Answer
Krishna does not merely respect the free will of one rebellious soul—He must equally respect the free will of all living entities.
The primary desire of the rebellious soul is to become the controller and enjoyer, just as the Lord is the supreme controller in the spiritual world. However, whereas Krishna controls out of pure love, the conditioned soul tries to imitate Him with limited capacity, resulting in exploitation rather than loving leadership.
Imagine a father with ten children. If each child insists, "I want to control the other nine," how can the father satisfy everyone's request? If he favors one child, the other nine will rightly complain that he has acted unfairly.
Therefore, the only fair solution is to establish impartial laws under which everyone experiences the consequences of their own actions.
This is the basis of the law of karma.
The law of karma is not evidence of God's cruelty. Rather, it arises from His perfect fairness and equality. The Lord says, in effect:
"As you sow, so shall you reap."
The material world provides the opportunity for each living entity to pursue independent desires while experiencing the natural results of those choices.
The material world is not a punishment factory or a reform school where everyone is forced to return to Godhead. Krishna does not compel anyone to come back.
If someone wishes to remain in the material world indefinitely, Krishna allows that choice. His desire is simply that every living entity retains genuine freedom.
