Hare Krsna,
In BG 4.6, Lord Krsna says, “Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.”
In BG 4.9, Lord Krsna declares to Arjuna, “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”
A devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the risk of returning to this material world. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.33) it is stated that the Lord has many, many forms and incarnations: advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Although there are many transcendental forms of the Lord, they are still one and the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The point is that we must simply accept that all the forms of the Lord are transcendental. Lots of people have difficulty accept this tattva. The impersonalists do not accept the transcendental form of the Lord. On the contrary, they do not even attribute any form to the Supreme Lord. They claim that when the Supreme Lord appears on the planet, he acquires a temporary body like the jiva. Therefore devotees must accept that the Lord is always transcendental. We do not accept this blindly. We accept this on the basis of the Vedic scriptures. In Brahma Samhita, it is said isvarah paramah Krsna sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. The Supreme Lord is full of eternity, knowledge and bliss.
“He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation.” (BG 4.9 P)
“The Lord says that He appears in His own body. He does not change His body, as the common living entity changes from one body to another. The conditioned soul may have one kind of body in the present birth, but he has a different body in the next birth. In the material world, the living entity has no fixed body but transmigrates from one body to another. The Lord, however, does not do so. Whenever He appears, He does so in the same original body, by His internal potency. In other words, Kṛṣṇa appears in this material world in His original eternal form, with two hands, holding a flute. He appears exactly in His eternal body, uncontaminated by this material world. Although He appears in the same transcendental body and is Lord of the universe, it still appears that He takes His birth like an ordinary living entity. And although His body does not deteriorate like a material body, it still appears that Lord Kṛṣṇa grows from childhood to boyhood and from boyhood to youth. But astonishingly enough He never ages beyond youth… Therefore, it is clear that in spite of His being in the material world, He is the same unborn, eternal form of bliss and knowledge, changeless in His transcendental body and intelligence.” (BG 4.6 P)
The Lord can take any form, be it a fish, hog, half-man, half-lion, human form, etc. But all His forms are transcendental. It may be inconceivable to understand how the body of a stool-eating hog can be transcendental. It is not difficult to understand this if we accept that the form belongs to the Supreme Lord. He is all-powerful; He can do anything. Then why is it not possible for Him to take the form of a hog? It is just His sweet pastime to deliver the earth from the depth of the ocean. He takes on different forms for different purposes and pastimes.
“We should always remember that although the body of a hog is material, the hog form of the Lord was not materially contaminated. It is not possible for an earthly hog to assume a gigantic form spreading throughout the sky, beginning from the Satyaloka. His body is always transcendental in all circumstances; therefore, the assumption of the form of a boar is only His pastime. His body is all Vedas, or transcendental. But since He had assumed the form of a boar, He began to search out the earth by smelling, just like a hog. The Lord can perfectly play the part of any living entity. The gigantic feature of the boar was certainly very fearful for all nondevotees, but to the pure devotees of the Lord He was not at all fearful; on the contrary, He was so pleasingly glancing upon His devotees that all of them felt transcendental happiness.” (SB 3.13.28 P)
Devotees are just pleased to see the Lord in innumerable forms. According to one’s level of surrender and devotion, the Lord reveals Himself in that eternal form.
“O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.” (SB 3.9.11 – Lord Brahmä to Supreme Personality of Godhead)
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 