Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 18.108

kintu kahon 'krishna' dekhe, kahon 'bhrama' mane

sthanu-purushe yaiche viparita-jnane

SYNONYMS

kintu -- but; kahon -- where; krishna -- Krishna; dekhe -- one sees; kahon -- where; bhrama mane -- mistakes; sthanu-purushe -- the dry tree and a person; yaiche -- as; viparita-jnane -- by understanding one to be the other.

TRANSLATION

"But where they are seeing Krishna is their mistake. It is like considering a dry tree to be a person."

PURPORT

The word sthanu means "a dry tree without leaves." From a distance one may mistake such a tree for a person. This is called sthanu-purusha. Although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was living in Vrindavana, the inhabitants considered Him an ordinary human being, and they mistook the fisherman to be Krishna. Every human being is prone to make such mistakes. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was mistaken for an ordinary sannyasi, the fisherman was mistaken for Krishna, and the torchlight was mistaken for bright jewels on Kaliya's hoods.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness