158
Šri Caitanya-caritāmrta
[[Madhya-lilā Ch §]
TRANSLATION
“My dear Lord, You are not a statue; You are directly the son of Mahārāja Nanda. Now, for the sake of the old brāhmaṇa, You can do something You have never done before.”
TEXT 97
হাসিঞা গোপাল কহে,—“শুনহ, ব্রাহ্মণ । ভোমার পাছে পাছে আমি করিব গমন ॥ ৯৭ ॥
hāsiñā gopāla kahe, —“śunaha, brāhmaṇa tomāra pāche pāche āmi kariba gamana
SYNONYMS
hāsiñā —smiling;  gopāla —the Lord Gopāla;  kahe —says;  śunaha —just hear;  brāhmaṇa —O my dear  brāhmaṇa ;  tomāra —you;  pāche pāche —behind;  āmi —I;  kariba —shall do;  gamana —walking.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Gopālajī then smiled and said:  “My dear brāhmaṇa, just listen to Me. I shall walk behind you, and in this way I shall go with you.”
PURPORT
The conversation between Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the  brāhmaṇa  is proof that the Lord in His  arcā-mūrti , or form made of material elements, is not material, for those elements, although separated from the Lord, are also a part of the Lord's energy, as stated in  Bhagavad-gītā . Because the elements are the Lord's own energy and because there is no difference between the energy and the energetic, the Lord can appear through any element. Just as the sun can act through the sunshine and thus distribute its heat and light, so Kṛṣṇa, by His inconceivable power, can appear in His original spiritual form in any material element, including stone, wood, paint, gold, silver and jewels, because the material elements are all His energy. The  śāstras  warn,  arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīḥ : one should never think of the  arcā-mūrti , the Deity within the temple, as stone, wood or any other material element. Because of his advanced devotional position, the younger  brāhmaṇa  knew that although the Deity of Gopāla appeared to be stone, He was not stone. He was the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Vrajendra-nandana Himself.
As such, the Deity can act exactly as the Lord did in His original form as Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa was talking to the young  brāhmaṇa  just to test his knowledge about the  arcā-vigraha . In other words, those who have understood the science of Kṛṣṇa—Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, quality and so forth—can also talk with the Deity. To