Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 7: “The Science of God”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter Five

Prahlada Maharaja, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu

SB7.5Summary

Prahlada Maharaja did not carry out the orders of his teachers, for he was always engaged in worshiping Lord Visnu. As described in this chapter, Hiranyakasipu tried to kill Prahlada Maharaja, even by having a snake bite him and by putting him under the feet of elephants, yet he was unsuccessful.

Hiranyakasipu’s spiritual master, Sukracarya, had two sons named Sanda and Amarka, to whom Prahlada Maharaja was entrusted for education. Although the teachers tried to educate the boy Prahlada in politics, economics and other material activities, he did not care for their instructions. Instead, he continued to be a pure devotee. Prahlada Maharaja never liked the idea of discriminating between one’s friends and enemies. Because he was spiritually inclined, he was equal toward everyone.

Once upon a time, Hiranyakasipu inquired from his son what the best thing was that he had learned from his teachers. Prahlada Maharaja replied that a man engrossed in the material consciousness of duality, thinking, “This is mine, and that belongs to my enemy,” should give up his householder life and go to the forest to worship the Supreme Lord.

When Hiranyakasipu heard from his son about devotional service, he decided that this small boy had been polluted by some friend in school. Thus he advised the teachers to take care of the boy so that he would not become a Krsna conscious devotee. However, when the teachers inquired from Prahlada Maharaja why he was going against their teachings, Prahlada Maharaja taught the teachers that the mentality of ownership is false and that he was therefore trying to become an unalloyed devotee of Lord Visnu. The teachers, being very angry at this answer, chastised and threatened the boy with many fearful conditions. They taught him to the best of their ability and then brought him before his father.

Hiranyakasipu affectionately took his son Prahlada on his lap and then inquired from him what the best thing was that he had learned from his teachers. As usual, Prahlada Maharaja began praising the nine processes of devotional service, such as sravanam and kirtanam. Thus the King of the demons, Hiranyakasipu, being extremely angry, chastised the teachers, Sanda and Amarka, for having wrongly trained Prahlada Maharaja. The so-called teachers informed the King that Prahlada Maharaja was automatically a devotee and did not listen to their instructions. When they proved themselves innocent, Hiranyakasipu inquired from Prahlada where he had learned visnu-bhakti. Prahlada Maharaja replied that those who are attached to family life do not develop Krsna consciousness, either personally or collectively. Instead, they suffer repeated birth and death in this material world and continue simply chewing the chewed. Prahlada explained that the duty of every man is to take shelter of a pure devotee and thus become eligible to understand Krsna consciousness.

Enraged at this answer, Hiranyakasipu threw Prahlada Maharaja from his lap. Since Prahlada was so treacherous that he had become a devotee of Visnu, who had killed his uncle Hiranyaksa, Hiranyakasipu asked his assistants to kill him. The assistants of Hiranyakasipu struck Prahlada with sharp weapons, threw him under the feet of elephants, subjected him to hellish conditions, threw him from the peak of a mountain and tried to kill him in thousands of other ways, but they were unsuccessful. Hiranyakasipu therefore became increasingly afraid of his son Prahlada Maharaja and arrested him. The sons of Hiranyakasipu’s spiritual master, Sukracarya, began teaching Prahlada in their own way, but Prahlada Maharaja did not accept their instructions. While the teachers were absent from the classroom, Prahlada Maharaja began to preach Krsna consciousness in the school, and by his instructions all his class friends, the sons of the demons, became devotees like him.

SB7.5.1

TEXT 1

sri-narada uvaca

paurohityaya bhagavan

vrtah kavyah kilasuraih

sandamarkau sutau tasya

daitya-raja-grhantike

SYNONYMS

sri-naradah uvaca—the great saint Narada said; paurohityaya—to work as priest; bhagavan—the most powerful; vrtah—chosen; kavyah—Sukracarya; kila—indeed; asuraih—by the demons; sanda-amarkau—Sanda and Amarka; sutau—sons; tasya—of him; daitya-raja—of the King of the demons, Hiranyakasipu; grha-antike—near the residence.

TRANSLATION

The great saint Narada Muni said: The demons, headed by Hiranyakasipu, accepted Sukracarya as their priest for ritualistic ceremonies. Sukracarya’s two sons, Sanda and Amarka, lived near Hiranyakasipu’s palace.

PURPORT

The beginning of the life story of Prahlada is recounted as follows. Sukracarya became the priest of the atheists, especially Hiranyakasipu, and thus his two sons, Sanda and Amarka, resided near Hiranyakasipu’s residence. Sukracarya should not have become the priest of Hiranyakasipu because Hiranyakasipu and his followers were all atheists. A brahmana should become the priest of a person interested in the advancement of spiritual culture. The very name Sukracarya, however, indicates a person interested in obtaining benefits for his sons and descendants, regardless of how the money comes. A real brahmana would not become a priest for atheistic men.

SB7.5.2

TEXT 2

tau rajna prapitam balam

prahladam naya-kovidam

pathayam asatuh pathyan

anyams casura-balakan

SYNONYMS

tau—those two (Sanda and Amarka); rajna—by the King; prapitam—sent; balam—the boy; prahladam—named Prahlada; naya-kovidam—who was aware of moral principles; pathayam asatuh—instructed; pathyan—books of material knowledge; anyan—other; ca—also; asura-balakan—sons of the asuras.

TRANSLATION

Prahlada Maharaja was already educated in devotional life, but when his father sent him to those two sons of Sukracarya to be educated, they accepted him at their school along with the other sons of the asuras.

SB7.5.3

TEXT 3

yat tatra guruna proktam

susruve ’nupapatha ca

na sadhu manasa mene

sva-parasad-grahasrayam

SYNONYMS

yat—which; tatra—there (in the school); guruna—by the teachers; proktam—instructed; susruve—heard; anupapatha—recited; ca—and; na—not; sadhu—good; manasa—by the mind; mene—considered; sva—of one’s own; para—and of others; asat-graha—by the bad philosophy; asrayam—which was supported.

TRANSLATION

Prahlada certainly heard and recited the topics of politics and economics taught by the teachers, but he understood that political philosophy involves considering someone a friend and someone else an enemy, and thus he did not like it.

PURPORT

Politics involves accepting one group of men as enemies and another group as friends. Everything in politics is based on this philosophy, and the entire world, especially at the present, is engrossed in it. The public is concerned with friendly countries and friendly groups or enemy countries and enemy groups, but as stated in Bhagavad-gita, a learned person does not make distinctions between enemies and friends. Devotees, especially, do not create friends and enemies. A devotee sees that every living being is part and parcel of Krsna (mamaivamso jiva-bhutah [15.7]). Therefore a devotee treats friends and enemies equally by trying to educate them both in Krsna consciousness. Of course, atheistic men do not follow the instructions of pure devotees, but instead consider a devotee their enemy. A devotee, however, never creates a situation of friendship and enmity. Although Prahlada Maharaja was obliged to hear the instructions of Sanda and Amarka, he did not like the philosophy of friends and enemies, which forms the basis of politics. He was not interested in this philosophy.

SB7.5.4

TEXT 4

ekadasura-rat putram

ankam aropya pandava

papraccha kathyatam vatsa

manyate sadhu yad bhavan

SYNONYMS

ekada—once upon a time; asura-rat—the Emperor of the asuras; putram—his son; ankam—on the lap; aropya—placing; pandava—O Maharaja Yudhisthira; papraccha—inquired; kathyatam—let it be told; vatsa—my dear son; manyate—considers; sadhu—the best; yat—that which; bhavan—your good self.

TRANSLATION

My dear King Yudhisthira, once upon a time the King of the demons, Hiranyakasipu, took his son Prahlada on his lap and very affectionately inquired: My dear son, please let me know what you think is the best of all the subjects you have studied from your teachers.

PURPORT

Hiranyakasipu did not ask his young son anything that would be very difficult for him to answer; instead, he gave the boy a chance to speak plainly about whatever he thought might be best. Prahlada Maharaja, of course, being a perfect devotee, knew everything and could say what the best part of life is. In the Vedas it is said, yasmin vijnate samam evam vijnatam bhavati: if one properly understands God, he can understand any subject matter very nicely. Sometimes we have to challenge big scientists and philosophers, but by the grace of Krsna we emerge successful. It is impossible, practically speaking, for ordinary men to challenge scientists or philosophers concerning genuine knowledge, but a devotee can challenge them because the best of everything is known to a devotee by the grace of Krsna. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (10.11):

tesam evanukampartham
aham ajnana-jam tamah
nasayamy atma-bhava-stho
jnana-dipena bhasvata

Krsna, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart as the Supersoul, dissipates all the ignorance from the heart of a devotee. As a special favor, He enlightens the devotee with all knowledge by putting before him the torch of light. Prahlada Maharaja, therefore, knew the best of knowledge, and when his father inquired from him, Prahlada gave him that knowledge. Prahlada Maharaja was able to solve the most difficult parts of problems because of his advanced Krsna consciousness. Therefore he replied as follows.

SB7.5.5

TEXT 5

sri-prahlada uvaca

tat sadhu manye ’sura-varya dehinam

sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat

hitvatma-patam grham andha-kupam

vanam gato yad dharim asrayeta

SYNONYMS

sri-prahladah uvaca—Prahlada Maharaja replied; tat—that; sadhu—very good, or the best part of life; manye—I think; asura-varya—O King of the asuras; dehinam—of persons who have accepted the material body; sada—always; samudvigna—full of anxieties; dhiyam—whose intelligence; asat-grahat—because of accepting the temporary body or bodily relations as real (thinking “I am this body, and everything belonging to this body is mine”); hitva—giving up; atma-patam—the place where spiritual culture or self-realization is stopped; grham—the bodily concept of life, or household life; andha-kupam—which is nothing but a blind well (where there is no water but one nonetheless searches for water); vanam—to the forest; gatah—going; yat—which; harim—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; asrayeta—may take shelter of.

TRANSLATION

Prahlada Maharaja replied: O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vrndavana, where only Krsna consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

Hiranyakasipu thought that Prahlada, being nothing but a small boy with no actual experience, might reply with something pleasing but nothing practical. Prahlada Maharaja, however, being an exalted devotee, had acquired all the qualities of education.

yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah
harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna
manorathenasati dhavato bahih

“One who has unflinching devotional faith in Krsna consistently manifests all the good qualities of Krsna and the demigods. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord.” (Bhag. 5.18.12) So-called educated philosophers and scientists who are simply on the mental platform cannot distinguish between what is actually sat, eternal, and what is asat, temporary. The Vedic injunction is asato ma jyotir gama: everyone should give up the platform of temporary existence and approach the eternal platform. The soul is eternal, and topics concerning the eternal soul are actually knowledge. Elsewhere it is said, apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu grha-medhinam: [SB 2.1.2] those who are attached to the bodily conception of life and who thus stick to life as a grhastha, or householder, on the platform of material sense enjoyment, cannot see the welfare of the eternal soul. Prahlada Maharaja confirmed this by saying that if one wants success in life, he should immediately understand from the right sources what his self-interest is and how he should mold his life in spiritual consciousness. One should understand himself to be part and parcel of Krsna and thus completely take shelter of His lotus feet for guaranteed spiritual success. Everyone in the material world is in the bodily conception, struggling hard for existence, life after life. Prahlada Maharaja therefore recommended that to stop this material condition of repeated birth and death, one should go to the forest (vana).

In the varnasrama system, one first becomes a brahmacari, then a grhastha, a vanaprastha and finally a sannyasi. Going to the forest means accepting vanaprastha life, which is between grhastha life and sannyasa. As confirmed in the Visnu Purana (3.8.9), varnasramacaravata purusena parah puman visnur aradhyate: by accepting the institution of varna and asrama, one can very easily elevate himself to the platform of worshiping Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise, if one remains in the bodily conception, one must rot within this material world, and his life will be a failure. Society must have divisions of brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra, and for spiritual advancement one must gradually develop as a brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasi. Prahlada Maharaja recommended that his father accept vanaprastha life because as a grhastha he was becoming increasingly demoniac due to bodily attachment. Prahlada recommended to his father that accepting vanaprastha life would be better than going deeper and deeper into grham andha-kupam, the blind well of life as a grhastha. In our Krsna consciousness movement we therefore invite all the elderly persons of the world to come to Vrndavana and stay there in retired life, making advancement in spiritual consciousness, Krsna consciousness.

SB7.5.6

TEXT 6

sri-narada uvaca

srutva putra-giro daityah

para-paksa-samahitah

jahasa buddhir balanam

bhidyate para-buddhibhih

SYNONYMS

sri-naradah uvaca—Narada Muni said; srutva—hearing; putra-girah—the instructive words of his son; daityah—Hiranyakasipu; para-paksa—on the side of the enemy; samahitah—full of faith; jahasa—laughed; buddhih—the intelligence; balanam—of small boys; bhidyate—is polluted; para-buddhibhih—by instructions from the enemy’s camp.

TRANSLATION

Narada Muni continued: When Prahlada Maharaja spoke about the path of self-realization in devotional service, thus being faithful to the camp of his father’s enemies, Hiranyakasipu, the King of the demons, heard Prahlada’s words and he laughingly said, “Thus is the intelligence of children spoiled by the words of the enemy.”

PURPORT

Hiranyakasipu, being a demon, would always consider Lord Visnu and His devotees to be his enemies. Therefore the word para-paksa (“on the side of the enemy”) is used here. Hiranyakasipu never agreed with the words of Visnu, or Krsna. Rather, he was angered by the intelligence of a Vaisnava. Lord Visnu, Lord Krsna, says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]—“Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me”—but demons like Hiranyakasipu never agree to do this. Therefore Krsna says:

na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayaparhrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.” (Bg. 7.15) The asura-bhava, the atheistic nature, is directly represented by Hiranyakasipu. Such persons, being mudha and naradhama—fools and rascals, the lowest of men—would never accept Visnu as the Supreme and surrender to Him. Hiranyakasipu naturally became increasingly angry that his son Prahlada was being influenced by the camp of the enemies. He therefore asked that saintly persons like Narada not be allowed within the residential quarters of his son, for otherwise Prahlada would be further spoiled by Vaisnava instructions.

SB7.5.7

TEXT 7

samyag vidharyatam balo

guru-gehe dvi-jatibhih

visnu-paksaih praticchannair

na bhidyetasya dhir yatha

SYNONYMS

samyak—completely; vidharyatam—let him be protected; balah—this boy of tender age; guru-gehe—in the guru-kula, the place where children are sent to be instructed by the guru; dvi-jatibhih—by brahmanas; visnu-paksaih—who are on the side of Visnu; praticchannaih—disguised in different dresses; na bhidyeta—may not be influenced; asya—of him; dhih—the intelligence; yatha—so that.

TRANSLATION

Hiranyakasipu advised his assistants: My dear demons, give complete protection to this boy at the guru-kula where he is instructed, so that his intelligence will not be further influenced by Vaisnavas who may go there in disguise.

PURPORT

In our Krsna consciousness movement, the tactic of dressing oneself like an ordinary karmi is necessary because everyone in the demoniac kingdom is against the Vaisnava teachings. Krsna consciousness is not at all to the liking of the demons of the present age. As soon as they see a Vaisnava dressed in saffron garments with beads on his neck and tilaka on his forehead, they are immediately irritated. They criticize the Vaisnavas by sarcastically saying Hare Krsna, and some people also chant Hare Krsna sincerely. In either case, since Hare Krsna is absolute, whether one chants it jokingly or sincerely, it will have its effect. The Vaisnavas are pleased when the demons chant Hare Krsna because this shows that the Hare Krsna movement is taking ground. The greater demons, like Hiranyakasipu, are always prepared to chastise the Vaisnavas, and they try to make arrangements so that Vaisnavas will not come to sell their books and preach Krsna consciousness. Thus what was done by Hiranyakasipu long, long ago is still being done. That is the way of materialistic life. Demons or materialists do not at all like the advancement of Krsna consciousness, and they try to hinder it in many ways. Yet the preachers of Krsna consciousness must go forward—in their Vaisnava dress or any other dress—for the purpose of preaching. Canakya Pandita says that if an honest person deals with a great cheater, it is necessary for him to become a cheater also, not for the purpose of cheating but to make his preaching successful.

SB7.5.8

TEXT 8

grham anitam ahuya

prahradam daitya-yajakah

prasasya slaksnaya vaca

samaprcchanta samabhih

SYNONYMS

grham—to the place of the teachers (Sanda and Amarka); anitam—brought; ahuya—calling; prahradam—Prahlada; daitya-yajakah—the priests of the demon Hiranyakasipu; prasasya—by pacifying; slaksnaya—with a very mild; vaca—voice; samaprcchanta—they questioned; samabhih—by very agreeable words.

TRANSLATION

When Hiranyakasipu’s servants brought the boy Prahlada back to the guru-kula [the place where the brahmanas taught the boys], the priests of the demons, Sanda and Amarka, pacified him. With very mild voices and affectionate words, they inquired from him as follows.

PURPORT

Sanda and Amarka, the priests of the demons, were eager to know from Prahlada Maharaja who the Vaisnavas were that came to instruct him in Krsna consciousness. Their purpose was to discover the names of these Vaisnavas. In the beginning they did not threaten the boy because when threatened he might not identify the real culprits. Therefore they very mildly and peacefully inquired as follows.

SB7.5.9

TEXT 9

vatsa prahrada bhadram te

satyam kathaya ma mrsa

balan ati kutas tubhyam

esa buddhi-viparyayah

SYNONYMS

vatsa—O dear son; prahrada—Prahlada; bhadram te—all blessings and good fortune unto you; satyam—the truth; kathaya—speak; ma—do not; mrsa—a lie; balan ati—passing over the other demon boys; kutah—from where; tubhyam—unto you; esah—this; buddhi—of the intelligence; viparyayah—pollution.

TRANSLATION

Dear son Prahlada, all peace and good fortune unto you. Kindly do not speak lies; just reply with the truth. These boys you see are not like you, for they do not speak in a deviant way. How have you learned these instructions? How has your intelligence been spoiled in this way?

PURPORT

Prahlada Maharaja was still a boy, and therefore his teachers thought that if they pacified the little boy he would immediately speak the truth, revealing the secret of how the Vaisnavas came there to teach him lessons in devotional service. It was surprising, of course, that in the same school the other boys of the Daityas were not polluted; only Prahlada Maharaja was supposedly polluted by the instructions of the Vaisnavas. The main duty of the teachers was to inquire who those Vaisnavas were that came to teach Prahlada and spoil his intelligence.

SB7.5.10

TEXT 10

buddhi-bhedah para-krta

utaho te svato ’bhavat

bhanyatam srotu-kamanam

gurunam kula-nandana

SYNONYMS

buddhi-bhedah—pollution of the intelligence; para-krtah—done by the enemies; utaho—or; te—of you; svatah—by yourself; abhavat—was; bhanyatam—let it be told; srotu-kamanam—to us, who are very eager to hear about it; gurunam—all your teachers; kula-nandana—O best of your family.

TRANSLATION

O best of your family, has this pollution of your intelligence been brought about by you or by the enemies? We are all your teachers and are very eager to hear about this. Please tell us the truth.

PURPORT

Prahlada Maharaja’s teachers were astonished that a small boy could speak such exalted Vaisnava philosophy. Therefore they inquired about the Vaisnavas who stealthily taught it to him, in order that these Vaisnavas might be arrested and killed in the presence of Prahlada’s father, Hiranyakasipu.

SB7.5.11

TEXT 11

sri-prahrada uvaca

parah svas cety asad-grahah

pumsam yan-mayaya krtah

vimohita-dhiyam drstas

tasmai bhagavate namah

SYNONYMS

sri-prahradah uvaca—Prahlada Maharaja replied; parah—an enemy; svah—a kinsman or friend; ca—also; iti—thus; asat-grahah—material conception of life; pumsam—of persons; yat—of whom; mayaya—by the external energy; krtah—created; vimohita—bewildered; dhiyam—of those whose intelligence; drstah—practically experienced; tasmai—unto Him; bhagavate—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; namah—my respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

Prahlada Maharaja replied: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose external energy has created the distinctions of “my friend” and “my enemy” by deluding the intelligence of men. Indeed, I am now actually experiencing this, although I have previously heard of it from authoritative sources.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (5.18):

vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva svapake ca
panditah sama-darsinah

“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].” panditah, those who are actually learned—the equipoised, advanced devotees who have full knowledge of everything—do not see any living entity as an enemy or friend. Instead, with broader vision, they see that everyone is part of Krsna, as confirmed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’ [Cc. Madhya 20.108]). Every living entity, being part of the Supreme Lord, is meant to serve the Lord, just as every part of the body is meant to serve the whole body.

As servants of the Supreme Lord, all living entities are one, but a Vaisnava, because of his natural humility, addresses every other living entity as prabhu. A Vaisnava sees other servants to be so advanced that he has much to learn from them. Thus he accepts all other devotees of the Lord as prabhus, masters. Although everyone is a servant of the Lord, one Vaisnava servant, because of humility, sees another servant as his master. Understanding of the master begins from understanding of the spiritual master.

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi **

“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krsna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.”

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam **

“The spiritual master is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and followed by all authorities. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is a bona fide representative of Sri Hari [Krsna].” The spiritual master, the servant of God, is engaged in the most confidential service of the Lord, namely delivering all the conditioned souls from the clutches of maya, in which one thinks, “This person is my enemy, and that one is my friend.” Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the friend of all living entities, and all living entities are eternal servants of the Supreme Lord. Oneness is possible through this understanding, not through artificially thinking that every one of us is God or equal to God. The true understanding is that God is the supreme master and that all of us are servants of the Supreme Lord and are therefore on the same platform. This had already been taught to Prahlada Maharaja by his spiritual master, Narada, but Prahlada was nonetheless surprised by how a bewildered soul thinks one person his enemy and another his friend.

As long as one adheres to the philosophy of duality, thinking one person a friend and another an enemy, he should be understood to be in the clutches of maya. The Mayavadi philosopher who thinks that all living entities are God and are therefore one is also mistaken. No one is equal to God. The servant cannot be equal to the master. According to the Vaisnava philosophy, the master is one, and the servants are also one, but the distinction between the master and servant must continue even in the liberated stage. In the conditioned stage we think that some living beings are our friends whereas others are enemies, and thus we are in duality. In the liberated stage, however, the conception is that God is the master and that all living entities, being servants of God, are one.

SB7.5.12

TEXT 12

sa yadanuvratah pumsam

pasu-buddhir vibhidyate

anya esa tathanyo ’ham

iti bheda-gatasati

SYNONYMS

sah—that Supreme Personality of Godhead; yada—when; anuvratah—favorable or pleased; pumsam—of the conditioned souls; pasu-buddhih—the animalistic conception of life (“I am the Supreme, and everyone is God”); vibhidyate—is destroyed; anyah—another; esah—this; tatha—as well as; anyah—another; aham—I; iti—thus; bheda—distinction; gata—having; asati—which is disastrous.

TRANSLATION

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with the living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a pandita and does not make distinctions between enemies, friends and himself. Intelligently, he then thinks, “Every one of us is an eternal servant of God, and therefore we are not different from one another.”

PURPORT

When Prahlada Maharaja’s teachers and demoniac father asked him how his intelligence had been polluted, Prahlada Maharaja said, “As far as I am concerned, my intelligence has not been polluted. Rather, by the grace of my spiritual master and by the grace of my Lord, Krsna, I have now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend. We are all actually eternal servants of Krsna, but under the influence of the external energy we think that we are separately situated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as friends and enemies of one another. This mistaken idea has now been corrected, and therefore, unlike ordinary human beings, I no longer think that I am God and that others are my friends and enemies. Now I am rightly thinking that everyone is an eternal servant of God and that our duty is to serve the supreme master, for then we shall stand on the platform of oneness as servants.”

Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaisnavas say that since everyone is a servant of the Lord, everyone is on the same platform. Therefore a Vaisnava treats other living entities neither as friends nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Krsna consciousness, teaching everyone that we are all one as servants of the Supreme Lord but are uselessly wasting our valuable lives by creating nations, communities and other groups of friends and enemies. Everyone should come to the platform of Krsna consciousness and thus feel oneness as a servant of the Lord. Although there are 8,400,000 species of life, a Vaisnava feels this oneness. The Isopanisad advises, ekatvam anupasyatah. A devotee should see the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be situated in everyone’s heart and should also see every living entity as an eternal servant of the Lord. This vision is called ekatvam, oneness. Although there is a relationship of master and servant, both master and servant are one because of their spiritual identity. This is also ekatvam. Thus the conception of ekatvam for the Vaisnava is different from that of the Mayavadi.

Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada Maharaja how he had become antagonistic to his family. When a family member is killed by an enemy, all the members of the family would naturally be inimical to the murderer, but Hiranyakasipu saw that Prahlada had become friendly with the murderer. Therefore he asked, “Who has created this kind of intelligence in you? Have you developed this consciousness by yourself? Since you are a small boy, someone must have induced you to think this way.” Prahlada Maharaja wanted to reply that an attitude favorable toward Visnu can develop only when the Lord is favorable (sa yadanuvratah). As stated in Bhagavad-gita, Krsna is the friend of everyone (suhrdam sama-bhutanam jnatva mam santim rcchati). The Lord is never an enemy to any of the millions of living entities, but is always a friend to everyone. This is true understanding. If one thinks that the Lord is an enemy, his intelligence is pasu-buddhi, the intelligence of an animal. He falsely thinks, “I am different from my enemy, and my enemy is different from me. The enemy has done this, and therefore my duty is to kill him.” This misconception is described in this verse as bheda-gatasati. The actual fact is that everyone is a servant of the Lord, as confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’ [Cc. Madhya 20.108]). As servants of the Lord, we are one, and there can be no questions of enmity or friendship. If one actually understands that every one of us is a servant of the Lord, where is the question of enemy or friend?

Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuntha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (15.15), sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca: the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant. However, the Lord gives different dictation to the nondevotees and devotees. The nondevotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord’s service, life after life, and are punished by the laws of nature. But when a devotee very sincerely wants to render service to the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (10.10):

tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Everyone is actually a servant, not an enemy or friend, and everyone is working under different directions from the Lord, who directs each living entity according to his mentality.

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