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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

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 ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.251

কদর্থিয়া তুমি যত মারিলা জীবেরে ।

তারা তৈছে তোমা মারিবে জন্ম-জন্মান্তরে ॥” ২৫১ ॥

kadarthiyā tumi yata mārilā jīvere

tārā taiche tomā māribe janma-janmāntare”

Translation

“Nārada Muni continued, ‘All the animals that you have killed and given unnecessary pain will kill you one after the other in your next life and in life after life.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Leave Sin Behind and Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa

  1. 1

    Nārada warns that animals killed and given unnecessary pain will kill their killer in future lives. The purport emphasizes the grave consequences of professional animal slaughter.

  2. 2

    Excusing animal killing while claiming to follow religious principles is hypocrisy. The purport connects this hypocrisy with great calamities and wars.

  3. 3

    To escape repeated killing, birth and death, the purport asks everyone to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. It recommends abandoning meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling.

Key points from the purport
  • Those who kill animals and give them unnecessary pain — as people do in slaughterhouses — will be killed in a similar way in the next life and in many lives to come.
  • If one kills many thousands of animals in a professional way so that other people can purchase the meat to eat, one must be ready to be killed in a similar way in his next life and in life after life.
  • If people want to be saved from the killing business life after life, they must take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and cease sinful activity.

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

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:

In this regard, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu narrated a story about how the great sage Nārada converted a hunter into a great Vaiṣṇava, and how this was appreciated by Nārada’s friend Parvata Muni. Sanātana Gosvāmī then offered a prayer to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the glory of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 24
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. kadarthiyāgiving unnecessary pains
  2. tumiyou
  3. yataall
  4. mārilākilled
  5. jīverethe living entities
  6. tārāall of them
  7. taichesimilarly
  8. tomāyou
  9. māribewill kill
  10. janma-janma-antarelife after life
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Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Nāma-saṅkīrtana · The holy name shared together

    Chanting the holy names as the yuga-dharma, the Lord’s public movement, and the opening prayer of Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “chant”

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 change can I make to bring my conduct closer to the devotional principles I profess?

Practice

Set aside a few minutes today to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

Live this todayLeave Sin Behind and Chant Hare KṛṣṇaThis 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 24.251? Get an answer from the verses themselves.