Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.8.47
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesKṛṣṇa Manifests the Four-Handed Nārāyaṇa Form
“The Lord is further described as having the mark of Śrīvatsa, or the sitting place of the goddess of fortune, and His bodily hue is deep bluish. The Lord is a person, He wears a garland of flowers, and He is eternally manifest with four hands, which hold [beginning from the lower left hand] a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower.”
What the purport teaches
- The Lord has a deep bluish bodily hue, wears a flower garland, and bears the Śrīvatsa mark. His four hands hold a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower.
- The purport emphasizes that the Lord is the Supreme Person, originally male, though He may appear in a female form when necessary. The goddesses of fortune are His servitors.
- Lord Kṛṣṇa in His Nārāyaṇa feature is always four-handed. The Bhāgavata school teaches that Nārāyaṇa is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa, not that Kṛṣṇa is an incarnation of Nārāyaṇa.
Try this today
Read the description slowly and recall the four objects held in the Lord’s hands.
Ask yourself
How does this description help me remember the Supreme Lord as a person?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.