোঽর্হতীহ

যঃ পার্থিবান্যপি কবির্বিমমে রজাংসি ।

চস্কম্ভ যঃ স্বরংহসাস্খলতা ত্রিপৃষ্ঠং

যস্মাত্রিসাম্যসদনাদুরুকম্পয়ানম্ ॥ ২১ ॥

viṣṇor nu vīrya-gaṇanāṁ katamo ’rhatīha

yaḥ pārthivāny api kavir vimame rajāṁsi

caskambha yaḥ sva-raṁhasāskhalatā tri-pṛṣṭhaṁ

yasmāt tri-sāmya-sadanād uru kampayānam

Translation

“ ‘Even if a learned man is able to count all the minute atoms in this material world, he still cannot count the potencies of Lord Viṣṇu. In the form of the Vāmana incarnation, Lord Viṣṇu, without hindrance, captured all the planets, extending from the root of the material world up to Satyaloka. Indeed, He caused every planetary system to tremble by the force of His steps.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Lord Viṣṇu’s Potencies Cannot Be Counted

  1. 1

    Even a learned person able to count every minute atom in the material world cannot count Lord Viṣṇu’s potencies.

  2. 2

    As the Vāmana incarnation, Lord Viṣṇu captured all the planets without hindrance, from the root of the material world up to Satyaloka.

  3. 3

    The force of His steps made every planetary system tremble. This description is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Ṛg Veda mantras (1.2.154.1), it is said:

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 24.21 quotesSB 2.7.40

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.7.40).

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:

The following summary of this chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. According to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī’s request, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the well-known Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse beginning ātmārāmāś ca munayaḥ.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 24
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. viṣṇoḥof Lord Viṣṇu
  2. nucertainly
  3. vīrya-gaṇanāma counting of the different potencies
  4. katamaḥwho
  5. arhatiis able to do
  6. ihain this world
  7. yaḥwho
  8. pārthivāniof the element earth
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the comparison with counting atoms deepen my appreciation of Lord Viṣṇu’s potencies?

Practice

Reread the first sentence and take a quiet moment to reflect on the limits of human learning.

Live this todayLord Viṣṇu’s Potencies Cannot Be CountedThis 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.

Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Madhya 24.21? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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