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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 24.30Madhya 24.32

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.31

‘রতি’-লক্ষণা, ‘প্রেম’-লক্ষণা, ইত্যাদি প্রচার ।

ভাবরূপা, মহাভাব-লক্ষণরূপা আর ॥ ৩১ ॥

‘rati’-lakṣaṇā, ‘prema’-lakṣaṇā, ityādi pracāra

bhāva-rūpā, mahābhāva-lakṣaṇa-rūpā āra

Translation

“Next are explained the symptoms of love of Godhead, which can be divided into nine varieties, beginning with attraction and extending up to ecstatic love and finally up to the topmost ecstatic love [mahābhāva].

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Love Extends from Attraction to Mahābhāva

  1. 1

    The symptoms of love of Godhead are divided into nine varieties.

  2. 2

    These varieties begin with attraction and extend up to ecstatic love.

  3. 3

    The highest is mahābhāva, the topmost ecstatic love.

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:

According to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī’s request, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the well-known Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse beginning ātmārāmāś ca munayaḥ. He explained this verse in sixty-one different ways.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 24
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. ratiof attraction
  2. lakṣaṇāthe symptoms
  3. premaof love
  4. lakṣaṇāthe symptoms
  5. iti-ādiand so on
  6. pracāraare known
  7. bhāva-rūpāin the form of ecstatic love
  8. mahā-bhāvaof higher ecstatic love
  9. lakṣaṇa-rūpāthere are many symptoms
  10. āraother
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: “love of godhead”, “ecstatic love”

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 range suggest about the depth of love of Godhead?

Practice

Write down the beginning and highest point named here: attraction and mahābhāva, the topmost ecstatic love.

Live this todayLove Extends from Attraction to MahābhāvaThis 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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