The devotees are always anxious to see God, so God comes down to give relief to the devotee, being present before them. Paritranaya sadhunam. Another: vinasaya ca duskrtam, to annihilate the demons. So there…, for annihilating, for killing, you require weapons. Krsna has His weapon, sudarsana-cakra. Lord Ramacandra has His weapon, bow and arrow. What is the weapon of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? Sangopangastra-parsadam. His associates are His weapons. This is astra. Because in the Kali-yuga they are so fallen, even they are demons, they are third-class, fourth-class demons. [laughter]

[laughs] So they need not be killed. They are already killed. Their mode of life, their atmosphere, they are always dead. Just like we see so many demons. So what is there to kill them? They are already killed. They have no life. So this killing process in Kali-yuga is to kill their demonic propensities. And how to kill that demonic propensities? By spreading Hare Krsna movement. This is astra. Otherwise to kill them is not… By life, it is not difficult. One slap is sufficient. You don’t require other weapon. But real Krsna comes to kill or to give protection — because He is Absolute, it is the same thing. If He is killing some demons, He is giving him protection. He stops his demonic activities further, to implicate himself in more trouble. Therefore when Krsna kills one demon, that means He saves him. He saves him. The Absolute; this is Absolute. Either He protects His devotee or kills the demon, the result is the same. Therefore He is called Absolute.

Srila Prabhupada, Talk on Bhagavad-gita 7.2 – March 10, 1975, London