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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

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 8: Talks Between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya

Madhya 8.215 Madhya 8.217

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 8.216

প্রেমৈব গোপরামাণাং কাম ইত্যগমৎ প্ৰথাম্ ।

ইত্যুদ্ধবাদয়োঽপ্যেতং বাঞ্ছন্তি ভগবৎপ্রিয়াঃ ॥ ২১৬ ॥

premaiva gopa-rāmāṇāṁ

kāma ity agamat prathām

ity uddhavādayo ’py etaṁ

vāñchanti bhagavat-priyāḥ

Translation

“ ‘Although the dealings of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa are on the platform of pure love of Godhead, such dealings are sometimes considered to be lusty. But because they are completely spiritual, Uddhava and all the other dearmost devotees of the Lord desire to participate in them.’

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Gopīs’ Love Is Completely Spiritual

1
The dealings of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa are on the platform of pure love of Godhead.
2
Although these dealings are sometimes considered lusty, they are completely spiritual.
3
Uddhava and the other dearmost devotees of the Lord desire to participate in these spiritual dealings.

How it feels

Deepening intimacy and revelation. Their exchange ascends from duty to pure love and the confidential moods of Vraja.

The mood of Madhya 8 as a whole, an editorial reading, not the text itself. See the emotional atlas

Madhya 8: Talks Between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya

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

Then Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya explained unalloyed devotional service, love of Godhead, and serving the Lord in the moods of pure servitude, fraternity and parental love. Finally he spoke of serving the Lord in conjugal love.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in Madhya 8

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

premālove of Godhead
evacertainly
gopa-rāmāṇāmof all the gopīs
kāmaḥlust
itithus
agamatbecame current
prathāmthe process
itithus

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

Prema · Love of Godhead
The culminating devotional purpose that unites the narration: bestowed, cultivated, taught, celebrated, and tasted. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “love of godhead”, “pure love”
Vraja-smaraṇa · Remembrance of Vṛndāvana
The remembered sweetness of Vraja that colors Mahāprabhu’s pilgrimage, Ratha-yātrā, and later states of separation. · In the Prema Atlas
In this verse: “gopīs”

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 does the desire of Uddhava and the other dear devotees help me understand the gopīs’ love?

Practice

Reread the translation today and write down its distinction between how these dealings may appear and what they actually are.

Live this todayThe Gopīs’ Love Is Completely 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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