Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
TLC 6: His Forms Are One and the Same
Chapter Six: His Forms Are One and the Same
By devotional service one can understand that Krsna first of all manifests
Himself as svayam-rupa, His personal form, then as tadekatma-rupa, and
then as avesa-rupa. It is in these three features that He manifests
Himself in His transcendental form. The feature of svayam-rupa is the form
by which Krsna can be understood by one who may not understand His other
features. In other words, the form by which Krsna is directly understood
is called svayam-rupa, or His personal form. The tadekatma-rupa is that
form which most resembles the svayam-rupa, but there are some differences
in the bodily features. The tadekatma-rupa is divided into two
manifestations -- the personal expansion (svamsa) and the pastime
expansion (vilasa). As far as the avesa-rupa is concerned, when Krsna
empowers some suitable living entity to represent Him, that living entity
is called avesa-rupa, or saktyavesa-avatara.
The personal form of Krsna can be divided into two: svayam-rupa and
svayam-prakasa. As far as His svayam-rupa (or pastime form) is concerned,
it is in that form that He remains always in Vrndavana with the
inhabitants of Vrndavana. This personal form (svayam-rupa) can be further
divided into the prabhava and vaibhava forms. For instance, Krsna expanded
Himself in multiple forms during the rasa dance in order to dance with
each and every gopi who took part in forms in order to accommodate His 16,108 wives. There are some instances of
great mystics' also expanding their bodily features in different ways, but
Krsna did not expand Himself by any yoga process. Each expansion of Krsna
was a separate individual. In Vedic history, Saubhari Rsi, a sage, expanded
himself into eight forms by the yoga process, but Saubhari Rsi remained
one. As far as Krsna is concerned, when He manifested Himself in different
forms, each and every one of them was a separate individual. When
Narada Muni visited Krsna at different palaces at Dvaraka, he was astonished
at this, and yet Narada is never astonished to see expansions of a yogi's
body, since he knows the trick himself. Yet in Srimad-Bhagavatam it
is stated that Narada was actually astonished to see the expansions
of Krsna. He wondered how the Lord was present with His queens in each and
every one of His 16,108 palaces. With each queen, Krsna Himself was
in a different form, and He was acting in different ways. In one form
He was engaged in playing with His children, and in yet another form He was
performing some household work. These different activities are conducted
by the Lord when He is in His "emotional" forms, which are known as
vaibhava-prakasa expansions. Similarly, there are other unlimited expansions
of the forms of Krsna, but even when they are divided or expanded without
limit, they are still one and the same. There is no difference between
one form and another. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that when Akrura was accompanying both
Krsna and Balarama from Gokula to Mathura, he entered into the waters of
the Yamuna River and could see in the waters all the planets in the
spiritual sky. He also saw there the Lord in His Visnu form as well as
Narada and the four Kumaras, who were worshiping Him. As stated in the
Bhagavata Purana (SB 10.40.7):
anye ca samskrtatmano vidhinabhihitena te
yajanti tvan-mayas tvam vai bahumurty-ekamurtikam
There are many worshipers who are purified by different processes of
worship -- such as the Vaisnavas or the Aryans -- who also worship the
Supreme Lord according to their convictions and spiritual understanding.
Each process of worship involves understanding different forms of the
Lord, as mentioned in scriptures, but the ultimate idea is to worship the
Supreme Lord Himself.
In His vaibhava-prakasa feature, the Lord manifests Himself as Balarama.
The Balarama feature is as good as Krsna Himself, the only difference
being that the bodily hue of Krsna is dark and that of Balarama is fair.
The vaibhava-prakasa form was also displayed when Krsna appeared before
His Mother Devaki in the four-handed form of Narayana, just when He
entered the world. At the request of His parents, however, He transformed
Himself into a two-handed form. Thus He sometimes manifests four hands and
sometimes two. The two-handed form is actually vaibhava-prakasa, and the
four-handed form is prabhava-prakasa. In His personal form, Krsna is just
like a cowherd boy, and He thinks of Himself in that way. But when He is
in the Vasudeva form, He thinks of Himself as the son of a ksatriya and
acts as a princely administrator.
In the two-handed form, as the cowherd son of Nanda Maharaja, Krsna fully
exhibits His opulence, form, beauty, wealth, attractiveness and pastimes.
Indeed, in some of the Vaisnava literatures it is found that sometimes, in
His form as Vasudeva, He becomes attracted to the form of Govinda in
Vrndavana. Thus as Vasudeva He sometimes desires to enjoy as the cowherd
boy Govinda does, although the Govinda form and the Vasudeva form are one
and the same. In this regard, there is a passage in the Fourth Chapter of
the Lalita-madhava (4.19), in which Krsna addresses Uddhava as follows:
"My dear friend, the form of Govinda, the cowherd boy, attracts Me.
Indeed, I wish to be like the damsels of Vraja, who are also attracted by
this form of Govinda." Similarly, in the Eighth Chapter, Krsna says: "O
how wonderful it is! Who is this person? After seeing Him, I am so
attracted that I am now desiring to embrace Him just like Radhika."
There are also forms of Krsna which are a little different, and these are
called tadekatma-rupa forms. These may be further divided into the vilasa
and svamsa forms, which in turn have many different features and can be
divided into prabhava and vaibhava forms. As far as the vilasa forms are
concerned, there are innumerable prabhava-vilasas by which Krsna expands
Himself as Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. Sometimes the
Lord thinks of Himself as a cowherd boy, and sometimes He thinks of
Himself as the son of Vasudeva, a ksatriya prince, and this "thinking" of
Krsna is called His "pastimes." Actually He is in the same form in His
vaibhava-prakasa and prabhava-vilasa, but He appears differently as
Balarama and Krsna. His expansions as Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and
Aniruddha are in the original catur-vyuha, or four-handed forms.
There are innumerable four-handed manifestations in different planets and
different places, and they are manifested in Dvaraka and Mathura
eternally. From the four principal four-handed forms (Vasudeva,
Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) there are manifest the principal
twenty-four forms called vaibhava-vilasa, and they are named differently
according to the placement of different symbols (conch, mace, lotus and
disc) in their hands. The four principal manifestations of Krsna are found
in each planet in the spiritual sky, and these planets are called
Narayanaloka or Vaikunthaloka. In the Vaikunthaloka He is manifested in
the four-handed form of Narayana. From each Narayana the forms of
Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are manifested. Thus
Narayana is the center, and the four forms of Vasudeva, Sankarsana,
Pradyumna and Aniruddha surround the Narayana form. Each of these four
forms again expand into three, and these all have different names,
beginning with Kesava. These forms are twelve in all, and they are known
by different names according to the placement of symbols in their hands.
As far as the Vasudeva form is concerned, the three expansions manifested
from Him are Kesava, Narayana and Madhava. The three forms of Sankarsana
are known as Govinda, Visnu and Sri Madhusudana. (It should be noted,
however, that this Govinda form is not the same Govinda form that is
manifested in Vrndavana as the son of Nanda Maharaja.) Similarly,
Pradyumna is also divided into three forms known as Trivikrama, Vamana and
Sridhara; and the three forms of Aniruddha are known as Hrsikesa,
Padmanabha and Damodara.