Verse 1.10.5

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.10.5:

আদি-খণ্ডে শুন, ভাই, চৈতন্যের কথা বিদ্যার বিলাস প্রভু করিলেন যথা ॥ ৫ ॥

आदि-खण्डे शुन, भाइ, चैतन्येर कथा विद्यार विलास प्रभु करिलेन यथा ॥ ५ ॥

ādi-khaṇḍe śuna, bhāi, caitanyera kathā vidyāra vilāsa prabhu karilena yathā || 5 ||

adi-khande suna, bhai, caitanyera katha vidyara vilasa prabhu karilena yatha (5)

English translation:

(5) My dear brothers, please listen to the topics of Śrī Caitanya in this Ādi-khaṇḍa, wherein the description of the Lord’s scholastic pastimes are found.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The words vidyāra vilāsa are explained as follows: The conditioned soul in this material world is infected with nescience. In other words, he is born ignorant of his and other’s constitutional position. When the aspect of spiritual knowledge that is part of the conditioned soul’s constitution is unmanifest, his state is known as nescience, or ignorance. And the awakening and development of spiritual propensities by eradicating the absence of knowledge of the Absolute Truth is called vidyā, or knowledge. In other words, the awakening of one’s spiritual propensities by a learned person is known as the achievement of spiritual knowledge. The awakening of other’s spiritual propensities, which benefits self- realized persons in various ways, is known as vidyāra vilāsa. Under the shelter of nescience, or ignorance, the living entities become illusioned or bewildered—this is the opposite propensity from spiritual knowledge.

When on the strength of this propensity and with the help of sensual knowledge the conditioned souls attempt to advance through the ascending process, they reveal their ignorance to learned persons. Śrīman Mahāprabhu also manifested such vidyāra vilāsa pastimes for the benefit of the entire world and thus delivered the living entities from the clutches of nescience.