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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 24.36Madhya 24.38

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 24.37

ত্বত্‌সাক্ষাত্‌করণাহ্লাদবিশুদ্ধাব্ধিস্থিতস্য মে ।

সুখানি গোষ্পদায়ন্তে ব্রাহ্মাণ্যপি জগদ্‌গুরো ॥ ৩৭ ॥

tvat-sākṣāt-karaṇāhlāda-

viśuddhābdhi-sthitasya me

sukhāni goṣ-padāyante

brāhmāṇy api jagad-guro

Translation

“ ‘My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Being situated in that ocean, I now realize all other so-called happiness to be like the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Seeing the Lord Brings an Ocean of Bliss

  1. 1

    The speaker addresses the Lord as the master of the universe and describes directly seeing Him.

  2. 2

    Through that direct vision, the speaker’s transcendental bliss has become like a great ocean.

  3. 3

    Within that ocean, all other so-called happiness seems like water in a calf’s hoofprint. The purport identifies this quotation as coming from the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya.

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. tvatYour
  2. sākṣātmeeting
  3. karaṇasuch action
  4. āhlādapleasure
  5. viśuddhaspiritually purified
  6. abdhiocean
  7. sthitasyabeing situated
  8. meby me
3

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: “hari-bhakti-sudhodaya”

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

How does the contrast between an ocean and a calf’s hoofprint reshape your view of happiness?

Practice

Read the verse slowly, pausing to picture the two measures of water used in the comparison.

Live this todaySeeing the Lord Brings an Ocean of BlissThis 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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