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Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.18

The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance
the glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the
Supreme Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should
meditate on the eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed.

PURPORT

One has to fix his mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead
constantly. When one is accustomed to thinking of one of the
innumerable forms of the Lord — Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, Rāma, Nārāyaṇa,
etc. — he has reached the perfection of yoga. This is confirmed in the
Brahma-saḿhitā: a person who has developed pure love for the Lord,
and whose eyes are smeared with the ointment of transcendental loving
exchange, always sees within his heart the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The devotees especially see the Lord in the beautiful
blackish form of Śyāmasundara. That is the perfection of yoga. This
yoga system should be continued until the mind does not vacillate for
a moment. Oḿ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaḿ padaḿ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ:
the form of Viṣṇu is the highest individuality and is always visible
to sages and saintly persons.

The same purpose is served when a devotee worships the form of the
Lord in the temple. There is no difference between devotional service
in the temple and meditation on the form of the Lord, since the form
of the Lord is the same whether He appears within the mind or in some
concrete element. There are eight kinds of forms recommended for the
devotees to see. The forms may be made out of sand, clay, wood or
stone, they may be contemplated within the mind or made of jewels,
metal or painted colors, but all the forms are of the same value. It
is not that one who meditates on the form within the mind sees
differently from one who worships the form in the temple. The Supreme
Personality of Godhead is absolute, and there is therefore no
difference between the two. The impersonalists, who desire to
disregard the eternal form of the Lord, imagine some round figure.
They especially prefer the oḿkāra, which also has form. In
Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that oḿkāra is the letter form of the
Lord.

Another significant word in this verse is puṇya-śloka-yaśaskaram. The
devotee is called puṇya-śloka. As one becomes purified by chanting
the holy name of the Lord, so one can become purified simply by
chanting the name of a holy devotee. The pure devotee of the Lord and
the Lord Himself are nondifferent. It is sometimes feasible to chant
the name of a holy devotee. This is a very sanctified process. Lord
Caitanya was once chanting the holy names of the gopīs when His
students criticized Him: "Why are You chanting the names of the gopīs?
Why not 'Kṛṣṇa'?" Lord Caitanya was irritated by the criticism, and
so there was some misunderstanding between Him and His students. He
wanted to chastise them for desiring to instruct Him on the
transcendental process of chanting.

The beauty of the Lord is that the devotees who are connected with His
activities are also glorified. Arjuna, Prahlāda, Janaka Mahārāja, Bali
Mahārāja and many other devotees were not even in the renounced order
of life, but were householders. Some of them, such as Prahlāda
Mahārāja and Bali Mahārāja, were born of demoniac families. Prahlāda
Mahārāja's father was a demon, and Bali Mahārāja was the grandson of
Prahlāda Mahārāja, but still they have become famous because of their
association with the Lord. Anyone who is eternally associated with the
Lord is glorified with the Lord. The conclusion is that a perfect yogī
should always be accustomed to seeing the form of the Lord, and unless
the mind is fixed in that way, he should continue practicing yoga.