PURPORT

The virata-rupa or visva-rupa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, which is very much appreciated by the impersonalist, is not an eternal form of the Lord. It is manifested by the supreme will of the Lord after the ingredients of material creation. Lord Krsna exhibited this virata or visva-rupa to Arjuna just to convince the impersonalists that He is the original Personality of Godhead. Krsna exhibited the virata-rupa; it is not that Krsna was exhibited by the virata-rupa. The virata-rupa is not, therefore, an eternal form of the Lord exhibited in the spiritual sky; it is a material manifestation of the Lord. The arca-vigraha, or the worshipable Deity in the temple, is a similar manifestation of the Lord for the neophytes. But in spite of their material touch, such forms of the Lord as the virata and arca are all nondifferent from His eternal form as Lord Krsna.