SB 10.50.29

The philosopher Aristotle once argued that the Supreme God would hardly take part in human activities, since all ordinary activities are unworthy of such a divine being. Similarly, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, who almost certainly never read the works of Aristotle, raises a similar point. Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa creates, maintains and annihilates the entire universe, isn’t it an uninteresting mismatch when He fights against Jarāsandha?

The answer is as follows: The Lord plays the part of a human being and, expanding His pleasure potency, creates thrilling transcendental pastimes full of suspense and dynamic action. By the Lord’s Yogamāyā potency, He appears exactly like a human being, and thus we may enjoy the spectacle of the Supreme Person acting on the earthly stage. Undoubtedly, stubborn agnostics will argue that since Kṛṣṇa is God, there is no real suspense involved. Such skeptics simply do not understand Kṛṣṇa’s attractive potency. Beauty and drama, even on the material stage, possess their own fascinating logic, and similarly we love Kṛṣṇa for His own sake, we appreciate His beauty for its own sake, and we enjoy Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes because they are in fact wonderful in and of themselves. In fact, Kṛṣṇa executes His pastimes not for a mundane egotistical purpose but for our pleasure. Thus the presentation of spiritual pastimes is itself an act of love that Kṛṣṇa performs for the infinite spiritual happiness of pure-hearted souls who have transcended material envy of the Godhead.

In this regard, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes an important verse from the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad: narākṛti para-brahma kāraṇa-mānuṣaḥ. “The Supreme Absolute Truth, for His own purpose, appears in a humanlike form, although He is the source of everything.” Similarly, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.32) we find, yan-mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam: “The source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend.”