Pure Devotees (BG 9.13 purport)

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"The mahaatmaa does not divert his attention to anything outside

Krishna, because he knows perfectly well that Krishna is the original

Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it.

Such a mahaatmaa, or great soul, develops through association with

other mahaatmaas, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted

by Krishna's other features, such as the four-armed Mahaa-Vishnu.

They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Kròsònòa. They are

not attracted to other features of Krishna, nor are they concerned

with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They meditate only

upon Krishna in Krishna consciousness. They are always engaged in the

unswerving service of the Lord in Krishna consciousness."

 

The above purport seems to imply that those who are attracted to

Vishnu are not pure devotees, and that pure devotees are only

attracted to Krishna and not Vishnu.

 

How does one reconcile the above statements with other statements by

Srila Prabhupada (and indeed, of the Gosvamis) to the effect that one

should never distinguish between the different forms of Krishna, and

that worship of any of these forms is equally transcendental, with

pure devotees attaining whoever is their ishta-devata?