Essentially, they are the same person in two different roles Lord Vishnu is God at office and Lord Krishna is God at home. But still one of Them is the origin of the other.
Many people believe that Lord Vishnu is the source of all the incarnations including Lord Krishna. But, as we have mentioned before, our information on such matters must be authoritative and authentic, and it is so only when it comes from the scriptures and not from the internet or social media platforms.
The scriptures describe Lord Krishna to be the source of all incarnations.
So where does Lord Vishnu fit in the picture? Following is the hierarchy as given in the great scripture Chaitanya Charitamrita(CC);
Krishna is the origin Who then expands into Balaram.
vaibhava-prakasha krishnera shri-balarama
(CCMadhya Lila 20.174)
"The first manifestation of the vaibhava feature of Krsna is Śri Balaramaji.'
Lord Balaram then expands into four other forms known as the first quadruple expansion: Vasudev I, Sankarshan 1, Pradyumna 1 and Aniruddha I.
prabhava-vilasa-vasudeva, sankarshana pradyumna, aniruddha, mukhya chari-jana
(CC Madhya 20.186)
'The chief quadruple expansions are named Vaudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. These are called prabhava-vilasa.'
Lord Krishna again expands into two features:
1) Narayan-He becomes the cause of the manifestations of all the countless Lord Vishnu forms in Vaikuntha (Spiritual Sky)
2) Second Quadruple expansion (Expansions of the first quadruple expansions)-Vaudeva II, Sankarshana II, Pradyumna II and Aniruddha II
punah krishna chatur-vyuba laian purva-rupe
paravyoma-madhye vaise narayana-rupe
(CC Madhya 20.192)
'Lord Krsna again expands, and within the paravyoma, the spiritual sky, He is situated in fullness as the four- handed Narayana, accompanied by expansions of the original quadruple form."
tanha haite punah chatur-vyuha-parakasha avarana-rupe chari-dike yanra vasa
(CC Madhya 20.193)
"Thus the original quadruple forms again manifest Themselves in a second set of quadruple expansions- Vaudeva II, Sankarshana II, Pradyumna II and Aniruddha II."
From Lord Sankarshan II come two personalities: Sadashiv (the original Shiva) and Lord Mahavishnu.
visnos tu trini rūpāni
puruşakhyany atho viduḥ
ekam tu mahatah srastr
dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam
trtiyam sarva-bhūta-stham
tani jnätvä vimucyate
(CC Madhya 20.251)
"Visnu has three forms called purusas. The first, Maha- Visnu, is the creator of the total material energy the second is Garbhodaśäyi, who is situated within each universe, and the third is Ksirodaśäyi, who lives in the heart of every living being. He who knows these three becomes liberated from the clutches of maya."
Lord Mahavishnu then takes charge of creating countless universes from His body and expands Himself to enter each of the universes where He lies down at the bottom of the universe in an ocean called Garbodhak.
From the naval of this second Lord Vishnu, called Garbhodakshayi Vishnu, emerges a lotus upon which Lord Brahma is born, who, as the secondary creator, further creates the living entities in the universe.
Garbhodakshayi Vishnu then expands Himself into another form of Lord Vishnu known as Kshirodakshayi Vishnu, the one who resides in the ocean of milk. It is He who is responsible for the maintenance of the universe He is residing in.
Whenever there is a need, Kshirodakshayi Vishnu incarnates into the universes to uphold dharma.
All this information tells us that there are countless and not just one Lord Vishnu, just as there are countless universes. In fact, there are two forms of Lord Vishnu in each Universe. And the particular Lord Vishnu form whom everyone knows to be the maintainer comes much later in the picture, i.e., Kshirodakshayi Vishnu. Further, Lord Krishna, being the supreme source of all avatars, has sixty-four primary qualities and Lord Vishnu, being an expansion has sixty.
The Shata-nama-stotra says:
vishnor ekaikam namapi sarva-vedadhikam matam tadrik-nama sahasrena rama-nama-samam smritam
'Chanting one name of Vishnu gives more benefit thanstudying all the Vedas, and one name of Rama is equal to athousand names (sahasra-nama) of Vishnu,'
Again, it is stated in the Brahmanda Purana:
sahasra-namnam punyanam trir avrittya tu yat phalam
ekavrittya tu krishnasya namaikam tat prayacchati
'If one utters shri-krishna-nama once, one obtains the sameresult that comes from chanting the sahasranamathree times.' pure visnu-
The purport is that a thousand names of Lord Vishnu equals one name of Lord Rama, and three thousand names of Lord Vishnu or three names of Lord Rama-equals one name of Lord Krishna. Chanting Lord Krishna's name once gives the same result as chanting Lord Rama's name three times.
This result is due to Lord Krishna being the source of all avatars.
The Srimad Bhagavatam contains a list of various avatars after which Lord Krishna is again referred to as 'svayam bhagavan which means He is the source of all other forms of Bhagwan such as Vishnu, Varaha, Narasihma, Rama and Vamana.
ete camsha-kalah pumsah
krishnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
mridayanti yuge yuge
'All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.'
In the Brahma Samhita (5.1), Lord Brahma mentions:
ishvarah paramah krishnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaha
anadir adir govindaha
sarva-karana-karanam
'Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes.'
If this is so clearly mentioned in the scriptures, why is there confusion about the position of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna?
Well, the reason is quite simple.
Vishnu is in charge of the maintenance of the universe; He is hands-on in this world and every now and then He incarnates.
It is just like in a factory, the workers receive orders and payment from their manager. To them, he is their leader, the person in charge of it all. However, one fine day, the owner of the factory decides to visit the factory. When the worken see that t person next to the manager, they don't recognize him because they haven't seen him before.
Similarly, although it is Lord Vishnu who is incarnating into this world to sustain it, once in a while, Lord Krishna personally comes down from the supreme spiritual abode of Golok Vrindavan along with all His associates. And when He comes down, He comes through Lord Vishnu who als makes the announcement for the same.
When the world was overburdened five thousand years due to demoniac forces, mother earth and the demigods ago including Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva went to the shore of the ocean of milk (Kshirsagar) to pray to Kshirodakshayi Vishnu. After they offered their prayers for the Lord's mercy, Lord Brahma received a message from Him, which He related to everyone present as follows:
vasudeva-grihe sakshad
bhagavan purushah parah
janishyate tat-priyartham
sambhavantu sura-striyah
[Srimad Bhagavatam 10.1.23]
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śri Krsna, who has full Ipotency, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore, all the wives of the demigods should also appear in order serve Him."
Thus, since Lord Krishna is seen only once in a while and Lord Vishnu is visible and active most of the time, people have the misconception that Lord Vishnu is the source of Lord Krishna, but the truth is, it is the other way around.
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