When Lord Caitanya was in Gambhira, he would write the name of Krishna using his fingers on the sand, and He would worship the Holy Names of Krishna. One time, His hands felt something hard, and when He dug the sand, He found the deity of Gopinatha. Because the deity was found in a garden, He was named Tota Gopinatha. Mahaprabhu handed these Deities to Gadadhar Pandit for worship.
When HH Radhanatha Swami Maharaja was in Vrindavan, there was a devotee by the name Ghanshyam Baba who would devoutly worship Radha Gopijanavallabha. Ghanshyam Baba would write the name of Sri Radha in the sand and would worship Her. One day, after his worship, as he was erasing the name, his hands touched something hard. When he came in seclusion, he found beautiful deities of Radha Gopijanavallabha exactly at that place.
Gadadhar Pandit dedicated his life for serving Tota Gopinath. Ghanshyam dedicated his life for serving Radha Gopijanavallabha.
Generally, when we have to give an example of something transient, we give the example of sand. Children make sandcastles only to be destroyed in some amount of time. Lines made on sand are sure to get erased in a short time. Sand is also compared to something very worthless.
But that same sand, when utilized for the worship of the Lord, can manifest the Lord right in front of our eyes. The above two examples, the Deities are existing even today and many people go to see and worship these Deities.
Similarly, our life is very temporary and transient. Our body is worthless. It amounts to nothing. But when we use this same body in the service of the Lord, this same body can help us attain proximity with the Lord.
Ordinary alphabets have no value. There are hundreds and thousands and millions of books written on so many mundane subject matters. They are as worthless as sand.
But when the same letters denote the names of Radha and Krishna, when the same letters are used to glorify Krishna, they no longer remain material. The Holy Name of Krishna is fully spiritual. The name Krishna, although comprising of “material” alphabets is non-material. It is sat-cit-ananda.
When these Names are worshipped even by writing on sand, the names retain their spiritual identity. When these Names are chanted through the tip of the tongue, they don’t lose their spiritual value.
Just as Gadadhar Pandit received the grace of Gopinath, just as Ghanshyam Baba received the grace of Gopijanavallabha, similarly, we can receive the grace of Holy Names when we chant attentively. For them, the Holy Name manifested in the form of a Deity. Krishna in the form of the Deity may not appear everytime. But, it is guaranteed that the form of Krishna will surely get manifested in the devotee’s heart.
Krishna says he manifests in eight forms as Deity:
śailī dāru-mayī lauhī
lepyā lekhyā ca saikatī
mano-mayī maṇi-mayī
pratimāṣṭa-vidhā smṛtā
The Deity form of the Lord is said to appear in eight varieties—stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, the mind or jewels.
For Krishna, sand is not insignificant. For Krishna, stone is not insignificant. He can manifest anywhere provided the devotee is sincere. For the Holy Name, nothing is needed – kala desa niyama nahi sarva siddhi haya.
The Holy Names of Krishna are non-different than Him. Why won’t He manifest there if we call out to Him in devotion? Krishna is so greedy for a devotee’s love that He says patram puspam phalam toyam….asnami. He eats a leaf or flower also when offered by a devotee our of His love!!
