शालग्रामादिकं तत्तद्भगवदाकाराधिष्ठानमिति चिन्त्यम्, आकारवैलक्षण्यात्, शालग्रामशिला यत्र तत्र सन्निहितो हरिः इत्याद्युक्तेः । तत्र च स्वेष्टाकारस्यैव भगवतोऽधिष्ठानं सुष्ठु सिद्धिकरम्, तस्मिन्नेवायत्नतस्तदीयप्राकट्यात्, ‘मूर्त्याभिमतयात्मनः’ इत्युक्तेः ।
śālagrāmādikaṁ tat-tad-bhagavad-ākārādhiṣṭhānam iti cintyam, ākāra-vailakṣaṇyāt, śālagrāma-śilā yatra tatra sannihito hariḥ ity-ādy-ukteḥ | tatra ca sveṣṭākārasyaiva bhagavato’dhiṣṭhānaṁ suṣṭhu siddhikaram, tasminn evāyatnatas tadīya-prākaṭyāt, ‘mūrtyābhimatayātmanaḥ’ ity ukteḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)
“A Śālagrāma and so forth [e.g., a Govardhana-śilā] is to be conceived of as a dwelling place (adhiṣṭhāna) of a particular appearance (ākāra) [i.e., specific figure] of Bhagavān because of dissimilarity of appearance [i.e., because Śālagrāma-śilās, Govardhana-śilās, and other such objects of worship do not resemble Bhagavān’s personal figures of Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, and so on], and because of statements such as, ‘Where there is a Śālagrāma stone, there Hari is present.’ Therein, furthermore, [to meditate on a Śālagrāma and so forth as] a dwelling place (adhiṣṭhāna) of one’s own desired appearance of Bhagavān [i.e., one Iṣṭa-devatā] is highly efficacious because of his [i.e., one’s Iṣṭa-devatā’s] manifestation without effort [on the part of the sādhaka] there in particular [i.e., in that Śālagrāma or other object of worship], as per the statement [in SB 11.3.48], ‘[Worship the Supreme Puruṣa] In the form wished for by oneself.’”