CC Madhya 18.108
Bengali
কিন্তু কাহোঁ ‘কৃষ্ণ’ দেখে, কাহোঁ ‘ভ্রম’ মানে ।
স্থাণু-পুরুষে যৈছে বিপরীত-জ্ঞানে ॥ ১০৮ ॥
স্থাণু-পুরুষে যৈছে বিপরীত-জ্ঞানে ॥ ১০৮ ॥
Verse text
kintu kāhoṅ ‘kṛṣṇa’ dekhe, kāhoṅ ‘bhrama’ māne
sthāṇu-puruṣe yaiche viparīta-jñāne
sthāṇu-puruṣe yaiche viparīta-jñāne
Synonyms
Translation
“But where they are seeing Kṛṣṇa is their mistake. It is like considering a dry tree to be a person.”
Purport
The word sthāṇu means “a dry tree without leaves.” From a distance one may mistake such a tree for a person. This is called sthāṇu-puruṣa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was living in Vṛndāvana, the inhabitants considered Him an ordinary human being, and they mistook the fisherman to be Kṛṣṇa. Every human being is prone to make such mistakes. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was mistaken for an ordinary sannyāsī, the fisherman was mistaken for Kṛṣṇa, and the torchlight was mistaken for bright jewels on Kālīya’s hoods.