Definition Of Krsna

One will never make a mistake about the identity of Lord Sri Krsna if one has a good idea of what is meant by Lord Sri Krsna. "When we speak of Krsna we refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His many expansions. He is expanded by His plenary parts and parcels, His differentiated parts and parcels and His different energies. Krsna, in other words, means everything and includes everything. Generally, however, we should understand Krsna to mean Krsna and His personal expansions. Krsna expands Himself as Baladeva, Sahkarsana, Vasudeva, Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Rama, Nrsimha and Varaha, as well as many other incarnations and innumerable Visnu expansions. These are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam to be as numerous as the uncountable waves. So Krsna includes all such expansions, as well as His pure devotees." (The Nectar of Devotion, xxi) Thus the pure devotees, some of whom are spiritual masters, are part of the internal energy of Sri Krsna, but they are certainly not the totality of His internal energy. They are subordinate. "The relationship of the living entities, therefore, is to be always subordinate to the Supreme Lord, as with the master and the servant, or the teacher and the taught." (Bg., p. 71)

No one knows the extent of the energy of Lord Sri Krsna, not even His pure devotees. As is stated by the Lord Himself: "Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin; for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and the sages." (Bg. 10.2) Although no one can understand the extent of the Lord's glory, nor of the origin of the Lord, who has no beginning, still it is stated, "The devotees of the Lord surrender unto Krsna and are thus able to understand Him." (Bg., p. 209) Thus by "Krsna" we refer to the Supreme Entity and His activities. "… In the Vedic literature, whether the Upanisads or the Vedanta-sūtras or the Bhagavad-gita or the Srimad-Bhagavatam, in every scripture it is declared that the Lord is the sentient Being, supreme over all other living entities. And His glorious activities are identical with Himself." (Sri Īsopanisad, p. 93)