Text 13] Kapila’s Instructions on Devotional Service 1187
prasanna-vadanambhojam
padma-garbharuneksanam
nilo tpala-dala-syamam
Satkha-cakra-gada-dharam

prasanna—cheerful; vadana—countenance; ambhojam—lotuslike; padma-
garbha—the interior of a lotus; aruna—ruddy; iksanam—with eyes; nila-
utpala—blue lotus; dala—petals; syamam—swarthy ; sawkha—conch; cakra—
discus; gada— club; dharam—bearing.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has a cheerful, lotuslike
countenance with ruddy eyes like the interior of a lotus and a swarthy
body like the petals of a blue lotus. He bears a conch, discus and a mace in
three of His hands.

PURPORT

It is definitely recommended herein that one concentrate his mind upon
the form of Visnu. There are twelve different forms of Visnu which are
described in Teachings of Lord Caitanya. One cannot concentrate his mind
on anything void or impersonal; the mind should be fixed on the personal
form of the Lord, whose attitude is cheerful, as described in this verse.
Bhagavad-gita states that meditation on the impersonal or void features is
very troublesome to the meditator. Those who are attached to the imper-
sonal or void features of meditation have to undergo a difficult process
because we are not accustomed to concentrating our minds on anything
impersonal. Actually such concentration is not even possible. Bhagavad-gita
also confirms that one should concentrate his mind on the Personality of
Godhead.

The color of the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is described here as
nilotpala-dala, meaning that it is like that of a lotus flower with petals
tinted blue and white. People always ask why Krsna is blue. The color of
the Lord has not been imagined by an artist. It is described in authoritative
scripture. In the Brahma-sarnhita also, the color of Krsna’s body is
compared to that of a bluish cloud. The color of the Lord is not poetical
imagination. There are authoritative descriptions in the Brahma-sarnhita,
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and many of the Puranas of the Lord’s
body, His weapons and all other paraphernalia. The Lord’s appearance is
described here as padma-garbharuneksanam. His eyes resemble the inside
