According to the Vaiṣṇava almanac, the twelve months of the year are named according to the twelve Vaikuṇṭha forms of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and these forms are known as the predominating Deities for the twelve months. This calendar begins with the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, which is equivalent to late November and early December. The Vaiṣṇavas call this month Keśava. December–January is called Nārāyaṇa, January–February Mādhava, February–March Govinda, March–April Viṣṇu, April–May Śrī Madhusūdana, and May–June Trivikrama. June–July is called Vāmana, July–August Śrīdhara, August–September Hṛṣīkeśa, September–October Padmanābha, and October–November Dāmodara. This Dāmodara is different from the Dāmodara in Vraja. The name Dāmodara was given to Kṛṣṇa when He was bound with ropes by His mother, but the Dāmodara form who is the predominating Deity of the month of October–November is a different manifestation.
Just as the months of the year are known according to the twelve different names of the Supreme Lord, members of the Vaiṣṇava community mark twelve parts of the body according to these names. For instance, the tilaka mark on the forehead is called Keśava, and on the stomach, chest and arms the other names are also given. These are the same names as those given the months.
Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand in eight additional vilāsa-mūrtis. Their names are Puruṣottama, Acyuta, Nṛsiṁha, Janārdana, Hari, Kṛṣṇa, Adhokṣaja and Upendra. Adhokṣaja and Puruṣottama are the vilāsa forms of Vāsudeva. Similarly, Upendra and Acyuta are the vilāsa forms of Saṅkarṣaṇa; Nṛsiṁha and Janārdana the vilāsa forms of Pradyumna; and Hari and Kṛṣṇa the vilāsa forms of Aniruddha. (This Kṛṣṇa is different from the original Kṛṣṇa.)
These twenty-four forms—the four original Viṣṇu forms, the twelve Vaikuṇṭha forms, and the eight vilāsa-mūrtis mentioned above—are known as vilāsa manifestations of the prābhava (four-handed) form, and they are named differently according to the position of the symbolic representations (mace, disc, lotus flower and conch shell). Out of these twenty-four vilāsa forms, some are vaibhava forms, such as Pradyumna, Trivikrama, Vāmana, Hari and Kṛṣṇa, which have different features. Thus Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are prābhava-vilāsa forms of Kṛṣṇa, and there are a total of twenty further variations. All of these have Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky and are situated in eight different directions. Although each of them resides eternally in the spiritual sky, some of them nonetheless appear in the material world also.
In the spiritual sky all the planets dominated by the Nārāyaṇa feature are eternal. The topmost planet in the spiritual sky is called Kṛṣṇaloka, which is divided into three portions: Gokula, Mathurā and Dvārakā. In the Mathurā portion, the form of Keśava is always situated. He is represented on this earthly planet in Mathurā, India, where the Keśava mūrti is worshiped. Similarly, there is a Puruṣottama form in Jagannātha Purī, in Orissa. In Ānandāraṇya there is the form of Viṣṇu, and in Māyāpur, the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, there is the form of Hari. Many other forms are also situated in various places on the earth.
Not only in this universe but in all other universes as well these forms of Kṛṣṇa are distributed everywhere. It is indicated that this earth is divided into seven islands, which are the seven continents, and it is understood that on every island there are similar forms. But at the present moment these are found only in India. Although from the Vedic literature we can understand that there are similar forms in other parts of the world, at present there is no information of their location.
These forms of Kṛṣṇa are distributed throughout the world and throughout the universes to give pleasure to the devotees. It is not that devotees are born only in India. There are devotees in all parts of the world, but they have simply forgotten their identity. These forms incarnate not only to give pleasure to the devotees but to reestablish devotional service and perform other activities which vitally concern the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some of these forms are incarnations mentioned in the scriptures, such as the Viṣṇu incarnation, Trivikrama incarnation, Nṛsiṁha incarnation and Vāmana incarnation.