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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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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 6: The Liberation of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya
Madhya 6.153Madhya 6.155

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 6.154

বিষ্ণুশক্তিঃ পরা প্রোক্তা ক্ষেত্রজ্ঞাখ্যা তথাপরা ।

অবিদ্যাকর্মসংজ্ঞান্যা তৃতীয়া শক্তিরিষ্যতে ॥ ১৫৪ ॥

viṣṇu-śaktiḥ parā proktā

kṣetra-jñākhyā tathā parā

avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā

tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate

Translation

“ ‘The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras. There is another spiritual potency, known as kṣetra-jña, or the living entity. The third potency, which is known as nescience, makes the living entity godless and fills him with fruitive activity.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Hear

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks on this verse

4 of his recorded lectures, with the transcript, on prabhupada.io.

Show 2 more lectures
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Spiritual Living Entities Can Fall Into Forgetfulness

  1. 1

    The internal potency of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is spiritual, as verified by the śāstras.

  2. 2

    The living entity is another spiritual potency, called kṣetra-jña, the knower of his field of activities. Living entities are constitutionally spiritual and have an eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

  3. 3

    The third potency, avidyā or nescience, keeps living entities forgetful of that relationship and provokes fruitive activity. Although it is also the Lord’s energy, living entities come under its influence because of their rebellious attitude toward Him.

Key points from the purport
  • The living entities in the material world are forgetful of their eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • Although this avidyā-śakti (material energy, or nescience) is also an energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is especially intended to keep the living entities in a state of forgetfulness.
  • Thus although the living entities are constitutionally spiritual, they come under the influence of the potency of nescience.

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

Doubt transformed to devotion. Intellectual resistance gives way to a profound change of heart.

The mood of Madhya 6 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Further reading

Madhya 6: The Liberation of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya

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

According to the Vedas, the Lord and the living entity are equal in quality but different quantitatively. The real philosophy of the Absolute Truth states that the Lord and His creation are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 6
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. viṣṇu-śaktiḥthe internal potency of Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
  2. parāspiritual
  3. proktāsaid
  4. kṣetra-jñathe living entities
  5. ākhyāknown as
  6. tathāalso
  7. parāspiritual
  8. avidyānescience, or godlessness
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Bhāva & rasa · The language of sacred feeling

    Transcendental devotional moods and relationships, discussed explicitly in Rāmānanda’s dialogue and the teachings on prema. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “relationship”

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 do you notice forgetfulness of your relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in your daily activities?

Practice

Pause before one activity today and remember: “I am spiritual and have an eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Live this todaySpiritual Living Entities Can Fall Into ForgetfulnessThis 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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