prabhu kahe, — "ei Å›ilÄ kṛṣṇera vigraha
iá¹…hÄra sevÄ kara tumi kariyÄ Ägraha

 prabhu kahe - ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu said; ei Å›ilÄ - this stone; kṛṣṇera vigraha - the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa; iá¹…hÄra - of this; sevÄ - worship; kara - do; tumi - you; kariyÄ Ägraha - with great eagerness.


Text

ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu instructed RaghunÄtha dÄsa, “This stone is the transcendental form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Worship the stone with great eagerness.â€

Purport

ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura writes in his AnubhÄá¹£ya that in the opinion of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, the govardhana-Å›ilÄ, the stone from Govardhana Hill, was directly the form of Kṛṣṇa, the son of MahÄrÄja Nanda. The Lord used the stone for three years, and then in the heart of RaghunÄtha dÄsa the Lord awakened devotional service to the stone. The Lord then gave the stone to RaghunÄtha dÄsa, accepting him as one of His most confidential servants. However, some envious people conclude that because RaghunÄtha dÄsa had not taken birth in the family of a brÄhmaṇa, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu did not give him the right to worship the Deity directly but instead gave him a stone from Govardhana. This kind of thought is nÄrakÄ«, or hellish. As stated in the Padma PurÄṇa, arcye viṣṇau Å›ilÄ-dhÄ«r guruá¹£u nara-matir vaiṣṇave jÄti-buddhiḥ . . . yasya vÄ nÄrakÄ« saḥ. If one thinks that the worshipable Å›ÄlagrÄma-Å›ilÄ is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nÄrakÄ«, a candidate for hellish life. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu instructed that the govardhana-Å›ilÄ, the stone taken from Govardhana, is nondifferent from the body of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He indirectly advised such foolish persons that one should not be envious of a Vaiṣṇava who belongs to a different caste or sect. One should accept a Vaiṣṇava as transcendental. In this way one can be saved; otherwise, one is surely awaiting a hellish life.