Text 36
anugrahāya bhaktānāṁ
mānuṣaṁ deham āsthitaḥ
bhajate tādṛśīḥ krīḍa
yāḥ śrutvā tat-paro bhavet
anugrahāya — to show mercy; bhaktānām — to His devotees; mānuṣam — humanlike; deham — a body; āsthitaḥ — assuming; bhajate — He accepts; tādṛśīḥ — such; kriḍāḥ — pastimes; yāḥ — about which; śrutvā — hearing; tat-paraḥ — dedicated to Him; bhavet — one becomes.
When the Lord assumes a humanlike body to show mercy to His devotees, He engages in such pastimes as will attract those who hear about them to become dedicated to Him.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains in this connection that when Lord Kṛṣṇa descends to this world in His original two-handed form, out of kindness He manifests that form in a way His devotees conditioned in human society can perceive and understand. Thus here it is stated, mānuṣaṁ deham āsthitaḥ: “He assumes a humanlike body.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura glorifies the Lord’s conjugal pastimes, stating that these romantic affairs have an inconceivable spiritual potency to attract the polluted heart of conditioned souls. It is an undeniable fact that any pure- or simple-hearted person who hears narrations of the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa will be attracted to the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually become His devotee.