Due to His compassion, the Supreme One takes many avataras and during these He assumes various forms. But those who have no jnana judge Him by His appearance and think He is a mere mortal. It is because of their sins that they are unable to see that He is the Supreme One. They think that His body too is caused by Prakriti.
A pot can be made of mud; it can be made of silver or gold too. Whatever the material, we can tell it is a pot by looking at its shape.
But although pots made of different materials may have the same shape, we still distinguish between them on the basis of the material that is used to make them. We will not equate a gold pot with a mud pot.
Similarly, the Lord’s body may look like that of a human, because that is the form He has chosen to take. But that does not mean that it is like ours, explained Valayapet Ramachariar, in a discourse. His body is always a non material body — aprakrita — unlike ours, which is made up of the five gross elements, which in turn come from Prakriti. Even in those avataras where the Lord does not take a human body, His body remains aprakrita. And no matter what the avatara He takes, His qualities remain the same.
But those who have tamasic qualities, fail to see His Supremacy. This folly of theirs is a result of their sins.
It was because Duryodhana failed to see His Supremacy that he was content to take Lord Krishna’s army, instead of a weaponless Krishna.
He did not realise that having the Supreme One on his side was the best thing he could have asked for. But Arjuna knew that even unarmed, Krishna was still Supreme and always would be so. Krishna did not need an army to win a war.
Arjuna understood His greatness. Duryodhana did not.
