Text 24]
The Activities of the Pracetās
1517
yas tu nārāyaṇam devam brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ samatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
One who considers Lord Viṣṇu to be in the same category with  devas  like Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva or who thinks Lord Brahmā and Śiva to be equal to Lord Viṣṇu is to be considered as  pāṣaṇḍī  (a faithless nonbeliever). Therefore in this verse Lord Viṣṇu is distinguished in the words  namo viśuddha-sattvāya . Although a living entity like us, Lord Brahmā is exalted due to his pious activities; therefore he is given the high post of Brahmā. Lord Śiva is not actually like a living entity, but he is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His position is somewhere between Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Brahmā, the living entity. Lord Śiva is therefore explained in  Brahma-saṁhitā  in this way:
kṣītram yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād govindam ādi-puruṣam tam aham bhajāmi
Lord Śiva is considered to be like yogurt ( dadhi ). Yogurt is nothing but transformed milk; nonetheless yogurt cannot be accepted as milk. Similarly, Lord Śiva holds almost all the powers of Lord Viṣṇu, and he is also above the qualities of the living entity, but he is not exactly like Viṣṇu, just as yogurt, although transformed milk, is not exactly like milk.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is also described herein as  vāsudevāya kṛṣṇāya . Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all Viṣṇu expansions are His plenary portions or portions of His plenary portions (known as  svāmśa  and  kalā ). The  svāmśa , or direct expansion, is also called  amśa . All  viṣṇu-tattvas  are  svāmśa , direct parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is known as Vāsudeva because He appeared in this material world as the son of Vasudeva. Similarly, He is known as Devakī-nandana, Yaśodā-nandana, Nanda-nandana, and so on.
Again and again the Lord is very much interested in increasing the influence of His devotees. Therefore He is described herein as  prabhave sarva-sātvatām . The  sātvata  community is a community of Vaiṣṇavas, pure devotees of the Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has unlimited powers, and He wants to see that His devotees are also entrusted with unlimited powers. A devotee of the Lord is always, therefore, distinguished from all other living entities.