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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

How to study this verse, in six steps

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 3.98

আপনার সম মোরে করিবার তরে ।

ঝুঠা দিলে, বিপ্র বলি’ ভয় না করিলে ॥ ৯৮ ॥

āpanāra sama more karibāra tare

jhuṭhā dile, vipra bali’ bhaya nā karile

Translation

“To make Me a madman like Yourself, You have thrown the remnants of Your food at Me. You did not even fear the fact that I am a brāhmaṇa.”

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

1
Advaita Ācārya presented Himself as belonging to the smārta-brāhmaṇas and regarded Nityānanda Prabhu as transcendentally situated with pure Vaiṣṇavas. Nityānanda Prabhu gave Him His remnants to raise Him to that same platform.
2
A pure Vaiṣṇava accepts mahā-prasādam as spiritual substance, not as ordinary dhal and rice or something for sense gratification.
3
Eating or touching mahā-prasādam does not degrade a brāhmaṇa. The purport explains that eating it frees one from the contaminations of the material condition.

Key points from the purport

Lord Nityānanda gave Advaita Ācārya His remnants to situate Him on the same platform and make Him a pure unalloyed Vaiṣṇava or paramahaṁsa.
A pure Vaiṣṇava, or a person on the paramahaṁsa stage, accepts the remnants of food (mahā-prasādam) as spiritual.
To say nothing of the remnants of food left by a pure Vaiṣṇava, prasādam is never polluted even if it is touched by the mouth of a caṇḍāla.

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

Reunion and heartbreaking parting. After sannyāsa, mother Śacī and the devotees reunite with Him before consenting to separation.

The mood of Madhya 3 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

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

There all the Navadvīpa devotees, along with mother Śacīdevī, came to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This house was located at Śāntipura.

Learn the words of the verse.

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

How can I receive mahā-prasādam with greater awareness of its spiritual value?

Before accepting prasādam today, pause to remember that it is spiritual substance, not ordinary food.

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.