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The Advent of Lord Krṣṇa: Introduction
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nary human being, although He is the controller of both the material and spiritual energies. The Lord is the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama, but because we are deluded by  yogamāyā , He appears to be an ordinary person. Ultimately, however,  yogamāyā  induces even a nondevotee to understand the Lord as the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama. In  Bhagavad-gītā  we find two statements given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For the devotees, the Lord says:
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10) Thus for the willing devotee the Lord gives intelligence by which to understand Him and return home, back to Godhead. For others, for nondevotees, the Lord says,  mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham : “I am all-plundering, inevitable death.” A devotee like Prahlāda enjoys the activities of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, whereas nondevotees like Prahlāda’s father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, meet death before Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. The Lord therefore acts in two ways, by sending some onto the path of repeated birth and death and sending others back home, back to Godhead.
The word  kāla , meaning “black,” indicates the color of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krṣṇa. Lord Krṣṇa and Lord Rāmacandra, who both look blackish, give liberation and transcendental bliss to Their devotees. Among persons possessing material bodies, sometimes someone is able to subject death to his own will. For such a person, death is almost impossible because no one wants to die. But although Bhiṣmadeva possessed this power, Bhiṣma, by the supreme will of the Lord, died very easily in the Lord’s presence. There have also been many demons who had no hope of salvation, yet Kaṁsa attained salvation by the supreme will of the Lord. Not to speak of Kaṁsa, even Pūtanā attained salvation and reached the level of the Lord’s mother. Parikṣit Mahārāja, therefore, was very eager to hear about the Lord, who has inconceivable qualities by which to give liberation to anyone. Parikṣit Mahārāja, at the point of his death, was certainly interested in his liberation. When such a great and