Text 25] Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura 777
PURPORT

Here the words bhaktanam anurupatma-darsanam mean that the
Personality of Godhead manifests His multi-forms according to the desires
of the devotees. For example, Hanumanji (Vajrarigaji) wanted to see the
form of the Lord as the Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, whereas
other Vaisnavas want to see the form of Radha-Krsna, and still other
devotees want to see the Lord in the form of Laksmi-Narayana. The
Mayavadi philosophers think that although all these forms are assumed by
the Lord just as the devotees desire to see Him, actually He is impersonal.
From Brahma-samhita, however, we can understand that this is not so, for
the Lord has multi-forms. It is said in the Brahma-samhita, advaitam
acyulam. The Lord does not appear before the devotee because of the
devotee’s imagination. Brahma-samhita further explains that the Lord has
innumerable forms: radmddi-mirtisu kald-niyamena listhan, We exists in
millions and millions of forms. There are 8,400,000 species of living
entities, but the incarnations of the Supreme Lord are innumerable. In the
Bhagavatam it is stated that as the waves in the sea cannot be counted but
appear and disappear continually, so the incarnations and forms of the
Lord are innumerable. A devotee is attached to a particular form, and it is
that form which he worships. We have just described the first appearance
of the boar within this universe. There are innumerable universes, and
somewhere or other the boar form is now existing. All the forms of the
Lord are eternal. It is the devotee’s inclination to worship a particular
form, and he engages in devotional service to that form. In a verse in the
Ramayana, Hanuman, the great devotee of Rama, said, “I know that
there is no difference between the Sita-Rama and Laksmi-Narayana forms
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but nevertheless the form of
Rama and Sita has absorbed my affection and love. Therefore I want to
see the Lord in the forms of Rama and Sita.”’ Similarly, the Gaudiya
Vaisnava loves the forms of Radha and Krsna, and Krsna and Rukmini al
Dvaraka. The words bhaktdndm anuriipatma-darsanam mean that the Lord
is always pleased to favor the devotee in the particular form in which the
devotee wants to worship and render service unto Him. In this verse
it is stated that Brahma approached Ftari, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. This form of the Lord is Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Whenever there
is some trouble and Brahma has to approach the Lord, he can approach
Ksirodakasayi Visnu, and it is the grace of the Lord that whenever Brahma
approaches about disturbances in the universe, the Lord gives him relief in
so many ways.
