Text 27
rūpaṁ bhagavatā tv etad
aśeṣa-kleśa-saṅkṣayam
āviṣkṛtaṁ naḥ kliṣṭānāṁ
kim anyad anukampitam
rūpam — form; bhagavatā — by Your Lordship; tu — but; etat — this; aśeṣa — unlimited; kleśa — miseries; saṅkṣayam — which dissipates; āviṣkṛtam — revealed; naḥ — of us; kliṣṭānām — who are suffering from material conditions; kim anyat — what to speak of; anukampitam — those to whom You are always favorably disposed.
Dear Lord, we conditioned souls are always covered by ignorance in the bodily conception of life. We therefore always prefer the miserable conditions of material existence. To deliver us from these miserable conditions, You have advented Yourself in this transcendental form. This is evidence of Your unlimited causeless mercy upon those of us who are suffering in this way. Then what to speak of the devotees to whom You are always so favorably disposed?
When the Lord appears in His original form, He acts to deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants (Bg. 4.8). Although He annihilates the demons, He nonetheless benefits them. It is said that all the living entities who died on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained their original constitutional position (svarūpa) because they had the chance to see Kṛṣṇa face to face riding in the chariot of Arjuna. On the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, superficially two things were going on: the demons were being killed, and the devotee, Arjuna, was being protected. However, the results were the same for everyone. Thus it is said that the appearance of the Lord diminishes all kinds of miserable conditions caused by material existence.
It is clearly stated in this verse that this form (aśeṣa-kleśa-saṅkṣayam) is meant to diminish all the miserable conditions experienced in life not only by the devotees but by all others. Āviṣkṛtaṁ naḥ kliṣṭānām: the Pracetās identified themselves as common men. Kim anyad anukampitam: the devotees are always favorably accepted by the Lord. The Lord shows all mercy not only to conditioned souls but also to the devotees, who are already liberated due to their devotional service.
The form of the Lord as worshiped in the temples is called arcā-vigraha or arcāvatāra, the worshipable form, the Deity incarnation. This facility is offered to neophyte devotees so that they can see the real form of the Lord face to face and offer their respectful obeisances and sacrifices in the form of arcā. Through such facilities the neophytes gradually invoke their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Deity worship in the form of temple worship is the most valuable benediction given by the Lord to beginners. All neophytes must therefore engage in the worship of the Lord by keeping the arcā-vigraha (arcāvatāra) at home or in the temple.