The Superexcellent Power of Krṣṇa
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also saw that on the very soft, white body of Śeṣanāga, Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu was lying very comfortably. He appeared to be all-pervading and very powerful, and Arjuna could understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead in that form is known as Puroṣottama. He is known as Puruṣottama, the best, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because from this form emanates another form of Viṣṇu, which is known as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu within the material world. The Mahā-Viṣṇu form of the Lord,  Puruṣottama , is beyond the material world. He is also known as  Uttama .  Tama  means darkness, and  ut  means above, transcendental; therefore,  Uttama  means above the darkest region of the material world. Arjuna saw that the bodily color of Puruṣottama, Mahā-Viṣṇu, was as dark as a new cloud in the rainy season; He was dressed in very nice yellow clothing. His face was always beautifully smiling, and His eyes, which were like lotus petals, were very attractive. Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu's helmet was bedecked with valuable jewels, and His beautiful earrings enhanced the beauty of the curling hair on His head. Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu had eight arms, all very long, reaching to His knees. His neck was decorated with the Kaustubha jewel, and His chest was marked with the symbol of  śrīvatsa , which means the resting place of the goddess of fortune. The Lord wore a garland of lotus flowers down to His knees. This long garland is known as a  vaijayantī  garland.
The Lord was surrounded by His personal associates Nanda and Sunanda, and the personified Sudarśana disc was also standing by Him. As is stated in the  Vedas , the Lord has innumerable energies, and they were also standing there personified. The most important among them were as follows:  puṣṭi , the energy for nourishment,  śrī , the energy of beauty,  kīrti , the energy of reputation, and  ajā , the energy of material creation. All these energies are invested in the administrators of the material world, namely Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu, and in the kings of the heavenly planets, Indra, Candra, Varuṇa and the sun-god. In other words, all these demigods, being empowered by the Lord with certain energies, engage in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Mahā-Viṣṇu feature is an expansion of Krṣṇa's body. It is also confirmed in the  Brahma-saṁhitā  that Mahā-Viṣṇu is a portion of a plenary expansion of Krṣṇa. All such expansions are nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, but since Krṣṇa appeared within this material world to manifest His pastimes as a human being, He and Arjuna immediately offered their respects to Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu by bowing down before Him. It is stated in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  that Lord Krṣṇa offered respect to Mahā-Viṣṇu; this means that He offered obeisances unto Him