It is told that once, long ago, the wandering sage-divinity Narada came to the city of Dvaraka, wishing to have the darshan or holy audience of Lord Krishna. At the gate of his palace, though, he was told that darshan was not possible, as Krishna was engaged in worship.

This surprised Narada. Lord Krishna was the avatar or incarnation of the Supreme God Himself. Who could he be worshiping? Curious, he slipped into the palace and peeped quietly into the room where Lord Krishna was seated. There he saw the Lord before an altar that was covered with images. Narada recognised almost all of the images and his own image was among them.

Then Narada asked Lord Krishna what he was doing. “I am worshiping,” Krishna replied. “These are devotees. They are the image of my God.”