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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
before you in the  viśva-rūpa  form, you will be so filled with fear that you will forget your love. So don't be eager like the impersonalists to see the  viśva-rūpa  form; just render loving service to Śvāmasundara. Kṛṣṇa.
We have more or less seen Kṛṣṇa as the  viśva-rūpa  during wartime in Calcutta in 1942. There was a siren, and we ran into a shelter, and the bombing began. In this way, we were seeing that  viśva-rūpa , and I was thinking, "Of course, this is also just another form of Kṛṣṇa. But this is not a very lovable form." A devotee wants to love Kṛṣṇa in His original form, and this  viśva-rūpa  is not His original form. Being omnipotent, Kṛṣṇa can appear in any form, but His lovable form is that of Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara. Although a man may be a police officer, when he is at home he is a beloved father to his son. But if he comes home firing his revolver, the son will be so frightened that he will forget that he is his beloved father. Naturally, the child loves his father when he's at home like a father, and similarly we love Kṛṣṇa as He is in His eternal abode, in the form of Śyāmasundara.
The  viśva-rūpa  was shown to Arjuna to warn those rascals who claim, "I am God." Arjuna asked to see the  viśva-rūpa  so that in the future we may have some criterion by which to test rascals who claim to be God. In other words, if someone says, "I am God," we can simply reply, "If you are God, please show me your  viśva-rūpa ." And we can rest assured that such rascals cannot display this form.
Of course, Arjuna was offering all respects to the  viśva-rūpa  form. That is a natural quality of a devotee. A devotee even respects Durgā, Māyā, because Māyā is Kṛṣṇa's energy. If we respect Kṛṣṇa, we respect everyone, even an ant. Therefore Brahmā prays,
sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“The external potency, Māyā, who is of the nature of the shadow of the  cit  [spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā,
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the creating, preserving, and destroying agency of this mundane world. I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.” ( Brahma-saṁhitā  5.44) Thus when we pray to Kṛṣṇa, we pray to Durgā immediately, because Durgā is His energy. And when we pray to Durgā, we are actually praying to Kṛṣṇa, because she is working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa. When the devotee sees the activities of Māyā, he sees Kṛṣṇa immediately, thinking, “Oh, Māyā is acting so nicely under the direction of Kṛṣṇa.” When one offers respect to a policeman, he is actually offering respect to the government. Durgā, the material energy, is so powerful that she can create, annihilate, and maintain, but in all cases she is acting under Kṛṣṇa’s directions.
Through  bhakti , pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa, we can leave the association of Māyā and be promoted to the eternal association of Kṛṣṇa. Some of the  gopas , Kṛṣṇa's friends, are eternal associates, and others are promoted to that eternal position. If only the eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa can play with Him and others cannot, then what is the meaning of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious? We can also become eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa through pious deeds executed in many, many lives. Actually, in the Vṛndāvana manifest in this material world, the associates of Kṛṣṇa are mainly conditioned living entities who have been promoted to the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus promoted, they are first of all allowed to see Kṛṣṇa on the planet where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are being enacted. After this, they are promoted to the transcendental Goloka Vṛndāvana in the spiritual sky. Therefore it is stated in the  Bhāgavata  (10.12.11),  kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ .
Bhakti-yoga  means connecting ourselves with Kṛṣṇa, God, and becoming His eternal associates.  Bhakti-yoga  cannot be applied to any other objective; therefore in Buddhism, for instance, there is no  bhakti-yoga , because they do not recognize the Supreme Lord existing as the supreme objective. Christians, however, practice  bhakti-yoga  when they worship Jesus Christ, because they are accepting him as the son of God and are therefore accepting God. Unless one accepts God, there is no question of  bhakti-yoga . Christianity, therefore, is also a form of Vaiṣṇavism, because God is recognized. Nonetheless, there are different stages of God realization. Mainly, Christianity says, "God is great," and that is a