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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 25: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas
Madhya 25.33Madhya 25.35

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 25.34

শ্রুতি-পুরাণ কহে — কৃষ্ণের চিচ্ছক্তি-বিলাস ।

তাহা নাহি মানি, পণ্ডিত করে উপহাস ॥ ৩৪ ॥

śruti-purāṇa kahe — kṛṣṇera cic-chakti-vilāsa

tāhā nāhi māni, paṇḍita kare upahāsa

Translation

“The Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtra and the Purāṇas all describe the activities of the spiritual potency of the Lord. If one cannot accept the personal activities of the Lord, he jokes foolishly and gives an impersonal description.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord’s Form and Activities Are Spiritual

  1. 1

    The Vedic literatures describe the spiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa. His pastimes and His form are eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.

  2. 2

    Comparing Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual body to our temporary material bodies leads to misunderstanding Him as one of us.

  3. 3

    The Lord’s spiritual energy has variety and activities. Activities in devotional service should not be mistaken for activities in material consciousness.

Key points from the purport
  • In the Vedic literatures, including the Purāṇas, there are full descriptions of the spiritual potency of Kṛṣṇa.
  • They cannot understand that just as the material energy of the Lord has a variety of activities, the spiritual energy has variety also.
  • Under such a wrong impression, they sometimes dare joke about the spiritual activities of the Lord and His devotional service.

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 25.34 quotesBG 9.11

The Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) points out that foolish people think of Kṛṣṇa as one of them.

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

Reconciliation and broad mercy. Opponents turn toward bhakti; the Lord returns to Purī and embraces devotees.

The mood of Madhya 25 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 25: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

From Śrīla Prabhupāda's chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

He was always very happy to hear the glories of the Lord, and it was by his arrangement that all the sannyāsīs of Vārāṇasī became devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He invited all the sannyāsīs to his house to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this incident has been described in the seventh chapter of the Ādi-līlā.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 25
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. śruti-purāṇa kahethe Vedas, the Upaniṣads, the Brahma-sūtra and the Purāṇas confirm
  2. kṛṣṇeraof Lord Kṛṣṇa
  3. cit-śakti-vilāsaactivities of spiritual potencies
  4. tāhā nāhi māninot accepting that
  5. paṇḍita kare upahāsaso-called scholars play jokes without perfect understanding
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Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Sevā · Love translated into service

    Devotional service expressed through cleansing, caring, teaching, honoring others, and living as Kṛṣṇa’s servant. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “service”

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

Where might I be applying material assumptions to Kṛṣṇa’s form or devotional service?

Practice

Write down the three qualities of Kṛṣṇa’s form and pastimes: eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.

5

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

1 lecture given on it. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Live this todayThe Lord’s Form and Activities Are SpiritualThis 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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