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

Expressions researched:
"The word sthāṇu means" |"a dry tree without leaves" |"From a distance one may mistake such a tree for a person. This is called sthāṇu-puruṣa"

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

The word sthāṇu means “a dry tree without leaves.” From a distance one may mistake such a tree for a person. This is called sthāṇu-puruṣa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was living in Vṛndāvana, the inhabitants considered Him an ordinary human being, and they mistook the fisherman to be Kṛṣṇa. Every human being is prone to make such mistakes. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was mistaken for an ordinary sannyāsī, the fisherman was mistaken for Kṛṣṇa, and the torchlight was mistaken for bright jewels on Kālīya’s hoods.

CC Madhya 18.108, Translation and Purport

“But where they are seeing Kṛṣṇa is their mistake. It is like considering a dry tree to be a person.”

The word sthāṇu means “a dry tree without leaves.” From a distance one may mistake such a tree for a person. This is called sthāṇu-puruṣa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was living in Vṛndāvana, the inhabitants considered Him an ordinary human being, and they mistook the fisherman to be Kṛṣṇa. Every human being is prone to make such mistakes. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was mistaken for an ordinary sannyāsī, the fisherman was mistaken for Kṛṣṇa, and the torchlight was mistaken for bright jewels on Kālīya’s hoods.