Summary Description of Lord Krsna’s Pastimes 339

question is this: Why would Maha-Visnu come to Dvaraka personally if He
were not able to see Krsna? Why did He not send some of His associates to
take away the sons of the brahmana? A possible answer is that it is very
difficult to put any of the citizens of Dvaraka into trouble in the presence
of Krsna. Therefore, it was not possible for any of Maha-Visnu’s associates
to take away the brahmana’s sons, and thus He personally came to take
them.

Another question may also be raised: The Lord is known as brahmanya-
deva, the worshipable Deity of the brahmanas, so why was He inclined to
put a brahmana into such a terrible condition of lamentation over one son
after another until the ninth son was taken away? The answer is that Lord
Maha-Visnu was so anxious to see Krsna that He did not hesitate even to
give trouble to a brahmana. Although giving trouble to a brahmana is a
forbidden act, Lord Visnu was prepared to do anything in order to see
Krsna—He was so anxious to see Him. After losing each of his sons, the
brahmana would come to the gate of the palace and accuse the King of not
being able to give the brahmanas protection and of thus being unfit to sit
on the royal throne. It was Maha-Visnu’s plan that the brahmana would
accuse the ksatriyas and Krsna, and Krsna would be obliged to come see
Him to take back the brahmana’s sons.

Still another question may be raised: If Maha-Visnu cannot see Krsna,
then how was Krsna obliged to come before Him after all to take back the
sons of the brahmana? The answer is that Lord Krsna went to see Lord
Maha-Visnu not exactly to take away the sons of the brahmana but only
for Arjuna’s sake. His friendship with Arjuna was so intimate that when
Arjuna prepared himself to die by entering the fire, Krsna wanted to give
him complete protection. Arjuna, however, would not desist from entering
the fire unless the sons of the brahmana were brought back. Therefore
Krsna promised him, “I will bring back the brahmana’s sons. Do not try to
commit suicide.”

If Lord Krsna were going to see Lord Visnu only to reclaim the sons of
the brahmana, then He would not have waited until the ninth son was
taken. But when the ninth son was taken away by Lord Maha-Visnu and
Arjuna was therefore ready to enter the fire because his promise was going
to prove false, that serious situation made Lord Krsna decide to go with
Arjuna to see Maha-Visnu. It is said that Arjuna is an empowered incar-
nation of Nara-Narayana. He is even sometimes called Nara-Narayana. The
Nara-Narayana incarnation is also one of Lord Visnu’s plenary expansions.
Therefore, when Krsna and Arjuna went to see Lord Visnu, it is to be
understood that Arjuna visited in His Nara-Narayana capacity, just as
