Question: Since Lord Krishna is the actual beneficiary of our results, why is Krishna known to be a renounced person?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Krishna is known as Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word Bhagavan is defined in the Visnu Purana by Parasara Muni as one who is full in all six opulences— full strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation.
In BG 9.9–10, Krsna mentions that the material manifestation is created and annihilated merely by His Supreme will. In the purport Srila Prabhupada explains that the Supreme Lord, although aloof from all the activities of the material world, nonetheless remains the universal supreme director. Similarly, although His position is the enjoyer or beneficiary of all Vedic sacrifices, He is ever detached, since He is already full within Himself. The acts of sacrifice actually benefit the observer of dharma; they become cleansed of the contamination of material contact! How? By contacting Krishna, the Supreme Pure, through their act of sacrifice.
Also in the Purport of BG 18.78, Srila Prabhupada states Krsna’s acceptance of the post of charioteer for Arjuna was an exhibition of Krsna’s opulence of renunciation. Although Krsna is full of all six opulences, at the same time He exhibits the highest renunciation by sometimes taking a subordinate position to His dearmost devotees, or by sometimes detaching Himself from his loving associates in Vrndavan.
