By his great mercy the Lord has shown his form of pure sattva, within which the universe of cause and effect exists and by which, like a lion, performing numerous heroic deeds, he enacted spotless pastimes to attract the minds of his devotees. Nārada praises the Lord appearing in avatāra forms like Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Is his form material? No, it is pure sattva. In this spiritual form resides the universe of sat and asat. This was shown to Yaśodā. With that form, like a lion’s, he performed impeccable (anavadyām) pastimes. Uddhava said: kaumārīṁ darśayaṁś ceṣṭāṁ prekṣaṇīyāṁ vrajaukas rudann iva hasan mugdha bāla-siṁhāvalokan Showing his attractive infant pastimes to the people of Vraja, he would pretend to weep to get what he wanted and laugh when he got those things. When demons attacked, he appeared like a young lion, showing his bravery in spite of his fear. SB 3.2.28 Why did he perform pastimes? He who has heroic deeds such as lifting Govardhana, (udāra-līlāḥ) did it to capture the minds of his devotees, which are like elephants.