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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 19]
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Bg. 4.8)
In two hands Lord Viṣṇu always carries a club and a  cakra  to kill demons, and in His other two hands He holds a conchshell and a lotus to give protection to His devotees. When His incarnation is present on this planet or in this universe, the Lord kills the demons and protects His devotees simultaneously. Sometimes Lord Viṣṇu appears in His person as Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāma. All of these appearances are mentioned in the  śāstras . Sometimes He appears as a  śaktyāveśa-avatāra  like Lord Buddha. As explained before, these  śaktyāveśa-avatāras  are incarnations of Viṣṇu’s power invested in a living entity. Living entities are also part and parcel of Lord Viṣṇu, but they are not as powerful; therefore when a living entity descends as an incarnation of Viṣṇu, he is especially empowered by the Lord.
When King Pṛthu is described as an incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, it should be understood that he is a  śaktyāveśa-avatāra , part and parcel of Lord Viṣṇu, and is specifically empowered by Him. Any living being acting as the incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu is thus empowered by Lord Viṣṇu to preach the  bhakti  cult. Such a person can act like Lord Viṣṇu and defeat demons by arguments and preach the  bhakti  cult exactly according to the principles of  śāstra . As indicated in  Bhagavad-gītā , whenever we find someone extra-ordinary preaching the  bhakti  cult, we should know that he is especially empowered by Lord Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa. As confirmed in  Caitanya-caritāmṛta ,  kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana : one cannot explain the glories of the holy name of the Lord without being specifically empowered by Him. If one criticizes or finds fault with such an empowered personality, one is to be considered an offender against Lord Viṣṇu and is punishable. Even though such offenders may dress as Vaiṣṇavas with false  tilaka  and  mālā , they are never forgiven by the Lord if they offend a pure Vaiṣṇava. There are many instances of this in the  śāstras .
TEXT 38
स त्वं विमृश्यास्य मवं प्रजापते
सङ्कल्पनं विश्वसृजां पिपीग्रहि ।