Lightening the Burden of the World
125
knowledge, and therefore he is an authority. There are four  sampradāyas , or chains of discipline succession, through which Vedic knowledge is distributed—one from Brahmā, one from Lakṣmī, one from Lord Śiva, and one from the four Kumāras. We have to approach an authoritative representative of Kṛṣṇa appearing in one of these  sampradāyas , and then we can receive real knowledge. Thus the earth personified approached Brahmā, who prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, “The world is now overburdened with demons, and therefore I request You to appear.” Some say, therefore, that the Lord appeared at the request of Brahmā that He lighten the burden of the world.
When Kṛṣṇa appears, He protects the devotees and kills the demons. Therefore Kṛṣṇa in His Nārāyaṇa form has four hands. In two hands He holds a disc and club with which to kill the demons, and in the other two hands He holds the conchshell and lotus with which to bless and protect the devotees. The Lord says,  kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati . Thus Kṛṣṇa bugles with His conchshell, “My devotees will never be vanquished.” And with the lotus flower He extends His blessings. The lotus flower, which sometimes also appears in the hand of Lakṣmī, is a symbol of blessings.
Now some may say that Kṛṣṇa appeared for this purpose or that purpose, but the real conclusion is that Kṛṣṇa appears for His own pleasure, not because He is bound by any other cause. We take our birth because we are bound by our  karma , but Kṛṣṇa, being fully independent, does not come because of someone else’s request or because of  karma . Rather, He comes by His own free will ( ātma-māyayā ). We are compelled to take birth because of Kṛṣṇa’s external, material energy, but Kṛṣṇa is not controlled by the  māyā , or energy, of anyone else, and therefore He does not take birth in such a condition.  Māyā , the illusory energy, is under the control of Kṛṣṇa, so how could  māyā  control Him? One who thinks that Kṛṣṇa, like us, is controlled by  māyā  is described in  Bhagavad-gītā  as  mūḍha , a fool ( avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam ).
Kṛṣṇa is the original Nārāyaṇa, the original source of the entire cosmic manifestation. Brahmā, or the first living being born just after the creation, is the direct son of Nārāyaṇa, who as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu first entered the material universe. Without spiritual contact, matter cannot create. Those who are seeking the original cause of the material creation should know that the creation takes place when the spirit soul is present. Matter is activated by the spirit soul; it is not that the soul is created by matter.
According to the Buddhist theory, the living force—the living energy