sva-śānta-rūpeṣv itaraiḥ sva-rūpair abhyardyamāneṣv anukampitātmā parāvareśo mahad-aṁśa-yukto hy ajo 'pi jāto bhagavān yathāgniḥ

sva-santa-rupesv itaraih sva-rupair
abhyardyamanesv anukampitatma
paravareso mahad-amsa-yukto
hy ajo 'pi jato bhagavan yathagnih

"When pure devotees of the Lord like Vasudeva are greatly disturbed by dangerous demons like Kamsa, Lord Krsna joins with all His pastime expansions, such as the Lord of Vaikuntha, and, although unborn, becomes manifest, just as fire becomes manifest by the friction of arani wood." Arani wood is used to ignite a sacrificial fire without matches or any other flame. Just as fire appears from arani wood, the Supreme Lord appears when there is friction between devotees and nondevotees. When Krsna appears, He appears in full, including within Himself all His expansions like Narayana, Vasudeva, Saṅkarsana, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. Krsna is always integrated with His other incarnations, like Nrsimhadeva, Varaha, Vamana, Nara-Narayana, Hayagriva and Ajita. In Vrndavana sometimes Lord Krsna exhibits the functions of such incarnations.

In the Brahmanda Purana it is said: "The same Personality of Godhead who is known in Vaikuntha as the four-handed Narayana, the friend of all living entities, and in the milk ocean as the Lord of Svetadvipa, and who is the best of all purusas, appeared as the son of Nanda. In a fire there are many sparks of different dimensions; some of them are very big, and some are small. The small sparks are compared to the living entities, and the large sparks are compared to the Visnu expansions of Lord Krsna. All the incarnations emanate from Krsna, and after the end of their pastimes they again merge with Krsna."

Therefore in the various Puranas Krsna is described sometimes as Narayana, sometimes as Ksirodakasayi Visnu, sometimes as Garbhodakasayi Visnu and sometimes as Vaikunthanatha, the Lord of Vaikuntha. Because Krsna is always full, Mula Saṅkarsana is in Krsna, and since all incarnations are manifested from Mula Saṅkarsana, it should be understood that He can manifest different incarnations by His supreme will, even in the presence of Krsna. Great sages have therefore glorified the Lord by different names. Thus when the original person, the source of all incarnations, is sometimes described as an incarnation, there is no discrepancy.