Is the universal form Krishna literally material or is it a divine form manifested in matter like his deity form?
Podcast:
Quotes in BG and SB in connection with the Universal Form being material
From Bhagavad Gita:
Arjuna wanted to see KášášŁáša in His universal form, which, although a transcendental form, is just manifested for the cosmic manifestation and is therefore subject to the temporary time of this material nature. As the material nature is manifested and not manifested, similarly this universal form of KášášŁáša is manifested and nonmanifested. It is not eternally situated in the spiritual sky like KášášŁášaâs other forms.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/5/
This universal form is material and temporary, as the material world is temporary. But in the Vaikuášášha planets He has His transcendental form with four hands as NÄrÄyaáša.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/45/
Therefore the universal form which KášášŁáša showed to Arjuna is not the original form of God. The original is the KášášŁáša form. The universal form, with its thousands and thousands of heads and hands, is manifest just to draw the attention of those who have no love for God. It is not Godâs original form.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/54/
From Srimad Bhagavatam:
The conception of the Lord known as the viĹva-rĹŤpa or the virÄáš-rĹŤpa is particularly not mentioned along with the various incarnations of the Lord because all the incarnations of the Lord mentioned above are transcendental and there is not a tinge of materialism in their bodies. There is no difference between the body and self as there is in the conditioned soul. The virÄáš-rĹŤpa is conceived for those who are just neophyte worshipers. For them the material virÄáš-rĹŤpa is presented, and it will be explained in the Second Canto.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/3/30/
The word kalpayanti, or âimagine,â is significant. The virÄáš universal form of the Absolute is an imagination of the speculative philosophers who are unable to adjust to the eternal two-handed form of Lord ĹrÄŤ KášášŁáša. Although the universal form, as imagined by the great philosophers, is one of the features of the Lord, it is more or less imaginary.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/5/36/
The virÄáš universal form of the Lord is an imagination for the material world. It has nothing to do with the spiritual world, or the kingdom of God.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/5/39/
The virÄáš-rĹŤpa or viĹva-rĹŤpa, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, which is very much appreciated by the impersonalist, is not an eternal form of the Lord. It is manifested by the supreme will of the Lord after the ingredients of material creation.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/6/4/