व्यूहेनात्मनाद्यापि सन्निधीयते ॥१४॥
navasv api vará¹£eá¹£u bhagavÄn nÄrÄyaṇo mahÄ-puruá¹£aḥ puruá¹£ÄṇÄá¹ tad-anugrahÄyÄtma-tattva-vyÅ«henÄtmanÄdyÄpi sannidhÄ«yate
navasu - in the nine; api - certainly; vará¹£eá¹£u - tracts of land known as vará¹£as; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nÄrÄyaṇaḥ - Lord Viṣṇu; mahÄ-puruá¹£aḥ - the Supreme Person; puruá¹£ÄṇÄm - unto His various devotees; tat-anugrahÄya - to show His mercy; Ätma-tattva-vyÅ«hena - by expansions of Himself in the quadruple forms VÄsudeva, Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha; ÄtmanÄ - personally; adya api - until now; sannidhÄ«yate - is near the devotees for accepting their services.
To show mercy to His devotees in each of these nine tracts of land, the Supreme Personality of Godhead known as NÄrÄyaṇa expands Himself in His quadruple principles of VÄsudeva, Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. In this way He remains near His devotees to accept their service.
In this connection, ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura informs us that the demigods worship the Supreme Lord in His various Deity forms (arcÄ-vigraha) because except in the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be directly worshiped in person. In the material world, the Lord is always worshiped as the arcÄ-vigraha, or Deity in the temple. There is no difference between the arcÄ-vigraha and the original person, and therefore those who are engaged in worshiping the Deity in the temple in full opulence, even on this planet, should be understood to be directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead without a doubt. As enjoined in the Å›Ästras, arcye viṣṇau Å›ilÄ-dhÄ«r guruá¹£u nara-matiḥ: “No one should treat the Deity in the temple as stone or metal, nor should one think that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being.†One should strictly follow this Å›Ästric injunction and worship the Deity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without offenses. The spiritual master is the direct representative of the Lord, and no one should consider him an ordinary human being. By avoiding offenses against the Deity and the spiritual master, one can advance in spiritual life, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In this regard, the following quotation appears in the Laghu-bhÄgavatÄmá¹›ta:
pÄdme tu parama-vyomnaḥ
pÅ«rvÄdye dik-catuá¹£á¹aye
vÄsudevÄdayo vyÅ«haÅ›
catvÄraḥ kathitÄḥ kramÄt
tathÄ pÄda-vibhÅ«tau ca
nivasanti kramÄdi me
jalÄvá¹›ti-stha-vaikuṇá¹ha-
sthita vedavatī-pure
satyordhve vaiṣṇave loke
nityÄkhye dvÄrakÄ-pure
Å›uddhodÄd uttare Å›veta-
dvÄ«pe cairÄvatÄ«-pure
kṣīrÄmbudhi-sthitÄnte
kroá¸a-paryaá¹…ka-dhÄmani
sÄtvatÄ«ye kvacit tantre
nava vyÅ«hÄḥ prakÄ«rtitÄḥ
catvÄro vÄsudevÄdyÄ
nÄrÄyaṇa-ná¹›siá¹hakau
hayagrÄ«vo mahÄ-kroá¸o
brahmÄ ceti navoditÄḥ
tatra brahmÄ tu vijñeyaḥ
pÅ«rvokta-vidhayÄ hariḥ
“In the Padma PurÄṇa it is said that in the spiritual world the Lord personally expands in all directions and is worshiped as VÄsudeva, Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The same God is represented by the Deity in this material world, which is only one quarter of His creation. VÄsudeva, Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are also present in the four directions of this material world. There is a Vaikuṇá¹haloka covered with water in this material world, and on that planet is a place called VedavatÄ«, where VÄsudeva is located. Another planet known as Viṣṇuloka is situated above Satyaloka, and there Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa is present. Similarly, in DvÄrakÄ-purÄ«, Pradyumna is the predominator. On the island known as ÅšvetadvÄ«pa, there is an ocean of milk, and in the midst of that ocean is a place called AirÄvatÄ«-pura, where Aniruddha lies on Ananta. In some of the sÄtvata-tantras, there is a description of the nine vará¹£as and the predominating Deity worshiped in each: (1) VÄsudeva, (2) Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, (3) Pradyumna, (4) Aniruddha, (5) NÄrÄyaṇa, (6) Ná¹›siá¹ha, (7) HayagrÄ«va, (8) MahÄvarÄha, and (9) BrahmÄ.†The Lord BrahmÄ mentioned in this connection is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When there is no fit human being to empower as Lord BrahmÄ, the Lord Himself takes the position of Lord BrahmÄ. Tatra brahmÄ tu vijñeyaḥ pÅ«rvokta-vidhayÄ hariḥ. That BrahmÄ mentioned here is Hari Himself.
