Asuras in Krishna-Lila

Question: When the asuras take on a body in Krishna’s lila, is that body eternal, and if not how to understand that?  For example, Aghasura or Putana, who are his eternal associates, come as demons. Is this body their siddha svarupa?

Answer: Krishna has two kinds of lilas, prakat and aprakat. When He appears on earth, it is called prakat-lila, and when He exists in His own abode without being visible to the people of this world, that is called aprakata-lila. The asuras also exist in the aprakat-lila, but there they remain inactive, like paintings or toys.  When He wants to perform His prakata- lila, He activates them.

Question: What is their consciousness?  Do they have another form or body or do they only have that asuric form?

Answer: No, they do not have any other form. Their form is as they appear in the prakat-lila and in the aprakat-lila they remain inactive in the same form.

Question:   In aprakat-lila, they are in some kind of sleep and when Krishna wants them for his lila, He activates them and they play their role.  What happens when He kills them, is their body destroyed?

Answer:  When Bhagavān is enacting His lila, there is a mixture of His associates and people from this world.  When He kills the asuras, those who are mixed with His associates are separated and liberated.  There may be actual demons in the lila, but because the demons of this world do not have the power to fight with Krishna, they are merged into the demons who are His associates, because they are the only ones with the power to fight with Krishna.  The body of these material demons are then destroyed and the others remain as they are.

Question: When the demons from the material world are killed, what kind of liberation do they get?

Answer: They get brahma-sayujya (impersonal liberation) or bhagavat-sayujya (entering into the body of Krishna). Krishna may also give them a higher type of mukti. For example, to Putana He gave the post of a mother.

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Question: Kṛṣṇa is Svayaṁ Bhagavān, and eternally resides in his abode, Goloka. Why do we not find reference to Him as such in previous yugas like satya and tretā, wherein devotees are mostly serving Śrīman Nārāyaṇa. Even when Kṛṣṇa appears, the ordinary masses don’t recognize him as Bhagavān, while everyone has the idea that Nārāyaṇa is the Lord? Is it only in Kaliyuga that people are aware of his position as SvayamBhagavān, having the opportunity to attain vraja?

Answer: In other yugas people also knew, but the number was very limited. The Bhāgavata describes different forms of Bhagavān that were worshipped in different yugas.