"Give up everything. Simply surrender unto Me alone." mam ekam. He doesn't say even to Narayana or Visnu. He says particularly, mam ekam, "Only unto Me alone."
We can't worship vishnu or surrunder to vishnu? Are vishnu/krishna different? :)
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i propose this: let us see things and those words in their context by remembering the words of Arjun "my mind is reeling, my bow gandiva is slipping from my hands, and my skin is burning".
Krishna is facing a decisive moment in his life, wherein his best friend, has become of sorts... weakened by the situation, feels lost, and Krishna is trying to center him back on his path (arjun's path, rather than devotion unto krishna).
Krishna shares knowledge and wisdom and eventually darshan, only because his friend needs it and requests it.
Krishna said that not to start a religion, but to spiritually slap his friend in the face and bring him back to his senses and duty. Arjun was lost, his family was about to get killed in a war and he was thinking of running away in the form of philosophical debate as to wether it'd be irreligious to kill his own kinsmen.
Krishna tells him clearly that the other generals will laugh at him and he will be treated with infamy, even though his (arjun's) true motive is love and wanting to spare his family members. at which moment krishna speaks of the inevitability of death of the body and the eternal soul.
when lord krishna has failed in everything in that discussion/song and arjun is lost in his argumentation, lord krishna tells him about bhakti or devotion as the final solution, and grants arjun darshan showing him the viraat swaroop. which is the final antidote where in arjun sees not only the present the past and the future, but all forms, and all deaths of everyone in the battlefield.
in other words, krishna gives him the antidote to fear: something even greater to fear: God, hahahah
HOW CAN THERE BE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SAME PERSON?
Krishna is saksat Narayana, Narayana is Saksat Vishnu, Vishnu is saksat Krishna. Gaudiiya vaishnavas differentiate Krishna form of Vishnu in rasa theory not in tattva or substance. Krishna, Rama, Narsingha, Narayana all are Vishnu tattva. One may worship Krishna form and other may Vishnu form according to one's inclination , there is no difference.
seeing difference between this two is tattva Bhram or technical illusion.
yas,
Two key references from CC and NOD
1) CC Madya 22. http://vedabase.net/cc/adi/2/114/
Some say that Kṛṣṇa is the incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. None of these statements is impossible; each is as correct as the others.
2) Nectar of Devotion: Chapter 2:
We should always try to mold the activities of our lives in such a way that we will constantly remember Visnu, or Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness. Whether one concentrates his mind on the four-handed form of Visnu or on the form of two-handed Krsna, it is the same.
Verses First few chapters of SB
1) Suta Goswami http://vedabase.net/sb/1/10/26/
Oh, how supremely glorified is the dynasty of King Yadu, and how virtuous is the land of Mathurā, where the supreme leader of all living beings, the husband of the goddess of fortune, has taken His birth and wandered in His childhood.
3) Uddava : http://vedabase.net/sb/3/4/7/en
The Lord's body is blackish, but is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge, and very, very beautiful. His eyes are always peaceful, and they are reddish like the rising morning sun. I could immediately recognize Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His four hands, different symbolic representations, and yellow silk garments.
4) Pariksit : http://vedabase.net/sb/1/19/15/en
O brāhmaṇas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let the snake-bird — or whatever magical thing the brāhmaṇa created — bite me at once. I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Viṣṇu.
5) Parikshit saved by 4 handed.. http://vedabase.net/sb/1/12/9/en
The Lord was enriched with four hands, earrings of molten gold and eyes blood red with fury. As He loitered about, His club constantly encircled Him like a shooting star.
6) Sukdev goswam: http://vedabase.net/sb/5/17/1/en2
Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, Lord Visnu, the enjoyer of all sacrifices, appeared as Vamanadeva in the sacrificial arena of Bali Maharaja. Then He extended His left foot to the end of the universe and pierced a hole in its covering with the nail of His big toe. Through the hole, the pure water of the Causal Ocean entered this universe as the Ganges River. Having washed the lotus feet of the Lord, which are covered with reddish powder, the water of the Ganges acquired a very beautiful pink color. Every living being can immediately purify his mind of material contamination by touching the transcendental water of the Ganges, yet its waters remain ever pure. Because the Ganges directly touches the lotus feet of the Lord before descending within this universe, she is known as Visnupadi. Later she received other names like Jahnavi and Bhagirathi. After one thousand millenniums, the water of the Ganges descended on Dhruvaloka, the topmost planet in this universe. Therefore all learned sages and scholars proclaim Dhruvaloka to be Visnupada ["situated on Lord Visnu's lotus feet"].
7) Bhisma: http://vedabase.net/sb/1/7/52/en
Caturbhuja [the four-armed one], or the Personality of Godhead, after hearing the words of Bhīma, Draupadī and others, saw the face of His dear friend Arjuna, and He began to speak as if smiling.
8) King Nabhi: http://vedabase.net/sb/5/3/1/en2
Sukadeva Gosvami continued to speak: Maharaja Nabhi, the son of Agnidhra, wished to have sons, and therefore he attentively began to offer prayers and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, the master and enjoyer of all sacrifices. Maharaja Nabhi's wife, Merudevi, who had not given birth to any children at that time, also worshiped Lord Visnu along with her husband.
Interesting verses (mostly from Lord Krishna’s appearance from previous day of Bramha): http://vedabase.net/sb/7/5/30/en, http://vedabase.net/sb/4/12/22/en
hello prahbhuji
since you are here looking for opinions rather than experiences, let me tell you.
vishnu is vishnu, krishna is krishna.
krishna may be vishnu in dreams, in extracorporeal ways, but he was krishna when he was krishna.
sri vishnu is shri vishnu when he manifests in vishnuform.
all beings have been qualified as vishnus or that vishnu part rests within the heart...
are you prahbhuji without the vishnu element? or are you also without the shri krishna element?
sometimes i wonder, how could several incarnations of vishnu live at the same time? such things seem unlikely. likewise, at times different rudra incarnations are here at the same time.
friend anuj verma, how has your experience of these definitions being? do you dream you are vishnu, rudra, or krishna? or perhaps bramha.
everyone can make opinions from books, but some of the more mystical devotees perhaps can share some of their experiences to this matter... or perhaps even, one of the devotees has asked shri vishnu or shri krishna such a question before and gotten an answer.