Krishna

Krsna Himself has explained in Bhagavad-gita that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Whenever there are discrepancies in the regulative principles of man's religious life and
a prominence of irreligious activities, He appears on this earthly planet. In other words,
when Lord Sri Krsna appeared, there was a necessity of minimizing the load of sinful
activities accumulated on this planet, or in this universe. For affairs of the material
creation, Lord Maha-Visnu, the plenary portion of Krsna, is in charge.


When the Lord descends, the incarnation emanates from Visnu. Maha-Visnu is the original
cause of material creation, and from Him Garbhodakasayi-Visnu expands, and then Ksirodakasayi-Visnu.
Generally, all the incarnations appearing within this material universe are plenary expansions from

Ksirodakasayi-Visnu. Therefore, the business of minimizing the overload of sinful activities on this
earth does not belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself. But when Krsna appears,
all the Visnu expansions also join with Him. Krsna's different expansions, namely Narayana,
the quadruple expansion of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, as well as the partial
plenary expansion of Matsya or the incarnation of a fish, and the yuga-avataras (incarnations
for the millennium), and the manvantara-avataras, the incarnations of Manus--all combine together
and appear with the body of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna is the complete whole
, and all plenary expansions and incarnations always live with Him.


In the Bhagavad-gita, Eighth Chapter, twentieth verse, it is stated that there is another
, eternal nature, the spiritual sky, which is transcendental to this manifested and nonmanifested
matter. The manifested world can be seen in the form of many stars and planetary systems, such
as the sun, moon, etc., but beyond this there is a nonmanifested portion which is not approachable
to anyone in this body. And beyond that nonmanifested matter there is the spiritual kingdom.
That kingdom is described in the Bhagavad-gita as supreme and eternal. It is never annihilated.
This material nature is subjected to repeated creation and annihilation. But that part,
the spiritual nature, remains as it is, eternally.


The supreme abode of the Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is also described in the Brahma-samhita
as the abode of cintamani. That abode of Lord Krsna known as Goloka Vrndavana is full of palaces
made of touchstone. There the trees are called desire trees, and the cows are called surabhi. The
Lord is served there by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. His name is Govinda, the
Primeval Lord, and He is the cause of all causes. There the Lord plays His flute, His eyes are like
lotus petals, and the color of His body is like that of a beautiful cloud. On His head is a peacock
feather. He is so attractive that He excels thousands of Cupids. Lord Krsna gives only a little hint
in the Gita of His personal abode which is the supermost planet in the spiritual kingdom. But in the
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Krsna actually appears with all His paraphernalia and demonstrates His activities
in Vrndavana, then at Mathura, and then at Dvaraka. The subject matter of this book will gradually
reveal all these activities.

The family in which Krsna appeared is called the Yadu dynasty. This Yadu dynasty belongs to the family
descending from Soma, the god in the moon planet. There are two different ksatriya families of the royal
order, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other descending from the king of the sun
planet. Whenever the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a ksatriya family
because He has to establish religious principles or the life of righteousness. The ksatriya famil
y is the protector of the human race, according to the Vedic system. When the Supreme Personality of
Godhead appeared as Lord Ramacandra, He appeared in the family descending from the sun-god, known as
Raghu-vamsa; and when He appeared as Lord Krsna, He did so in the family of Yadu-vamsa. There is a long
list of the kings of the Yadu-vamsa in the Ninth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
All of them were great powerful kings. Krsna's father's name was Vasudeva, son of Surasena, descending
from the Yadu dynasty. Actually, the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not belong to any dynasty of
this material world, but the family in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears becomes famous
, by His grace. For example, sandalwood is produced in the states of Malaya. Sandalwood has its own
qualifications apart from Malaya, but because, accidentally, this wood is mainly produced in the
states of Malaya, it is known as Malayan sandalwood. Similarly, Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead
belongs to everyone, but just as the sun rises from the east, although there are other directions from
which it could rise, so, by His own choice, the Lord appears in a particular family, and that family
becomes famous.

The pastimes of the Lord are generally heard and relished by liberated souls. Those who are conditioned
souls are interested in reading fictional stories of the material activities of some common man. Narrations
describing the transcendental activities of the Lord are found in Srimad-Bhagavatam and other Puranas. But,
the conditioned souls still prefer to study ordinary narrations. They are not so interested in studying the
narrations of the pastimes of the Lord, Krsna. And yet, the descriptions of the pastimes of Lord Krsna are
so attractive that they are relishable for all classes of men. There are three classes of men in this world.
One class consists of liberated souls, another consists of those who are trying to be liberated, and the
third consists of materialistic men. Whether one is liberated or is trying to be liberated, or is even
grossly materialistic, the pastimes of Lord Krsna are worth studying.


It is essential for persons who are actually liberated to hear about the pastimes of Krsna. That is the
supreme relishable subject matter for one in the liberated state. Also, if persons who are trying to be
liberated hear such narrations as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, then their path of liberation
becomes very clear. Bhagavad-gita is the preliminary study of Srimad-Bhagavatam. By studying the Gita,
one becomes fully conscious of the position of Lord Krsna; and when he is situated at the lotus feet of
Krsna, he understands the narrations of Krsna as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.