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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 8: Talks Between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya

Madhya 8.216 Madhya 8.218

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 8.217

নিজেন্দ্রিয়সুখহেতু কামের তাত্পর্য ।

কৃষ্ণসুখ-তাত্পর্য গোপীভাব-বর্য ॥ ২১৭ ॥

nijendriya-sukha-hetu kāmera tātparya

kṛṣṇa-sukha-tātparya gopī-bhāva-varya

Translation

“Lusty desires are experienced when one is concerned with his own personal sense gratification. The mood of the gopīs is not like that. Their only desire is to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa.

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.

Satisfying Kṛṣṇa Rather Than Oneself

1
Lusty desires arise when one is concerned with personal sense gratification.
2
The mood of the gopīs is not concerned with their own sense gratification.
3
Their only desire is to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa.

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:

This conjugal love attains its highest perfection in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s love for Kṛṣṇa. He next described the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the transcendental mellows of love of God.

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

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

nija-indriyaof one’s own senses
sukhaof the happiness
hetufor the reason
kāmeraof lusty desire
tātparyaintention
kṛṣṇaof Kṛṣṇa
sukhathe happiness
tātparyaintention
gopī-bhāva-varyathe foremost mood of the gopīs.

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

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

In my service, whose satisfaction am I putting first?

Practice

Before one act of service today, pause and set the intention to please Kṛṣṇa rather than yourself.

Live this todaySatisfying Kṛṣṇa Rather Than OneselfThis 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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