176
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 8]
śrī-kimpuruṣāḥ ūcuḥ —the inhabitants of Kimpuruṣa-loka said;  vayam —we;  kimpuruṣāḥ —the inhabitants of Kimpuruṣa-loka, or insignificant living entities;  tvam —Your Lordship;  tu —however;  mahā-puruṣaḥ —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  īśvaraḥ —the supreme controller;  ayam —this;  ku-puruṣaḥ —most sinful person, Hiraṇyakaśipu;  naṣṭaḥ —slain;  dhik-kṛtaḥ —being condemned;  sādhubhiḥ —by the saintly persons;  yadā —when.
TRANSLATION
The inhabitants of Kimpuruṣa-loka said: We are insignificant living entities, and You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller. Therefore how can we offer suitable prayers unto You? When this demon was condemned by devotees because they were disgusted with him, he was then killed by You.
PURPORT
The cause of the Supreme Lord's appearance upon this earth is stated in  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.7–8) by the Lord Himself:
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyuthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
“Whenever and wherever there is a decrease in religious principles and a predominant rise in irreligion, at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself, millennium after millennium.” The Lord appears in order to execute two kinds of activities—to kill the demons and to protect the devotees. When the devotees are too disturbed by the demons, the Lord certainly appears in different incarnations to give the devotees protection. The devotees following in the footsteps of