Shloka 25
Secondary Creation Begins: Brahmā’s Productions, the Guṇas, and the Emergence of Orders of Beings
स उपव्रज्य वरदं प्रपन्नार्तिहरं हरिम् । अनुग्रहाय भक्तानामनुरूपात्मदर्शनम् ॥ २५ ॥
sa upavrajya varadaṁ prapannārti-haraṁ harim anugrahāya bhaktānām anurūpātma-darśanam
He approached Hari, the bestower of boons and the remover of the anguish of those who take shelter; to show grace to His devotees, the Lord reveals Himself in countless transcendental forms suited to them.
Here the words bhaktānām anurūpātma-darśanam mean that the Personality of Godhead manifests His multiforms according to the desires of the devotees. For example, Hanumānjī (Vajrāṅgajī) wanted to see the form of the Lord as the Personality of Godhead Rāmacandra, whereas other Vaiṣṇavas want to see the form of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and still other devotees want to see the Lord in the form of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. The Māyāvādī philosophers think that although all these forms are assumed by the Lord just as the devotees desire to see Him, actually He is impersonal. From Brahma-saṁhitā, however, we can understand that this is not so, for the Lord has multiforms. It is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā, advaitam acyutam. The Lord does not appear before the devotee because of the devotee’s imagination. Brahma-saṁhitā further explains that the Lord has innumerable forms: rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan. He exists in millions and millions of forms. There are 8,400,000 spieces of living entities, but the incarnations of the Supreme Lord are innumerable. In the Bhāgavatam it is stated that as the waves in the sea cannot be counted but appear and disappear continually, the incarnations and forms of the Lord are innumerable. A devotee is attached to a particular form, and it is that form which he worships. We have just described the first appearance of the boar within this universe. There are innumerable universes, and somewhere or other the boar form is now existing. All the forms of the Lord are eternal. It is the devotee’s inclination to worship a particular form, and he engages in devotional service to that form. In a verse in the Rāmāyaṇa, Hanumān, the great devotee of Rāma, said, “I know that there is no difference between the Sītā-Rāma and Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but nevertheless, the form of Rāma and Sītā has absorbed my affection and love. Therefore I want to see the Lord in the forms of Rāma and Sītā.” Similarly, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava loves the forms of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī at Dvārakā. The words bhaktānām anurūpātma-darśanam mean that the Lord is always pleased to favor the devotee in the particular form in which the devotee wants to worship and render service unto Him. In this verse it is stated that Brahmā approached Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This form of the Lord is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Whenever there is some trouble and Brahmā has to approach the Lord, he can approach Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and it is the grace of the Lord that whenever Brahmā approaches about disturbances in the universe, the Lord gives him relief in so many ways.
FAQs
This verse describes Hari as “prapannārtihara”—the one who takes away the suffering of those who fully surrender to Him.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating this verse to Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
Turn to the Lord with humility and dependence, and seek His guidance—trusting that He responds in a way suited to your capacity and sincere devotion.