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Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
himself into a fire, as he had promised the  brāhmaṇa  if unable to bring back his baby. Lord Krṣṇa, however, was very kind toward Arjuna because Arjuna happened to be the most intimate friend of the Lord. Lord Krṣṇa persuaded Arjuna not to enter the fire in disgrace. Krṣṇa indicated that since Arjuna was His friend, if he were to enter the fire in hopelessness, indirectly it would be a blemish on Him. Lord Krṣṇa therefore checked Arjuna, assuring him that He would find the baby. He told Arjuna, “Do not foolishly commit suicide.”
After addressing Arjuna in this way, Lord Krṣṇa called for His transcendental chariot. He mounted it along with Arjuna and began to proceed north. Lord Krṣṇa, the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, could have brought the child back without effort, but we should always remember that He was playing the part of a human being. As a human being has to endeavor to achieve certain results, so Lord Krṣṇa, like an ordinary human being, or like His friend Arjuna, left Dvārakā to bring back the  brāhmaṇa ’s baby. By appearing in human society and exhibiting His pastimes as a human being, Krṣṇa definitely showed that there was not a single personality greater than He. “God is great.” That is the definition of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at least within this material world, while He was present, Krṣṇa proved that there was no greater personality within the universe.
Seated on His chariot with Arjuna, Krṣṇa began to proceed north, crossing over many planetary systems. These are described in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  as  sapta-dvīpa .  Dvīpa  means island. All these planets are sometimes described in the Vedic literature as  dvīpas . The planet on which we are living is called Jambūdvīpa. Outer space is taken as a great ocean of air, and within that great ocean of air there are many islands, which are the different planets. In each and every planet there are oceans also. In some of the planets, the oceans are of salt water, and in some of them there are oceans of milk. In others there are oceans of liquor, and in others there are oceans of ghee or oil. There are different kinds of mountains also. Each and every planet has a different type of atmosphere.
Krṣṇa passed over all these planets and reached the covering of the universe. This covering is described in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  as great darkness. This material world as a whole is described as dark. In the open space there is sunlight, and therefore it is illuminated, but in the covering, because of the absence of sunlight, it is naturally dark. When Krṣṇa approached the covering layer of this universe, the four horses which were drawing His chariot—Śaibya, Sugrīva, Meghapuṣpa and Balāhaka—all appeared to hesitate to enter the darkness. This hesitation is also a part of