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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
  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 8: Talks Between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya
Madhya 8.231Madhya 8.233

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 8.232

নায়ং শ্রিয়োঽঙ্গ উ নিতান্তরতেঃ প্রসাদঃ

স্বর্যোষিতাং নলিনগন্ধরুচাং কুতোঽন্যাঃ ।

রাসোৎসবেঽস্য ভুজদণ্ডগৃহীতকণ্ঠ-

লব্ধাশিষাং য উদগাদ্‌ব্রজসুন্দরীণাম্ ॥ ২৩২ ॥

nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ

svar-yoṣitāṁ nalina-gandha-rucāṁ kuto ’nyāḥ

rāsotsave ’sya bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha-

labdhāśiṣāṁ ya udagād vraja-sundarīṇām

Translation

“ ‘When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, the gopīs were embraced around the neck by the Lord’s arms. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world. Nor was such a thing ever imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, girls whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the beauty and fragrance of lotus flowers. And what to speak of worldly women, who may be very, very beautiful according to material estimation?’”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Gopīs Receive an Unmatched Favor

  1. 1

    During the rāsa-līlā, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa embraced the gopīs around their necks with His arms.

  2. 2

    This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world.

  3. 3

    Even the most beautiful heavenly girls could not imagine such favor. Materially admired beauty among worldly women is still less a measure of it.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 8.232 quotesSB 10.47.60

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.47.60).

Each link is a verse the purport itself quotes, or a purport elsewhere that quotes this verse, shown with the purport's own words.

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

Further reading

Madhya 8: Talks Between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya

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

He next described the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the transcendental mellows of love of God. Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya then recited a verse of his own concerning the platform of ecstatic vision, technically called prema-vilāsa-vivarta.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in Madhya 8
2

Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. nanot
  2. ayamthis
  3. śriyaḥof the goddess of fortune
  4. aṅgeon the chest
  5. ualas
  6. nitānta-rateḥwho is very intimately related
  7. prasādaḥthe favor
  8. svaḥof the heavenly planets
3

Key ideas in this verse

The themes of love and mercy this verse speaks of.

  • Kṛpā & transformation · Mercy changes a life

    Transformative encounters with grace, from scholars and travelers to renunciants and householders. · In the Prema Atlas

    In this verse: “favor”, “embraced”

  • 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: “rāsa-līlā”

  • 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.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does this verse challenge the idea that outward beauty measures spiritual favor?

Practice

Write a brief reminder: “Material beauty is not a measure of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental favor.”

Live this todayThe Gopīs Receive an Unmatched FavorThis 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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