SOME DIVINE FORMS

God appears in various ways—sometimes in human form, sometimes as a spiritual expression (Chin-maya-rupa). But one should have belief in Divine forms.

No one can say what Sachchidananda is like. That is why He first took the form of Ardhanarisvara (half man and half woman). Do you know why He has done so? It is to show that both Prakriti and Purusha are Himself. At a step still lower, Sachchidananda became several Purushas and Prakritis.

Sea-water appears dark-blue from a distance, but when you take a little of it in your hand, it is all pure and limpid. So Lord Krishna appears azure from a distance, but He is not really so. He is the Absolute, taintless and colourless.

Sri Krishna is called Tribhanga, i.e., bent in three different directions. It is only a soft thing that is capable of being twisted. So this form of Sri Krishna implies that He must have been softened in some way or -other. The softening in this case is accounted for by Prema, ecstatic Love.

A devotee: Why is the Divine Mother called Yogamaya ?

The Master: Yogamaya means the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Whatever you see is nothing but that union of the two. Haven't you seen the Siva-Kali image—Kali standing on Siva? Siva is lying prostrate like a corpse and Kali is standing with a fixed gaze upon Siva. All this means the same Purusha-Prakriti union. Purusha is inactive, hence Siva is lying down inert like a corpse. But by virtue of the union with Him, Prakriti is doing everything—creation, preservation and destruction. The same is the significance of the coupled image of Radha and Krishna.

The more you advance towards God, the more you will find his attributive grandeur falling off. The first vision an aspirant gets is of the ten-handed form (Durga) —the form of the Supreme Mistress of the universe. lit that form there is a great expression of power and grandeur. Next She appears in a twohanded form ; no more are there the ten arms with all their respective weapons. Next comes the vision of the Gopala form. Here there is absolutely no expression of power and grandeur—it is simply the form of a tender child. There is a vision even superior to this—the vision of the effulgent Light.