Lightening the Burden of the World
123
abhyuthānam adharmasya tadātmānam srjāmy aham
“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.”
When there is too much lawlessness and there are too many criminals, the state becomes overburdened and disturbed, and the state administrators are puzzled about what to do. Similarly, when the world is overrun by demons and atheists, they create a burden, and the demigods, the pious administrators of the universe, become perplexed. When the people of a state abide by the laws, administration is easy, but if people are criminals they overburden the state administrators. A similar situation sometimes upsets the balance of the cosmic affairs of this material world. Both the demons and the demigods always exist, but when the demoniac power increases, the world is overburdened. It is then that the demigods approach Lord Brahmā for assistance.
Lord Brahmā is one of the twelve authorities known as  dvādaśa-mahājana  ( svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kaumāraḥ kapilo manuḥl prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyasakir vayam ,  Bhāg. 6.3.20 ). We have to follow the  mahājanas , the great authorities, if we want to receive transcendental knowledge. The Vedic injunction is,  tad-vijñānārtham sa gurum evābhi-gacchet : if one wants to be in knowledge of everything, one must approach a  guru , a bona fide authority, a spiritual master. The original  guru  is Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa taught Arjuna, He also taught Brahmā, as stated in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  ( tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye ).
The  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  describes the original source of the creation, and this should be the actual subject matter of our research work. What is the original source of creation?  Janmādy asya yataḥ : the original source of everything is the source of  janma ,  sthiti , and  pralaya —creation, maintenance, and dissolution. Our body has taken birth at a certain date, it lasts for some years—ten years, twenty years, fifty years, or whatever, according to the body—and then it will be finished. Where did this body come from, and when it is destroyed where will it go? There are scientific laws concerning the conservation of energy. What is the source of that energy? There is a source ( yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante ), and that source is identified in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam .
That source is not blind. Rascals think that everything has come from nothing. But how can something come out of nothing? There is no proof that such a thing happens, but fools claim that it does, and therefore they