44 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 1
TRANSLATION

Despite His being the Lord and being always willing to relieve the
distress of sufferers, He [Krsna] refrained from killing the Kurus, although
they committed all sorts of sins and although He saw other kings constantly
agitating the earth by their strong military movements carried out under
the dictation of three kinds of false pride.

PURPORT

As declared in Bhagavad-gita, the Lord appears in the mortal world to
execute His much-needed mission of killing the miscreants and giving
protection to the suffering faithful. In spite of that mission, Lord Krsna
tolerated the insult to Draupadi by the Kurus and the injustices perpetrated
against the Pandavas, as well as insults to Himself. The question may be
raised, ““Why did He tolerate such injustices and insults in His presence?
Why did He not chastise the Kurus immediately?” When Draupadi was
insulted in the assembly by the Kurus by their attempt to see her naked
in the presence of all, the Lord protected Draupadi by supplying an
unlimited length of clothing. But He did not chastise the insulting party
immediately. This silence of the Lord did not mean, however, that He
excused the offenses of the Kurus. There were many other kings on earth
who had become very proud of three kinds of possessions—wealth, educa-
tion and followers—and they were constantly agitating the earth by move-
ments of military strength. The Lord was just waiting to get them together
on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra and kill them all at one time, just to make
a short-cut in His killing mission. Godless kings or heads of state, when
puffed up by advancement of material wealth, education and increase of
population, always make a show of military strength and give trouble to
the innocent. When Lord Krsna was personally present, there were many
such kings all over the world, and He thus arranged for the Battle of
Kuruksetra. In His manifestation of visva-rupa, the Lord expressed His
mission of killing as follows: “I have willingly descended on the earth in
My capacity of inexorable Time in order to decrease the unwanted popu-
lation. I shall finish all those who have assembled here except you, the
Pandavas. This killing does not wait for you to take part in it. It is already
arranged: all will be killed by Me. If you want to become famous as the
hero of the battlefield and thus enjoy the booty of war, then, O
Savyasacin, just become the immediate cause of this killing and thus take
the credit. I have already killed all the great warriors, Bhisma, Drona,
Jayadratha, Karna and many other great generals. Do not worry. Fight the
battle and be famous as a great hero.” (Bg. 11.32-34)
