sa upavrajya varadaá¹
prapannÄrti-haraá¹ harim
anugrahÄya bhaktÄnÄm
anurÅ«pÄtma-darÅ›anam
saḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; upavrajya - approaching; vara-dam - the bestower of all boons; prapanna - of those taking shelter at His lotus feet; Ärti - distress; haram - who dispels; harim - Lord ÅšrÄ« Hari; anugrahÄya - for showing mercy; bhaktÄnÄm - to His devotees; anurÅ«pa - in suitable forms; Ätma-darÅ›anam - who manifests Himself.
Here the words bhaktÄnÄm anurÅ«pÄtma-darÅ›anam mean that the Personality of Godhead manifests His multiforms according to the desires of the devotees. For example, HanumÄnjÄ« (VajrÄá¹…gajÄ«) wanted to see the form of the Lord as the Personality of Godhead RÄmacandra, whereas other Vaiṣṇavas want to see the form of RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa, and still other devotees want to see the Lord in the form of Laká¹£mÄ«-NÄrÄyaṇa. The MÄyÄvÄdÄ« 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-saá¹hitÄ, however, we can understand that this is not so, for the Lord has multiforms. It is said in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ, advaitam acyutam. The Lord does not appear before the devotee because of the devotee’s imagination. Brahma-saá¹hitÄ further explains that the Lord has innumerable forms: rÄmÄdi-mÅ«rtiá¹£u kalÄ-niyamena tiá¹£á¹han. He exists in millions and millions of forms. There are 8,400,000 spieces of living entities, but the incarnations of the Supreme Lord are innumerable. In the BhÄgavatam it is stated that as the waves in the sea cannot be counted but appear and disappear continually, 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 RÄmÄyaṇa, HanumÄn, the great devotee of RÄma, said, “I know that there is no difference between the SÄ«tÄ-RÄma and Laká¹£mÄ«-NÄrÄyaṇa forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but nevertheless, the form of RÄma and SÄ«tÄ has absorbed my affection and love. Therefore I want to see the Lord in the forms of RÄma and SÄ«tÄ.†Similarly, the Gauá¸Ä«ya Vaiṣṇava loves the forms of RÄdhÄ and Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī at DvÄrakÄ. The words bhaktÄnÄm anurÅ«pÄtma-darÅ›anam 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 BrahmÄ approached Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This form of the Lord is KṣīrodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu. Whenever there is some trouble and BrahmÄ has to approach the Lord, he can approach KṣīrodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu, and it is the grace of the Lord that whenever BrahmÄ approaches about disturbances in the universe, the Lord gives him relief in so many ways.