SB 2.7.26

Now Kṛṣṇa is described in ten verses. He made his appearance to remove the suffering of the earth and the suffering due to saṁsāra, and to relieve the devotees, on this earth, of suffering caused by separation from the Lord. When the earth is afflicted by the troops of kings who are demons (suretara), he, who has a course that cannot be detected by us, will appear. “Though an object is known, a person can fix its nature by giving it a name and form according to his intelligence. For instance, one can say, ‘This Kaustubha jewel is actually a ruby.’ Or ‘Though this is a ruby, actually it is coral.’ Thus though this avatāra remains unknown in svarūpa, that svarūpa is described in the Purāṇas, is it not? This person who is very ancient has white and black hair appeared in his portion as Kṛṣṇa. Viṣṇu Purāṇa (5.1.59) says ujjahārātmanaḥ keśau sita-kṛṣṇau mahāmune: O great sage, he pulled out black and white hairs from himself. Mahābhārata 1.189.31-32 also says: sa cāpi keśau harir udbabarha śuklam ekam aparaṁ cāpi kṛṣṇam | tau cāpi keśāvāviśetāṁ yadūnāṁ kule striyau rohiṇīṁ devakīṁ ca || tayor eko balabhadro babhūva yo ’sau śvetas tasya devasya keśaḥ | kṛṣṇo dvitīyaḥ keśavaḥ sambabhūva keśo yo ’sau varṇataḥ kṛṣṇa uktaḥ || Viṣṇu took two hairs, one white and black. These two hairs entered the wombs of Rohiṇī and Devakī in the Yadu family. The white hair became Balarāma and the black hair became Kṛṣṇa.” If one examines the superficial meanings of these statements, they are contradictory and therefore should be rejected. Though Nārāyaṇa has a body of bliss and knowledge, totally unaffected by the three guṇas, he is described as having white and black hair, because of getting old. However he is described as being eternally young in statements such as santaṁ vayasi kaiśore: he has a young age. (SB 3.28.17) And Kṛṣṇa is stated to be the original form of Bhagavān with the statement kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam whereas here it says he arose from Viṣṇu’s hair. Therefore the wise will explain these verses differently. Sīta-kṛṣṇa-keśa does not mean white and black hair but only expresses its beauty. How does one explain the quotation from Mahābhārata? With the idea of “Let my two hairs become successful” Viṣṇu pulled out two hairs, to indicate the colors of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa (the hairs were not actually black and white). If this explanation is not accepted, the contradiction mentioned above exists about Viṣṇu’s age and as well the contradiction to the statement kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Śrīdhara Svāmī says kalayā rāmeṇa saha svayaṁ sita-kṛṣṇa-keśo bhagavān eva jātaḥ: the Llord with beautiful black hair appeared with Balarāma (kalayā). kalayā śilpa-naipuṇya-viśeṣa-vidhinā sitāḥ | baddhāḥ kṛṣṇā atiśyāmāḥ keśā yeneti vigrahaḥ | sa evetyasya vaidagdhī-viśeṣotkarṣa īritaḥ ||157|| kiṁ vā yaḥ kalayāṁśena syāt sita-śyāma-keśakaḥ | sa evātrāvatīrṇo ’bhūt śrī-līlā-puruṣottamaḥ ||158|| Kṛṣṇa is described as having a form with black hair (kṛṣṇa) bound up (sitāḥ) with skill (kalayā). This is a description of his excellent beauty. Kṛṣṇa, called līlā-puruṣottama, with bound up, black hair then appeared along with Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī as his aṁśa. Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.157-158 Jīva Gosvāmī says: aṁśavo ye prakāśante mama te keśa-saṁjṣitāḥ iti smṛter mac-chiro-dhāryau sita-kṛṣṇa-kiraṇau dvau prabhū avatariṣyata iti sūcanārthaṁ keśa-dvayoddharaṇam Smṛti says “Keśa means the rays which emanate from me.” Thus, when Viṣṇu pulled out two hairs he indicated, “The two Lords whose two rays, black and white, maintain my head, will appear.” Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha Not using the word keśa to indicate hair (which is the conventional meaning) is an indication that the sages who wrote the scriptures are following the Bhāgavatam statement parokṣa-vādā ṛṣayaḥ parokṣaṁ mama ca priyam: the Vedic seers and mantras deal in esoteric terms, and I also am pleased by such confidential descriptions. (SB 11.21.35) The Viṣṇu Purāṇa quotation can be explained as follows. From the antaḥ-karaṇa, the two Lords, white and black, forms of happiness (ka means happiness īśa means lord), being pleased with many prayers, became visible (ujjahāra). O great sage! By contemplation the meaning should be understood. (Muni means “one who contemplates.”) According to Nāmārtha-varga the word ka means happiness, the head and water. The two verses from Mahābhārata should be explained in the same way. For relieving the earth’s suffering with (sita) just one his one parts, Kṛṣṇa, the form of happiness (ka) and the controller (īśa), having both sweetness and power, appeared along with Balarāma. Another meaning of sīta is Śiva, another meaning of kṛṣṇa is Viṣṇu, and another meaning of ka is Brahmā. Thus sita-krsna-keśaḥ means “lord of Ṣiva, Viṣṇu and Brahmā.” Later it will be said sa yāvad urvyā bharam īśvareśvaraḥ: the Lord of lords will move about on earth as long as there is suffering (SB 10.1.22) What type of activities does Kṛṣṇa perform? These activities completely cover up his great powers. That means that his great powers exist but are covered by the sweetness of his activities. Or the activities cause complete bondage to his glory. This means that his activities bind up everyone’s minds by their sweetness. The path unseen by men (janānupalakṣya-mārga) indicates the confidential path of rāgānuga-bhakti.