18.108
kintu kahon ’krsna’ dekhe, kahon ’bhrama’ mane
sthanu-puruse yaiche viparita-jnane
SYNONYMS
kintu—but; kahon—where; krsna—Krsna; dekhe—one sees; kahon—where; bhrama mane—mistakes; sthanu-puruse—the dry tree and a person; yaiche—as; viparita-jnane—by understanding one to be the other “But where they are seeing Krsna 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-purusa.
Although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was living in Vrndavana, the inhabitants considered Him an ordinary human being, and they mistook the fisherman to be Krsna.
Every human being is prone to make such mistakes.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was mistaken for an ordinary sannyasi, the fisherman was mistaken for Krsna, and the torchlight was mistaken for bright jewels on Kaliya’s hoods.