42 Sri Isopanisad

Lord is that of Sri Krsna. Sri Krsna expands Himself by an
unlimited number of Forms like Baladeva, Rama, Nrsimha,
Varaha, etc.—and all of These are one and the same Personality
of Godhead.

Similarly, the Arca-vigraha Which is worshiped in the temples
is also an expanded Form of the Lord. By worshiping the Arca-
vigraha of the Lord, one can at once approach the Lord, Who
accepts the service of the devotee by His omnipotent energy
without any reproach. The Vigraha of the Lord descends by re-
quest of the dcaryas, the holy teachers, and works exactly in the
original way by His omnipotent energy.

Foolish people who have no knowledge of these mantras of
Sri [sopanisad, or of any other Sruti mantras, consider that
the Sri Vigraha Who is worshiped by the pure devotees is
made of material elements. To the imperfect eyes of the
foolish people, or to the kanistha adhikaris, this Form is
considered material. But such people with little knowledge do
not know that the Lord, being omnipotent and omniscient,
can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter, as He
desires.

In the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord regrets the fallen condition of
men with little knowledge, who regard the body of the Lord as
material because He descends like a man into this world. Such
poorly informed persons do not know the omnipotence of the
Lord. To the mental speculators, therefore, the Lord does not
manifest Himself in fullness. He can be appreciated only in
proportion to one’s surrender to Him. And the fallen condition
of the living entities is due entirely to forgetfulness of our
relationship with God.

In this mantra, as well as in many others in the Vedas, it is
clearly mentioned: from time immemorial, the Lord is sup-
plying. The living being first of all desires, and then the Lord
supplies the object of desire in proportion to the degree of
qualification. If a man wants to be a high court judge he must
not only have acquired the necessary qualifications, but he must
