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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

1Say the verse. Read the transliteration aloud, slowly.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each word and its meaning.
3Read the translation. Ask: what is happening here, and who is it about?
4Read the purport slowly. Read it twice. Don't rush.
5See Lord Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa. Remember who is acting in the pastime.
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 25.72 Madhya 25.74

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 25.73

শ্রেষ্ঠ হঞা কেনে কর হীনের বন্দন ।

আমার সর্বনাশ হয়, তুমি ব্ৰহ্ম-সম ॥ ৭৩ ॥

śreṣṭha hañā kene kara hīnera vandana

āmāra sarva-nāśa haya, tumi brahma-sama

Translation

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “You are a great, spiritually advanced personality, and therefore you cannot worship a person like Me. I am far inferior. If you do so, My spiritual power will be diminished, for you are as good as the impersonal Brahman.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Lord Speaks with Humility

1
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu addresses Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī as a great, spiritually advanced personality.
2
Presenting Himself as far inferior, He says that such a person should not worship Him.
3
He says that receiving this worship would diminish His spiritual power. In this exchange, the Lord speaks with humility rather than claiming honor.

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

Madhya 25: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

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

By and by, one of the disciples of the great sannyāsī Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī became devoted to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and this devotee explained Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and supported His views with various arguments. One day Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to take a bath at Pañcanada, and afterwards all His devotees began chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in front of the temple of Bindu Mādhava.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 25

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

śreṣṭha hañābeing a more honorable person
kenewhy
karayou do
hīneraof an inferior person
vandanaworship
āmāra sarva-nāśa hayaI become minimized in My strength
tumi brahma-samayou are equal with the impersonal Brahman

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

Dainya & humility · Making room for grace
The humility expressed by the author, devotees, transformed scholars, renunciants, and the Śikṣāṣṭaka. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “humility”

Concept links are an editorial study map; only the verse is the text itself.

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How do I respond when someone offers me honor?

Practice

Today, acknowledge one person's good qualities without drawing attention to your own.

Live this todayThe Lord Speaks with HumilityThis 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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