1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Read one verse of Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta with its Bengali, transliteration, word meanings, translation and study points.

Or browse by līlā and chapter

Madhya-līlā · 25 chapters

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425
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 6.154Madhya 6.156

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 6.155

যয়া ক্ষেত্রজ্ঞশক্তিঃ সা বেষ্টিতা নৃপ সর্বগা ।

সংসারতাপানখিলানবাপ্নোত্যত্র সন্ততান্ ॥ ১৫৫ ॥

yayā kṣetra-jña-śaktiḥ sā

veṣṭitā nṛpa sarva-gā

saṁsāra-tāpān akhilān

avāpnoty atra santatān

Translation

“ ‘O King, the kṣetra-jña-śakti is the living entity. Although he has the facility to live in either the material or spiritual world, he suffers the threefold miseries of material existence because he is influenced by the avidyā [nescience] potency, which covers his constitutional position.

Read this verse on Vedabase.io

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

Hear

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks on this verse

His recorded lecture, with the transcript, on prabhupada.io.

1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Ignorance Covers the Living Entity’s True Position

  1. 1

    The kṣetra-jña-śakti is the living entity, who has the facility to live in either the material or spiritual world.

  2. 2

    The avidyā potency, or nescience, covers the living entity’s constitutional position.

  3. 3

    Under this influence, the living entity suffers the threefold miseries of material existence.

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. yayāby which
  2. kṣetra-jña-śaktiḥthe living entities, known as the kṣetra-jña potency
  3. sāthat potency
  4. veṣṭitācovered
  5. nṛpaO King
  6. sarva-gācapable of going anywhere in the spiritual or material worlds
  7. saṁsāra-tāpānmiseries due to the cycle of repeated birth and death
  8. akhilānall kinds of
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this teaching help you distinguish your constitutional position from your present suffering?

Practice

Read the translation slowly and note the difference between the living entity’s constitutional position and the covering of nescience.

Live this todayIgnorance Covers the Living Entity’s True PositionThis 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.

Ask Caitanya CaritamrtaHave a question about CC Madhya 6.155? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 5 of 9 · 2 minAsk Caitanya CaritamrtaBring your own question. Get an answer drawn only from the book's translations, with every verse shown.Back · LearnLīlās & chapters