Only Krishna is independent; all demigods and cosmic creators are appointed agents of His unlimited energies.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: sṛjāmi tan-niyukto 'haṃ haro harati tad-vaśaḥ viśvaṃ puruṣa-rūpena paripāti triśakti-dhṛk [Cc Madhya 20.318] [Lord Brahmā said: ’I am engaged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to create. Following His orders, Lord Śiva dissolves everything. The Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu maintains all the affairs of material nature. Thus the supreme controller of the three modes of material nature is Lord Viṣṇu.’] This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in which Brahmā, the creator of this particular universe, he says that "I am engaged, I am appointed, by the Supreme Lord." So the creator and the annihilator, Śiva, they are appointed agents of the Supreme Lord.
They are not supreme. Sṛjāmi tan-niyukto 'haṃ haro harati tad-vaśaḥ. Tad-vaśaḥ means we are under the control of the Supreme Lord. Nobody is free, or independent.
Only Kṛṣṇa. Mattaḥ parataraṃ nānyat asti kiñcid dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7]. [O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.] You have this statement in the Bhagavad-gītā, Ninth Chapter, that "Nobody is greater than Him." And another version is there, na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8]: [The Supreme Lord has nothing to do. Nothing is equal to Him or greater than Him. He acts in different phases by manifesting His parts and parcels, which are all simultaneously differently situated by His unlimited, variegated potencies. Each potency acts quite naturally in sequences, providing Him full knowledge, power and pastimes.] "Nobody is equal or greater than Him." There are so many statements in the Vedic literature. So here is also another statement from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
This was spoken by Brahmā to his disciple Nārada. Nārada questioned him that "So far we know that you are the supreme, but you also sometimes meditate and worship somebody." So in that connection Brahmā explained that "We are not supreme. We are all appointed agents. Supreme is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Viśvaṃ puruṣa-rūpeṇa paripāti triśakti-dhṛk.
Viśvam, this cosmic manifestation, is being maintained by His threefold energies. Triśakti-dhṛk. Triśakti means three kinds of energies. When it is materially conceived, the three kinds of energies are the modes of goodness, the modes of passion and the modes of ignorance.
And when they are spiritually conceived, the same three kinds of energies are manifested as spiritual potency, material potency and marginal potency. So anyway, the Lord is always full with different kinds of energies, of which these three are main divisions. manvantarāvatāra ebe śuna, sanātana asaìkhya gaṇana tāìra, śunaha kāraṇa [Cc Madhya 20.319] [O Sanātana, now just hear about the incarnations associated with the reign of each Manu [manvantara-avatāras]. They are unlimited, and no one can count them. Just hear of their source.] Now Lord Caitanya has explained about...
Out of six kinds of incarnations, He has explained to you the incarnation of puruṣāvatāra, three, then līlāvatāra, then guṇāvatāra. Three kinds of incarnations are already explained. Now the remainder three kinds of incarnations, manvantarāvatāra, yugāvatāra and śaktyāveśāvatāra, He is going... Out of that three, first the manvantarāvatāra, Manu.