120 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 20

visnu-kaficite visnu, hari rahe, mayapure
aiche dra nana marti brahmanda-bhitare

SYNONYMS
visnu-kafcite—at Visnu-kafci; visnu—Lord Visnu; hari—Lord Hari; rahe—
remains; mdydpure—at Mayapur; aiche—similarly; ara—also; nandé—various;
marti—forms; brahmanda-bhitare—throughout the universe.

TRANSLATION

“At Visnu-kafici there is Lord Visnu, at Mayapur Lord Hari, and throughout
the universe a variety of other forms.

PURPORT

All of these forms are marti forms, and They are worshiped in the temples. Their
names are KeSava at Mathura, Purusottama or Jagannatha at Nilacala, $n Bindu
Madhava at Prayaga, Madhustidana at Mandara, and Vasudeva, Padmanabha and
Janardana at Anandaranya, which is situated in Kerala, South India. At Visnu-kafici,
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 uni-
verse there are various Deities in temples bestowing Their causeless mercy upon
the devotees. All these Deity forms are nondifferent from the mdrtis in the
spiritual world of the Vaikunthas. Although the arca-marti, 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-mdrti so that we can see Him. It is forbid-
den to consider the arca-mdrti 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 ndmni 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 any-
one consider the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra to be a material vibration. All these ex-
pansions of Krsna in the material world are simply demonstrations of the Lord’s
