20.217
visnu-kancite visnu, hari rahe, mayapure
aiche ara nana murti brahmanda-bhitare
SYNONYMS
visnu-kancite—at Visnu-kanci; visnu—Lord Visnu; hari—Lord Hari; rahe—remains; mayapure—at Mayapur; aiche—similarly; ara—also; nana—various; murti—forms; brahmanda-bhitare—throughout the universe "At Visnu-kanci there is Lord Visnu, at Mayapur Lord Hari, and throughout the universe a variety of other forms.
PURPORT
All of these forms are murti forms, and They are worshiped in the temples.
Their names are Kesava at Mathura, Purusottama or Jagannatha at Nilacala, Sri Bindu Madhava at Prayaga, Madhusudana at Mandara, and Vasudeva, Padmanabha and Janardana at Anandaranya, which is situated in Kerala, South India.
At Visnu-kanci, which is situated in the Barada state, there is Lord Visnu, and Hari is situated at Mayapur, Lord Caitanya’s birthsite.
Thus in different places throughout the universe there are various Deities in temples bestowing Their causeless mercy upon the devotees.
All these Deity forms are nondifferent from the murtis in the spiritual world of the Vaikunthas.
Although the arca-murti, the worshipable Deity form of the Lord, appears to be made of material elements, it is as good as the spiritual forms found in the spiritual Vaikunthalokas.
The Deity in the temple, however, is visible to the material eyes of the devotee.
It is not possible for one in material conditional life to see the spiritual form of the Lord.
To bestow causeless mercy upon us, the Lord appears as arca-murti so that we can see Him.
It is forbidden to consider the arca-murti to be made of stone or wood.
In the Padma Purana it is said:
arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ’mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabde-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah No one should consider the Deity in the temple to be made of stone or wood, nor should one consider the spiritual master an ordinary human being.
No one should consider a Vaisnava to belong to a particular caste or creed, and no one should consider caranamrta or Ganges water to be like ordinary water.
Nor should anyone consider the Hare Krsna maha-mantra to be a material vibration.
All these expansions of Krsna in the material world are simply demonstrations of the Lord’s mercy and willingness to give facility to His devotees who are engaged in His devotional service within the material world.