Verse Text
ādi śabdena durghaṭa-ghaṭaṇāpi, yathā –
api jani-parihīnaḥ sūnur ābhīra-bhartur
vibhur api bhuja-yugmotsaṅga-paryāpta-mūrtiḥ |
prakaṭita-bahu-rūpo ’py eka-rūpaḥ prabhur me
dhiyam ayam avicintyānanta-śaktir dhinoti ||198||
Translation
The word ādi in the definition (ity ādy acintya-śaktitā in verse 194) also refers to accomplishing what is most difficult or impossible (durghata-ghaṭana): My master Kṛṣṇa, full of infinite, inconceivable powers, who, though without birth, became the son of Nanda, the leader of cowherds; who, though pervading everywhere, manifested His form in the arms and lap of Yaśodā; and who, though manifesting many forms, is only one form, delights my heart.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Durghaṭa-ghaṭanā means that the Lord reveals Himself in unprecedented circumstances which are difficult for the observer to understand. This is a statement of Śukadeva. Uddhava describes how Kṛṣṇa is unborn (api jani-parihīnaḥ):
va-śānta-rūpeṣv itaraiḥ sva-rūpair
abhyardyamāneṣv anukampitātmā
parāvareśo mahad-aṁśa-yukto
hy ajo ’pi jāto bhagavān yathāgniḥ
The Personality of Godhead, the all-compassionate controller of both the spiritual and material creations, whose portion is Mahā-viṣṇu, revealer of the mahat-tattva, is unborn, but when there is friction between His peaceful devotees and persons who are in the material modes of nature, He takes birth just like fire. SB 3.2.1
Garga speaks of Kṛṣṇa as the son of the head of the cowherd men (sūnuḥ ābhīra-bhartuḥ):
prāg ayaṁ vasudevasya kvacij jātas tavātmajaḥ
vāsudeva iti śrīmān abhijṣāḥ sampracakṣate
For many reasons, this beautiful son of yours sometimes appeared previously as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore, those who are learned sometimes call this child Vāsudeva SB 10.8.14
Sometimes svaprasūr garbha-janma (one who takes birth though he is self-born) is seen instead of sūnur ābhira-bhartuḥ (son of the leader of cowherd men). As the Lord (vibhuḥ) pervades everywhere by His form, Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself to the fullest extent (paryāptā) in the arms of His mother Yaśodā and others.
na cāntar na bahir yasya na pūrvaṁ nāpi cāparam
pūrvāparaṁ bahiś cāntar jagato yo jagac ca yaḥ
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no beginning and no end, no exterior and no interior, no front and no rear. In other words, He is all-pervading. Because He is not under the influence of the element of time, for Him there is no difference between past, present and future; He exists in His own transcendental form at all times. SB 10.9.13
Nārada describes how the Lord appears in many forms but is one:
citraṁ bataitad ekena vapuṣā yugapat pṛthak
gṛheṣu dvy-aṣṭa-sāhasraṁ striya eka udāvahat
It is astounding that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is one without a second, expanded Himself in sixteen thousand similar forms to marry sixteen thousand queens in their respective homes. SB 10.69.2
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Kṛṣṇa’s inconceivable potencies have been described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī as follows: “Kṛṣṇa is bewildering my intelligence because, although He is unborn, He has appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. He is all-pervading, but still He is held on the lap of Yaśodā. In spite of His being all-pervasive, He has become limited by the love of Yaśodā. Although He has innumerable forms, still He is moving as one Kṛṣṇa before His father and mother, Nanda and Yaśodā.” In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said that although Kṛṣṇa is eternally living in Goloka Vṛndāvana, His transcendental abode, He is still present everywhere, even within the atoms.