Why is the world created?

One of our readers has raised the following question:
: Bertrand russell in one of his essays consistently questions the reason for : God to create the world? Further he suggests that even if God did create the : world and everything in the world is according to the Divine Plan, how can one  : justify a five year old child dying of meningitis? Is there any argument for : this available in Gita or upanishads?
According to the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and the Upanishads, the reason for the creation of the material world is to accomodate the desires of the living entities. The living entities are part and parcel of Krishna and are eternally individuals. Their constitutional position, as part, is to engage in the service of the whole. But because they are of the same quality of God, they also possess the lording tendency, the controlling tendency. But whereas the Lord has unlimited controlling capacity, the living entities (being only a small particles) do not have the capacity to control. For this reason the Lord creates the material world, to give those living entities the opportunity to control, which they otherwise would not have been able to do. Since God is all merciful, and since the jiva wants to control, the Lord allows for the jivas to execute their free will by interacting with and controlling matter. When the living entity comes in contact with the prakriti (the three modes of material nature), the Lord interacts with nature through the time factor, creating past, present, and future (and hence activities). As one performs an activity, the time gradually clicks forward, and that activity which is in the present is shifted back to the past in the form of a seed reaction. As the time clicks again, another reaction is shifted back into the position of the past (in the form of a seed reaction), and that seed reaction that was previously present in the past is shifted back again cycling to the future. As the time continues to click, that reaction which was moved to the future, is again brought to the position of present, and comes out in the form of a full blossomed reaction. In this way if one performs good or bad, the reaction to the activity is cycled around due to the influence of the time factor, and it eventually returns to present, and causes further activities. While the living entity is engaging the result of his previous activities, the time factor continues to click, sending more activities into the past as seed reactions. So just to get one's reaction (good or bad) one has to perform more activity, which means even more reactions. In this way one is bound by his actions and reactions, this is samsara. Thus the situation of a five year old child having some disease is due to the activities the child engaged in in a previous life. The primary point we must understand (which is not being understood by Bertrand Russell) is that we are not these bodies, we are the eternal spirit soul. When the body dies, we do not die, and when the body is born, we are not born. So it is not that the living entity came into existence only when the child was born. That living entity has engaged in unlimited activities, and unlimited lives previously (unlimited indicating a number that we can not know). Based on all those previous activities, the living entity is put into the body of a child and forced to suffer or enjoy accordingly. It is only when the living entity becomes free from the material bondage, the association with matter, that his true nature will again be exhibited. The jivas are eternally servants of Krishna, therefore their constitutional position is to engage in the service of Krishna. This constitutional position of the fragmental living entity is confirmed throughout the Bhagavad-gita:
man-manaa bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaajI maam namaskuru maam evaishyasi satyam te pratijaane priyo 'si me
"Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

sarva-dharmaan parityajya
maam ekam saraNam vraja
aham tvAm sarva paapebhyo
mokshayishyaami maa sucaH
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I will deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."

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