Verse 2.10.285

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.10.285:

যে মন্ত্রেতে যে বৈষ্ণব ইষ্ট ধ্যান করে সেই মত দেখযে ঠাকুর বিশ্বম্ভরে ॥ ২৮৫ ॥

ये मन्त्रेते ये वैष्णव इष्ट ध्यान करे सेइ मत देखये ठाकुर विश्वम्भरे ॥ २८५ ॥

ye mantrete ye vaiṣṇava iṣṭa dhyāna kare sei mata dekhaye ṭhākura viśvambhare || 285 ||

ye mantrete ye vaisnava ista dhyana kare sei mata dekhaye thakura visvambhare (285)

English translation:

(285) A devotee sees Lord Viśvambhara according to the mantra he invokes while meditating on his worshipable Lord.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The Supreme Lord, the embodiment of pastimes, expands His eternal pastimes in His innumerable forms while residing in Mahā-Vaikuṇṭha. In order to see any particular pastime, persons who desire deliverance from their mental concoctions may chant the appropriate mantra to see the Lord’s corresponding pastime. Śrī Caitanyadeva manifest in different forms before different devotees. In the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) it is stated: “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” According to this verse, Śrī Gaurasundara exhibits various forms of Viṣṇu, the embodiment of pastimes, to His various categories of devotees. From this, one should not think that Viśvambhara is not Viṣṇu. It is not that while seeing the deity forms of demigods other than Viṣṇu that one should not consider them as forms of Viṣṇu. In demigods other than Viṣṇu, however, there is a lack of completeness. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.9.11) it is stated:

tvaṃ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṃsām

yad-yad-dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti tat-tad-vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya

“O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.” In the Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.13) it is stated: api caivam eke—“It is also taught that although the Lord is one, He has innumerable forms.” In the Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.35) it is stated: sthāna- viśeṣāt prakāśādi-vat—“As the sun’s rays are perceived differently in different places, the Lord is also perceived in various ways.” In

Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) it is stated: ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃs tathaiva bhajāmy aham—“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” In the Tantra-sāra it is stated: yādṛśo bhāvitas tv īśas tādṛśo jīva ābhajet—“The Lord reciprocates with the living entities according to how they worship Him.” In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 3.112, 4.19, and 5.133) it is stated: “The essence of the meaning of this verse is that Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in all His innumerable eternal forms because of the desires of His pure devotees. In whatever transcendental mellow My devotee worships Me, I reciprocate with him. That is My natural behavior. Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has exhibited to everyone all the pastimes of all the various incarnations.”