Text 14]
The Descent of the River Ganges
139
TEXT 14
नवस्वपि वर्षेषु भगवान्नारायणो महापुरुषः पुरुषाणां तदनुग्रहायात्मतत्त्व 
  व्यूहेनात्मनाद्यापि संनिधीयते ॥ १४ ॥
navasv api varṣeṣu bhagavān nārāyaṇo mahā-puruṣaḥ puruṣāṇām 
  tad-anugrahāyātma-tattva-vyūhenātmanādyāpi sannidhīyate.
navasu—in the nine; api—certainly; varṣeṣu—tracts of land known as varṣas; bhagavān—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nārāyaṇaḥ—Lord Viṣṇu; mahā-puruṣaḥ—the Supreme Person; puruṣāṇām—unto His various devotees; tat-anugrahāya—to show His mercy; ātma-tattva-vyūhena—by expansions of Himself in the quadruple forms Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha; ātmanā—personally; adya api—until now; sannidhīyate—is near the devotees for accepting their services.
TRANSLATION
To show mercy to His devotees in each of these nine tracts of land, the Supreme Personality of Godhead known as Nārāyaṇa expands Himself in His quadruple principles of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. In this way He remains near His devotees to accept their service.
PURPORT
In this connection, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura informs us that the demigods worship the Supreme Lord in His various Deity forms ( arcā-vigraha ) because except in the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be directly worshiped in person. In the material world, the Lord is always worshiped as the  arcā-vigraha , or Deity in the temple. There is no difference between the  arcā-vigraha  and the original person, and therefore those who are engaged in worshiping the Deity in the temple in full opulence, even on this planet, should be understood to be directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead without a doubt. As enjoined in the  śāstras ,  arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matiḥ : “No one should treat the Deity in the temple as stone or metal.