Text 29]
Kapila's Instructions on Devotional Service
1207
yad visphuran-makara-kuṇḍala-valgitena vidyotitāmala-kapolam udāra-nāsam
bhṛtya —for the devotees;  anukampita-dhiyā —out of compassion;  iha —in this world;  gṛhīta-mūrteḥ —who presents different forms;  sañcintayet —one should meditate on;  bhagavataḥ —of the Personality of Godhead;  vadana —countenance;  aravindam —lotuslike;  yad —which;  visphuran —glittering;  makara —alligator-shaped;  kuṇḍala —of His earrings;  valgitena —by the oscillation;  vidyotita —illuminated;  amala —crystal clear;  kapolam —His cheeks;  udāra —prominent;  nāsam —His nose.
TRANSLATION
The  yogī  should then meditate on the lotuslike countenance of the Lord, who presents His different forms in this world out of compassion for the anxious devotees. His nose is prominent, and His crystal-clear cheeks are illuminated by the oscillation of His glittering alligator-shaped earrings.
PURPORT
The Lord descends to the material world out of His deep compassion for His devotees. There are two reasons for the Lord's appearance or incarnation in the material world. Whenever there is a discrepancy in the discharge of religious principles and prominence of irreligion, the Lord descends for the protection of the devotees and the destruction of the nondevotees. When He appears, His main purpose is to give solace to His devotees. He does not have to come Himself to destroy the demons, for He has many agents; even the external energy,  māyā , has sufficient strength to kill them. But when He comes to show compassion to His devotees, He kills the nondevotees as a matter of course.
The Lord appears in the particular form loved by a particular type of devotee. There are millions of forms of the Lord, but they are one Absolute. As stated in the  Brahma-saṁhitā ,  advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam : all the different forms of the Lord are one, but some devotees want to see Him in the form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, others prefer Him as Sītā and Rāmacandra, others would see Him as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa and others want to see Him as four-handed Nārāyaṇa, Vāsudeva. The Lord has innumerable forms, and He appears in a particular form as preferred by a particular type of devotee. A  yogī  is advised to meditate upon the forms that are approved by devotees. A  yogī  cannot imagine a form for meditation. Those so-called  yogīs  who manufacture a circle or target are