God and His representatives have the compassionate habit of turning up at that precarious moment when they are least wanted by the ruling miscreants! Being the possessor of multifarious inconceivable energies (‘parasya shaktir vividhaiva shruyate’), Krishna is able to subdue the demonic class (‘vinashaya ca dushkrtam’) by His ‘bala shakti’ and re-establish the principles of religion (‘dharma samsthapanarthaya’) through ‘jnana shakti’. In these two activities, He acts as the invincible controller and master of the creation (‘mama bhutamaheshvaram’) – as the supreme Father of all living beings.

But surprisingly, that same Father (‘aham bija pradah pita’) becomes the child of one of His children! This is because His heart is deeply afflicted to see the distressful condition (‘paritranaya sadhunam’) of His devotees who are unable to bear the burden of separation from Him. So, in order to undertake this activity, the Lord casts aside His controllership and willingly comes under the subjugation of a devotee’s love.

There is an old saying – “All is fair in love and war.”  How true this is! In the matter of war, Krishna broke His promise to abstain from fighting in the battle of Kurukshetra because He was overwhelmed (in the matter of love) by grandsire Bhishma’s intense desire to have that heart melting ‘darshan’ of his Lord rushing to attack him with the wheel of a broken chariot. Feelings are evidence of love; and that love assumes a peculiar nature as per the particular mellow of loving exchanges. In this instance, it was the mellow of chivalry (‘virya rasa’).

Every pastime (‘lila’) highlights Krishna’s extraordinary nature and qualities; nevertheless, the basic motivating force, for such transcendental activity, springs from the heart of a surrendered devotee who is prepared to pay any price to fulfill the Lord’s desire for loving exchanges. When Vasudeva and Devaki performed incredible austerities for over two million years (in their previous lives as Sutapa and Prishni) in the hope that they could give birth to a son who was just like God, Krishna pleased them by personally appearing thrice as their son – once as Prishnigarbha, later as Upendra the dwarf and eventually as Vasudeva Krishna. This mellow of paternal affection (‘vatsalya rasa’) is characterised by the supreme Protector taking intense pleasure in becoming the helpless protected child of a loving devotee.

In Bhagavata Purana, the great Shukadeva explains to Parikshit that the greatest of sages and renunciates, after performing unimaginably difficult austerities for innumerable lifetimes, are promoted to the loving mellow of fraternity (‘sakhya rasa’), in Goloka Vrindavan, where they act as cowherd friends of Krishna and Balarama and sport with Them and even take the liberty of climbing on Their shoulders and defeating Them in wrestling matches. 

Once, Krishna was running in the forests with a cowherd boy on His shoulders because His team had lost to Balarama’s team. The losing team members were expected to carry the victorious team members on their shoulders and, in this manner, run for a couple of furlongs. The sage Durvasa happened to be passing by. He chastised the cowherd boy saying, “Don’t you know you should not be riding on the shoulders of such a great personality as Krishna? Get down immediately!” Visibly irritated, the cowherd boy shot back, “What great personality! He is our Kaanha! He has lost and has to pay the penalty. Come on . . . run!” Durvasa refused to let the boys pass, much to their chagrin. Finally, Krishna admonished him saying, “Leave this place! You are spoiling My loving pastimes!” Obviously, Durvasa was unable to comprehend the loving mellow of fraternity where one only sees the Lord as his intimate playmate and not as God. When a devotee’s surrender reaches it’s zenith, that devotee is promoted to the loving mellow of a conjugal relationship (‘madhurya rasa’) such as the queens of Krishna (‘svakiya’) or, still higher, to the status of a milkmaid (‘gopi’) in Vraja (‘parakiya’). The intensity of devotion is so overpowering, in this mellow, that the Lord comes completely under the control of a devotee to the extent that Krishna’s Godhood is completely sidelined and exiled to oblivion, so as not to disturb the intimacy of loving dealings.    
               
This simple story illustrates everything. Once, in Bhandirvan (one of the twelve forests of Vrindavan), Krishna was engaged in a wrestling match with Radha. As swift as lightning, she pushed Him so that He fell on the ground. Without losing a moment, she pounced on Him and pinned His shoulders down. Radha was so absorbed in asserting her victory that her nose was touching the ground. “Krishna! You have lost!’ she screamed. Krishna objected, “I have won – You have lost! Look... your nose is touching the ground! My nose is facing upward!” The cowherd boys and girls were rolling in laughter at Krishna’s sense of humour even after being defeated. All is fair in love and war! 
                                        
In this mundane world of dualities, victory gives temporary satisfaction. But in the absolute spiritual world, the Lord’s propensity to love is satiated when He is overwhelmed and subjugated by the genuine love of a devotee.