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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

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 8.80

নায়ং শ্রিয়োঽঙ্গ উ নিতান্তরতেঃ প্রসাদঃ

স্বর্যোষিতাং নলিনগন্ধরুচাং কুতোঽন্যাঃ ।

রাসোত্সবেঽস্য ভুজদণ্ডগৃহীতকণ্ঠ-

লব্ধাশিষাং য উদগাদ্‌ব্রজসুন্দরীণাম্ ॥ ৮০ ॥

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 Incomparable Fortune of the Gopīs

  1. 1

    During the rāsa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa embraced the gopīs around their necks with His arms. This transcendental favor was not bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world.

  2. 2

    Uddhava visited Śrī Vṛndāvana to deliver Kṛṣṇa’s message and remained to observe the gopīs. Seeing their ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in separation, he appreciated their supreme love.

  3. 3

    Uddhava admitted that the gopīs’ fortune could not be compared even to that of the goddess of fortune. The beauty of heavenly girls or worldly women could not compare with this favor.

Key points from the purport
  • This verse (Bhāg. 10.47.60) was spoken by Uddhava when he visited Śrī Vṛndāvana to deliver a message from Kṛṣṇa to the gopīs.
  • When he saw the ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in separation manifested by the gopīs, he appreciated their supreme love and therefore expressed his feelings in this verse.
  • He admitted that the fortune of the gopīs could not be compared even to the fortune of the goddess of fortune, to say nothing of the beautiful girls in the heavenly planets.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Connected verses· 1

The purport of CC Madhya 8.80 quotesSB 10.47.60

This verse was spoken by Uddhava when he visited Śrī Vṛndāvana to deliver a message from Kṛṣṇa to the gopīs.

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:

Rāmānanda Rāya, who was clothed in ordinary dress, offered the Lord respectful obeisances. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu questioned him on the object and process of worship and also asked him to recite verses from the Vedic literature.
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”, “deliver”

  • 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”, “vṛndāvana”

  • 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 for krsna”, “ecstatic love”

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

What can you learn from Uddhava’s appreciation of the gopīs’ supreme love?

Practice

Write one sentence distinguishing the gopīs’ extraordinary fortune from beauty measured by material estimation.

Live this todayThe Incomparable Fortune of the GopīsThis 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 8.80? Get an answer from the verses themselves.