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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

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 ›

Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta · Text Madhya 8.266

জন্মাদ্যস্য যতোঽন্বয়াদিতরতশ্চার্থেষ্বভিজ্ঞঃ স্বরাট্

তেনে ব্রহ্ম হৃদা য আদিকবয়ে মুহ্যন্তি যৎ সূরয়ঃ ।

তেজোবারিমৃদাং যথা বিনিময়ো যত্র ত্রিসর্গোঽমৃষা

ধাম্না স্বেন সদা নিরস্তকুহকং সত্যং পরং ধীমহি ॥ ২৬৬ ॥

janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ

tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ

tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā

dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Translation

“ ‘O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.’”

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Meditate on Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth

  1. 1

    Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of creation, sustenance, and destruction. He is fully conscious and independent, with no cause beyond Him.

  2. 2

    He first imparted Vedic knowledge into Brahmājī’s heart. By Him, even great sages and demigods are placed into illusion.

  3. 3

    The temporary material universes appear factual because of Him. The prayer meditates on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who exists eternally in the transcendental abode, forever free from material illusion.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 8.266 quotesSB 1.1.1

This is the opening invocation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1).

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
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Word for word

Learn the words of the verse.

  1. janma-ādicreation, maintenance and dissolution
  2. asyaof this (the universe)
  3. yataḥfrom whom
  4. anvayātdirectly from the spiritual connection
  5. itarataḥindirectly from the lack of material contact
  6. caalso
  7. artheṣuin all affairs
  8. abhijñaḥperfectly cognizant
3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How might meditating on Kṛṣṇa’s eternal existence change your view of temporary things?

Practice

Spend one quiet minute meditating on Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Absolute Truth and the cause of all causes.

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Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

Quoted in 1 lecture. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Quoted in 1 lecture

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayMeditate on Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute TruthThis 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 8.266? Get an answer from the verses themselves.