NATURALLY the doubt arises in the mind: if God is formless, how then can He have form? Further, if He has a form, why does He have so many forms?
These things do not become clear until one has realized God. He assumes different forms and reveals Himself in different ways for the sake of His devotees.
A man kept a solution of dye in a tub. Many people came to him to have their clothes dyed. He would ask a customer, “What colour should you like to have your cloth dyed?” If the customer wanted red, then the man would dip the cloth in the tub and say, “Here is your cloth dyed red.” If another customer wanted his cloth dyed yellow, the man would dip his cloth in the same tub and say, “Here is your cloth dyed yellow.” If a customer wanted his cloth dyed blue, the man would dip it in the same tub and say, “Here is your cloth dyed blue.”Thus he would dye the clothes of his customers different colours, dipping them all in the same solution. One of the customers watched all this with amazement. The man asked him, “Well! What colour do you want for your cloth?” The customer said, “Brother, dye my cloth the colour of the dye in your tub.” (129)