Canto Seven / CHAPTER TEN

Prahlāda, the Best Among Exalted Devotees

Material achievements are not the ultimate goal of devotional service. The ultimate goal of devotional service is love of Godhead. Therefore although Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja, Ambarīsha Mahārāja, Yudhishthira Mahārāja and many devotee kings were materially very opulent, they accepted their material opulence in the service of the Lord, not for their personal sense gratification. Of course, possessing material opulence is always fearful because under the influence of material opulence one may be misdirected from devotional service. Nonetheless, a pure devotee (anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam) is never misdirected by material opulence. On the contrary, whatever he possesses he engages one hundred percent in the service of the Lord. When one is allured by material possessions, they are considered to be given by māyā, but when one uses material possessions fully for service, they are considered God’s gifts, or facilities offered by Krishna for enhancing one’s devotional service.

Materialistic life means attachment to the body and everything in relationship to the body. This attachment is based on lusty desires for sense gratification, specifically sexual enjoyment. Kāmais tais tair hrita-jñānāh: when one is too attached to material enjoyment, he is bereft of all knowledge (hrita- jñānāh). As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, those who are attached to material enjoyment are mostly inclined to worship the demigods to procure various material opulences. They are especially attached to worship of the goddess Durgā and Lord Śiva because this transcendental couple can offer their devotees all material opulence. Prahlāda Mahārāja, however, was detached from all material enjoyment. He therefore took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nrisimhadeva, and not the feet of any demigod. It is to be understood that if one really wants release from this material world, from the threefold miseries and from janma-mrityu-jarā-vyādhi (birth, death, old age and disease), one must take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for without the Supreme Personality of Godhead one cannot get release from materialistic life. Atheistic men are very much attached to material enjoyment. Therefore if they get some opportunity to achieve more and more material enjoyment, they take it. Prahlāda Mahārāja, however, was very careful in this regard. Although born of a materialistic father, because he was a devotee he had no material desires (anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam).

Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu has given considerable discussion about nitya-siddha and sādhana-siddha devotees. Nitya-siddha devotees come from Vaikuntha to this material world to teach, by their personal example, how to become a devotee. The living entities in this material world can take lessons from such nitya-siddha devotees and thus become inclined to return home, back to Godhead. A nitya-siddha devotee comes from Vaikuntha upon the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and shows by his example how to become a pure devotee (anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam). In spite of coming to this material world, the nitya-siddha devotee is never attracted by the allurements of material enjoyment. A perfect example is Prahlāda Mahārāja, who was a nitya-siddha, a mahā-bhāgavata devotee. Although Prahlāda was born in the family of Hiranyakaśipu, an atheist, he was never attached to any kind of materialistic enjoyment. Desiring to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee, the Lord tried to induce Prahlāda Mahārāja to take material benedictions, but Prahlāda Mahārāja did not accept them. On the contrary, by his personal example he showed the symptoms of a pure devotee. In other words, the Lord Himself has no desire to send His pure devotee to this material world, nor does a devotee have any material purpose in coming. When the Lord Himself appears as an incarnation within this material world, He is not allured by the material atmosphere, and He has nothing to do with material activity, yet by His example He teaches the common man how to become a devotee. Similarly, a devotee who comes here in accordance with the order of the Supreme Lord shows by his personal behavior how to become a pure devotee. A pure devotee, therefore, is a practical example for all living entities, including Lord Brahmā.

It is sometimes found that one comes to a devotee or a temple of the Lord just to get some material benefit. Such a person is described here as a mercantile man. Bhagavad-gītā speaks of ārto jijñāsur arthārthī. The word ārta refers to one who is physically distressed, and arthārthī refers to one in need of money. Such persons are forced to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead for mitigation of their distress or to get some money by the benediction of the Lord. They have been described as sukritī, pious, because in their distress or need for money they have approached the Supreme Lord. Unless one is pious, one cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, although a pious man may receive some material benefit, one who is concerned with material benefits cannot be a pure devotee. When a pure devotee receives material opulences, this is not because of his pious activity but for the service of the Lord. When one engages in devotional service, one is automatically pious. Therefore, a pure devotee is anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam. He has no desire for material profit, nor does the Lord induce him to try to profit materially. When a devotee needs something, the Supreme Personality of Godhead supplies it (yoga-kshemam vahāmy aham).

Sometimes materialists go to a temple to offer flowers and fruit to the Lord because they have learned from Bhagavad-gītā that if a devotee offers some flowers and fruits, the Lord accepts them. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.26) the Lord says:

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” Thus a man with a mercantile mentality thinks that if he can get some material benefit, like a large amount of money, simply by offering a little fruit and flower, this is good business. Such persons are not accepted as pure devotees. Because their desires are not purified, they are still mercantile men, even though they go to temples to make a show of being devotees. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam: only when one is fully freed from material desires can one be purified, and only in that purified state can one serve the Lord. Hrishīkena hrishīkeśa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate. This is the pure devotional platform.

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20), kāmais tais tair hrita-jñānāh prapadyante ’nya-devatāh. “Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods.” A demigod cannot become master, for the real master is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The demigods, to keep their prestigious positions, bestow upon their worshipers whatever benedictions the worshipers want. For example, once it was found that an asura took a benediction from Lord Śiva by which the asura would be able to kill someone simply by placing his hands on that person’s head. Such benedictions are possible to receive from the demigods. If one worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, the Lord will never offer him such condemned benedictions. On the contrary, it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.88.8), yasyāham anugrihnāmi harishye tad-dhanam śanaih. If one is too materialistic but at the same time wants to be a servant of the Supreme Lord, the Lord, because of His supreme compassion for the devotee, takes away all his material opulences and obliges him to be a pure devotee of the Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja distinguishes between the pure devotee and the pure master. The Lord is the pure master, the supreme master, whereas an unalloyed devotee with no material motives is the pure servant. One who has materialistic motivations cannot become a servant, and one who unnecessarily bestows benedictions upon his servant to keep his own prestigious position is not a real master.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — krishnera ‘nitya-dāsa’: every living being is eternally a servant of the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29), bhoktāram yajña-tapasām sarva-loka-maheśvaram: “I am the proprietor of all planets, and I am the supreme enjoyer.” This is the natural position of the Lord, and the natural position of the living being is to surrender unto Him (sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaranam vraja). If this relationship continues, then real happiness exists eternally between the master and servant. Unfortunately, when this eternal relationship is disturbed, the living entity wants to become separately happy and thinks that the master is his order supplier. In this way there cannot be happiness. Nor should the master cater to the desires of the servant. If he does, he is not the real master. The real master commands, “You must do this,” and the real servant immediately obeys the order. Unless this relationship between the Supreme Lord and the subordinate living entity is established, there can be no real happiness. The living entity is āśraya, always subordinate, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is vishaya, the supreme objective, the goal of life. Unfortunate persons trapped in this material world do not know this. Na te viduh svārtha-gatim hi vishnum: illusioned by the material energy, everyone in this material world is unaware that the only aim of life is to approach Lord Vishnu.

In the Padma Purāna Lord Śiva explains to his wife, Parvatī, the goddess Durgā, that the highest goal of life is to satisfy Lord Vishnu, who can be satisfied only when His servant is satisfied. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore teaches, gopī-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsah. One must become a servant of the servant. Prahlāda Mahārāja also prayed to Lord Nrisimhadeva that he might be engaged as the servant of the Lord’s servant. This is the prescribed method of devotional service. As soon as a devotee wants the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be his order supplier, the Lord immediately refuses to become the master of such a motivated devotee. In Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) the Lord says, ye yathā mām prapadyante tāms tathaiva bhajāmy aham. “As one surrenders unto Me, I reward him accordingly.” Materialistic persons are generally inclined to material profits. As long as one continues in such an adulterated position, he does not receive the benefit of returning home, back to Godhead.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught us how to pray for benedictions from the Lord. He said:

“O my Lord, I do not want from You any amount of wealth, nor many followers, nor a beautiful wife, for these are all materialistic desires. But if I have to ask You for any benediction, I pray that in whatever forms of life I may take my birth, under any circumstances, I will not be bereft of Your transcendental devotional service.” Devotees are always on the positive platform, in contrast to the Māyāvādīs, who want to make everything impersonal or void. One cannot remain void (śūnyavādī); rather, one must possess something. Therefore, the devotee, on the positive side, wants to possess something, and this possession is very nicely described by Prahlāda Mahārāja, who says, “If I must take some benediction from You, I pray that within the core of my heart there may be no material desires.” The desire to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not at all material.

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, kāmam hrid-rogam. Materialistic life means that one is afflicted by a formidable disease called lusty desire. Liberation means freedom from lusty desires because it is only due to such desires that one must accept repeated birth and death. As long as one’s lusty desires are unfulfilled, one must take birth after birth to fulfill them. Because of material desires, therefore, one performs various types of activities and receives various types of bodies with which to try to fulfill desires that are never satisfied. The only remedy is to take to devotional service, which begins when one is free from all material desires. Anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam. Anya-abhilāshitā means “material desire,” and śūnyam means “free from.” The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi. Unalloyed devotion to the service of the Lord is the only spiritual desire. To fulfill this spiritual desire, however, one must be free from all material desires. Desirelessness means freedom from material desires. This is described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as anyābhilāshitā-śūnyam. As soon as one has material desires, one loses his spiritual identity. Then all the paraphernalia of one’s life, including one’s senses, body, religion, patience and intelligence, are deviated from one’s original Krishna consciousness. As soon as one has material desires, one cannot properly use his senses, intelligence, mind and so on for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Māyāvādī philosophers want to become impersonal, senseless and mindless, but that is not possible. The living entity must be living, always existing with desires, ambitions and so on. These should be purified, however, so that one can desire spiritually and be spiritually ambitious, without material contamination. In every living entity these propensities exist because he is a living entity. When materially contaminated, however, one is put into the hands of material misery (janma-mrityu-jarā-vyādhi). If one wants to stop repeated birth and death, one must take to the devotional service of the Lord.

“Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one’s senses are purified.”

Atheistic men sometimes criticize a devotee by saying, “If you do not want to take any benediction from the Lord and if the servant of the Lord is as opulent as the Lord Himself, why do you ask for the benediction of being engaged as the Lord’s servant?” Śrīdhara Svāmī comments, bhagavattvāya bhagavat-samān aiśvaryāya. Bhagavattva, becoming as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, does not mean becoming one with Him or equal to Him, although in the spiritual world the servant is equally as opulent as the master. The servant of the Lord is engaged in the service of the Lord as a servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover, all of whom are equally as opulent as the Lord. This is acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. The master and servant are different yet equal in opulence. This is the meaning of simultaneous difference from the Supreme Lord and oneness with Him.

In the previous verse Prahlāda Mahārāja has explained that a devotee can achieve the platform of bhagavattva, being as good as the Supreme Person, but this does not mean that the devotee loses his position as a servant. A pure servant of the Lord, although as opulent as the Lord, is still meant to offer respectful obeisances to the Lord in service. Prahlāda Mahārāja was engaged in pacifying the Lord, and therefore he did not consider himself equal to the Lord. He defined his position as a servant and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.

One Manu lives for a duration of time calculated to be an aggregate of seventy-one yuga cycles, each of which equals 4,300,000 years. Although atheistic men like to enjoy material opulences and they endeavor with great energy to build big residences, roads, cities and factories, unfortunately they cannot live more than eighty, ninety or at the utmost one hundred years. Although the materialist exerts so much energy to create a kingdom of hallucinations, he is unable to enjoy it for more than a few years. However, because Prahlāda Mahārāja was a devotee, the Lord allowed him to enjoy material opulence as the king of the materialists. Prahlāda Mahārāja had taken birth in the family of Hiranyakaśipu, who was the topmost materialist, and since Prahlāda was the bona fide heir of his father, the Supreme Lord allowed him to enjoy the kingdom created by his father for so many years that no materialist could calculate them. A devotee does not have to desire material opulence, but if he is a pure devotee, there is ample opportunity for him to enjoy material happiness also, without personal endeavor. Therefore, everyone is advised to take to devotional service under all circumstances. If one desires material opulence, he can also become a pure devotee, and his desires will be fulfilled. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.3.10):

“Whether one desires everything or nothing, or whether he desires to merge into the existence of the Lord, he is intelligent only if he worships Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by rendering transcendental loving service.”

When a devotee becomes materially very opulent, one should not think that he is enjoying the results of his fruitive activities. A devotee in this material world uses all material opulences for the service of the Lord because he is planning how to serve the Lord with these opulences, as advised by the Lord Himself. Whatever material opulence is within his possession he engages to expand the glories and service of the Lord. A devotee never performs any fruitive or ritualistic ceremony to enjoy the results of such karma. Rather, a devotee knows that karma-kānda is meant for the less intelligent man. Narottama dāsa Thākura says in his Prema-bhakti-candrikā, karma-kānda, jñāna-kānda, kevala vishera bhānda: both karma-kānda and jñāna-kānda — fruitive activities and speculation about the Supreme Lord — are like pots of poison. One who is attracted to karma-kānda and jñāna-kānda spoils his existence as a human being. Therefore a devotee is never interested in karma-kānda or jñāna-kānda, but is simply interested in favorable service to the Lord (ānukūlyena krishnānuśīlanam), or cultivation of spiritual activities in devotional service.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura says: evam prahlādasyāmśena sādhana-siddhatvam nitya-siddhatvam ca nāradādivaj jñeyam. There are two classes of devotees — the sādhana-siddha and the nitya-siddha. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a mixed siddha; that is, he is perfect partly because of executing devotional service and partly because of eternal perfection. Thus he is compared to such devotees as Nārada. Formerly, Nārada Muni was the son of a maidservant, and therefore in his next birth he attained perfection (sādhana-siddhi) because of having executed devotional service. Yet he is also a nitya-siddha because he never forgets the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The word kuśalena is very important. One should live in the material world very expertly. The material world is known as the world of duality because one sometimes has to act impiously and sometimes has to act piously. Although one does not want to act impiously, the world is so fashioned that there is always danger (padam padam yad vipadām). Thus even when performing devotional service a devotee has to create many enemies. Prahlāda Mahārāja himself had experience of this, for even his father became his enemy. A devotee should expertly manage to think always of the Supreme Lord so that the reactions of suffering cannot touch him. This is the expert management of pāpa-punya — pious and impious activities. An exalted devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja is jīvan-mukta; he is liberated even in this very life in the material body.

Here it is stated that anyone who chants and hears about the activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja and, in relationship with Prahlāda’s activities, the activities of Nrisimhadeva, gradually becomes free from all the bondage of fruitive activities. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.15, 2.56):

“O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.”

“One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” A devotee should not be aggrieved in an awkward position, nor should he feel extraordinarily happy in material opulence. This is the way of expert management of material life. Because a devotee knows how to manage expertly, he is called jīvan-mukta. As Rūpa Gosvāmī explains in Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu:

“A person acting in Krishna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krishna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within this material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” Because of constantly engaging in devotional service, in any condition of life, a devotee is free from all material bondage.

“Even one born in a family of meat-eaters is purified if he engages in devotional service.” (Bhāg. 11.14.21) Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites this verse in logically supporting that anyone who chants about the pure life and activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja is freed from the reactions of material activities.

Although Hiranyakaśipu was purified as soon as he came in contact with the Lord’s lap and the Lord saw him, Prahlāda Mahārāja still wanted to hear from the Lord’s own mouth that his father had been purified by the Lord’s causeless mercy. Prahlāda Mahārāja offered this prayer to the Lord for the sake of his father. As a Vaishnava son, despite all the inconveniences imposed upon him by his father, he could not forget his father’s affection.

The word trih-saptabhih means seven multiplied by three. In one’s family one can count back four or five generations — to one’s great-grandfather or even one’s great-grandfather’s father — but since the Lord mentions twenty-one forefathers, this indicates that the benediction expands to other families also. Before the present family in which one has taken birth, one must have been born in other families. Thus when a Vaishnava takes birth in a family, by the grace of the Lord he purifies not only that family but also the families of his previous births.

Wherever exalted devotees stay, not only they and their dynasties but the entire country is purified.

In this connection, Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes a verse from the Skanda Purāna:

There are many, many devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they have been enumerated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.3.20) as follows:

Of the twelve authorized devotees — Lord Brahmā, Nārada, Lord Śiva, Kapila, Manu and so on — Prahlāda Mahārāja is understood to be the best example.

In this regard, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura says that although Hiranyakaśipu was already purified, he had to take birth on a higher planetary system to become a devotee again. Prahlāda Mahārāja was advised to perform the ritualistic ceremony as a matter of etiquette, for the Supreme Personality of Godhead under no circumstances wants to stop the regulative principles. Madhva Muni also instructs:

When the demons Madhu and Kaitabha were killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, their kinsmen also observed the ritualistic ceremonies so that these demons could return home, back to Godhead.

When one becomes a devotee, he no longer has any duty to the Vedic regulative principles. One has many duties to perform, but if one becomes fully devoted to the Lord, he no longer has any such obligations. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.41):

One who has fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord is no longer a debtor to his forefathers, the great sages, human society, the common man or any living entity.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead nonetheless advised Prahlāda Mahārāja to follow the regulative principles, for since he was going to be the king, others would follow his example. Thus Lord Nrisimhadeva advised Prahlāda Mahārāja to engage in his political duties so that people would become the Lord’s devotees.

“Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Bg. 3.21) One should not be attached to any materialistic activities, but a devotee may perform such activities as an example to show the common man that one should not deviate from the Vedic injunctions.

It is essential that society be divided into four groups of men — brāhmanas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. Here we see that although Prahlāda was perfect in every respect, he nonetheless followed the instructions of the brāhmanas who performed the Vedic rituals. Therefore in society there must be a very intelligent class of leaders who are well versed in the Vedic knowledge so that they can guide the entire populace to follow the Vedic principles and thus gradually become most perfect and eligible to return home, back to Godhead.

The word pūrvaja is described in Bhagavad-gītā (10.8): aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate. All the demigods, including Lord Brahmā, are manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the original person, the cause of all causes, is Govinda, the ādi-purusham.

Everyone is sure to die, for no one is excused from the hands of death, which is but a feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (mrityuh sarva-haraś cāham). When one becomes a devotee, however, he is not destined to die according to a limited duration of life. Everyone has a limited duration of life, but a devotee’s lifetime can be extended by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, who is able to nullify the results of one’s karma. Karmāni nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām. This is the statement of Brahma-samhitā (5.54). A devotee is not under the laws of karma. Therefore even a devotee’s scheduled death can be avoided by the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord. God protects the devotee even from the extreme danger of death.

By the grace of Lord Nrisimhadeva, Prahlāda Mahārāja became a greater king than his father, Hiranyakaśipu. Prahlāda’s inauguration was performed by Lord Brahmā in the presence of other saintly persons and demigods.

The discourse concerning Lord Nrisimhadeva and Prahlāda Mahārāja began when Mahārāja Yudhishthira asked Nārada how Śiśupāla had merged into the body of Krishna. Śiśupāla and Dantavakra were the same Hiranyāksha and Hiranyakaśipu. Here Nārada Muni is relating how in three different births the associates of Lord Vishnu were killed by Lord Vishnu Himself. First they were the demons Hiranyāksha and Hiranyakaśipu.

Vairānubandhena. Acting like the Lord’s enemy is also beneficial for the living entity. Kāmād dveshād bhayāt snehād. Whether in lusty desire, anger, fear or envy of the Lord, somehow or other, as recommended by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (tasmāt kenāpy upāyena), one should become attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and ultimately achieve the goal of returning home, back to Godhead. What, then, is to be said of one who is related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover?

The mystery of yogic meditation is explained here. Real yogīs always meditate on the form of Vishnu within their hearts. Consequently, at the time of death they give up their bodies while thinking of the form of Vishnu and thus attain Vishnuloka, Vaikunthaloka, where they receive bodily features the same as those of the Lord. From the Sixth Canto we have already learned that when the Vishnudūtas came from Vaikuntha to deliver Ajāmila, they looked exactly like Vishnu, with four hands and the same features as Vishnu. Therefore, we may conclude that if one practices thinking of Vishnu and is fully absorbed in thinking of Him at the time of death, one returns home, back to Godhead. Even enemies of Krishna who thought of Krishna in fear (bhaya), such as King Kamsa, received bodies in a spiritual identity similar to that of the Lord.

In Caitanya-caritāmrita, in connection with Lord Caitanya’s instructions to Sanātana Gosvāmī, it is explained that a devotee should externally execute his routine devotional service in a regular way but should always inwardly think of the particular mellow in which he is attracted to the service of the Lord. This constant thought of the Lord makes the devotee eligible to return home, back to Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti: after giving up his body, a devotee does not again receive a material body, but goes back to Godhead and receives a spiritual body resembling those of the Lord’s eternal associates whose activities he followed. However the devotee likes to serve the Lord, he may constantly think of the Lord’s associates — the cowherd boys, the gopīs, the Lord’s father and mother, His servants and the trees, land, animals, plants and water in the Lord’s abode. Because of constantly thinking of these features, one acquires a transcendental position. Kings like Śiśupāla, Dantavakra, Kamsa, Paundraka, Narakāsura and Śālva were all similarly delivered. This is confirmed by Madhvācārya:

Paundraka, Narakāsura, Śālva and Kamsa were all inimical toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because all these kings constantly thought of Him, they achieved the same liberation — sārūpya-mukti. The jñāna-bhakta, the devotee who follows the path of jñāna, also attains the same destination. If even the enemies of the Lord achieve salvation by constantly thinking about the Lord, what is to be said of pure devotees who always engage in the Lord’s service and who think of nothing but the Lord in every activity?

Avatāras, or incarnations, are expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead — Krishna, Govinda.

“I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who is the original person — nondual, infallible, and without beginning. Although He expands into unlimited forms, He is still the original, and although He is the oldest person, He always appears as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful and all-knowing forms of the Lord cannot be understood by the academic wisdom of the Vedas, but they are always manifest to pure, unalloyed devotees.” (Brahma-samhitā 5.33) The Brahma-samhitā describes the avatāras. Indeed, all the avatāras are described in the authentic scriptures. No one can become an avatāra, or incarnation, although this has become fashionable in the Age of Kali. The avatāras are described in the authentic scriptures (śāstras), and therefore before one risks accepting a pretender as an avatāra, one should refer to the śāstras. The śāstras say everywhere that Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead and that He has innumerable avatāras, or incarnations. Elsewhere in the Brahma-samhitā it is said, rāmādi-mūrtishu kalā-niyamena tishthan: Rāma, Nrisimha, Varāha and many others are consecutive expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After Krishna comes Balarāma, after Balarāma is Sankarshana, then Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Nārāyana and then the purusha-avatāras — Mahā-Vishnu, Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu and Kshīrodakaśāyī Vishnu. All of them are avatāras.

One must hear about the avatāras. Narrations about such avatāras are called avatāra-kathā, the narrations of Krishna’s expansions. Hearing and chanting these narrations is completely pious. Śrinvatām sva-kathāh krishnah punya-śravana-kīrtanah. One who hears and chants can become punya, purified of material contamination.

Whenever there are references to the avatāras, religious principles are established, and demons who are against Krishna are killed. The Krishna consciousness movement is spreading all over the world with two aims — to establish Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to kill all the pretenders who falsely present themselves as avatāras. The preachers of the Krishna consciousness movement must carry this conviction very carefully within their hearts and kill the demons who in many tactful ways vilify the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. If we take shelter of Nrisimhadeva and Prahlāda Mahārāja, it will be easier to kill the demons who are against Krishna and to thus reestablish Krishna’s supremacy. Krishnas tu bhagavān svayam: Krishna is the Supreme Lord, the original Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja is our guru, and Krishna is our worshipable God. As advised by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, guru-krishna-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. If we can be successful in getting the mercy of Prahlāda Mahārāja and also that of Nrisimhadeva, then our Krishna consciousness movement will be extremely successful.

The demon Hiranyakaśipu had so many ways to try to become God himself, but although Prahlāda Mahārāja was chastised and threatened in many ways, he rigidly refused to accept his powerful demoniac father as God. Following in the footsteps of Prahlāda Mahārāja, we should reject all the rascals who pretend to be God. We must accept Krishna and His incarnations, and no one else.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is filled with descriptions of the characteristics of various devotees, with reference to the service of the Lord. This Vedic literature is called Bhāgavatam because it deals with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotee. By studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master, one can perfectly understand the science of Krishna, the nature of the material and spiritual worlds, and the aim of life. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam amalam purānam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Vedic literature, as we have discussed in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore, simply by understanding Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, one can understand the science of the activities of the devotees, the activities of the demons, the permanent abode and the temporary abode. Through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, everything is perfectly known.

Through the principles of religion, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Brahman (the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord) and Paramātmā (the localized aspect of the Lord). When one is well conversant with all these principles, he becomes a devotee and performs bhāgavata-dharma. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession, advised that this bhāgavata-dharma be instructed to students from the very beginning of their education (kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha). To understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the real purpose of education. Śravanam kīrtanam vishnoh. One must simply hear about and describe Lord Vishnu and His various incarnations. This narration concerning Prahlāda Mahārāja and Lord Nrisimhadeva, therefore, has properly described spiritual, transcendental subjects.

After hearing about the activities of Prahlāda Mahārāja, a pure devotee should be very anxious to follow in his footsteps, but such a devotee might be disappointed, thinking that not every devotee can come to the standard of Prahlāda Mahārāja. This is the nature of a pure devotee; he always thinks himself to be the lowest, to be incompetent and unqualified. Thus after hearing the narration of Prahlāda Mahārāja’s activities, Mahārāja Yudhishthira, who was on the same standard of devotional service as Prahlāda, might have been thinking of his own humble position. Nārada Muni, however, could understand Mahārāja Yudhishthira’s mind, and therefore he immediately encouraged him by saying that the Pāndavas were not less fortunate; they were as good as Prahlāda Mahārāja because although Lord Nrisimhadeva appeared for Prahlāda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His original form as Krishna was always living with the Pāndavas. Although the Pāndavas, because of the influence of Krishna’s yoga-māyā, could not think of their fortunate position, every saintly person, including the great sage Nārada, could understand it, and therefore they constantly visited Mahārāja Yudhishthira.

Any pure devotee who is constantly conscious of Krishna is naturally very fortunate. The word nri-loke, meaning “within the material world,” indicates that before the Pāndavas there had been many, many devotees, such as the descendants of the Yadu dynasty and Vasishtha, Marīci, Kaśyapa, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, who were all extremely fortunate. The Pāndavas, however, were better than all of them because Krishna Himself lived with them constantly. Nārada Muni therefore specifically mentioned that within this material world (nri-loke) the Pāndavas were the most fortunate.

There is always a difference of opinion about the Absolute Truth. One class of transcendentalists concludes that the Absolute Truth is impersonal, and another class concludes that the Absolute Truth is a person. In Bhagavad-gītā, the Absolute Truth is accepted as the Supreme Person. Indeed, that Supreme Person Himself, Lord Krishna, instructs in Bhagavad-gītā, brahmano hi pratishthāham, mattah parataram nānyat. “The impersonal Brahman is My partial manifestation, and there is no truth superior to Me.” That same Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acted as the supreme friend and relative of the Pāndavas, and sometimes He even acted as their servant by carrying a letter from the Pāndavas to Dhritarāshtra and Duryodhana. Because Krishna was the well-wisher of the Pāndavas, He also acted as guru by becoming the spiritual master of Arjuna. Arjuna accepted Krishna as his spiritual master (śishyas te ’ham śādhi mām tvām prapannam), and Krishna sometimes chastised him. For example, the Lord said, aśocyān anvaśocas tvam prajñā-vādāmś ca bhāshase: “While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.” The Lord also said, kutas tvā kaśmalam idam vishame samupasthitam: “My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you?” Such was the intimate relationship between the Pāndavas and Krishna. In the same way, a pure devotee of the Lord is always with Krishna through thick and thin; his way of life is Krishna. This is the statement of the authority Śrī Nārada Muni.

The Absolute Truth is sought by different persons in different ways, yet He remains inconceivable. Nonetheless, devotees like the Pāndavas, the gopīs, the cowherd boys, Mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja and all the inhabitants of Vrindāvana do not need to practice conventional processes of meditation to attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He remains with them through thick and thin. Therefore a saint like Nārada, understanding the difference between transcendentalists and pure devotees, always prays that the Lord will be pleased with him.

Lord Śiva is known as Mahādeva, the most exalted demigod. Thus Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura says that although Lord Brahmā did not know the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śiva could have known them. This historical incident proves that Lord Śiva derives power from Lord Krishna, the Parabrahman.

The asuras are generally extremely powerful because of their mystic yogic power. However, as Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):

“Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.” The actual purpose of mystic yoga is to concentrate one’s attention fully on the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, and always think of Him (mad-gatenāntarātmanā). To attain such perfection, one must undergo a certain process — hatha-yoga — and through this yoga system the practitioner achieves some uncommon mystic power. The asuras, however, instead of becoming devotees of Krishna, utilize this mystic power for their personal sense gratification. Maya Dānava, for example, is mentioned here as mahā-yogī, a great mystic, but his business was to help the asuras. Nowadays we are actually seeing that there are some yogīs who cater to the senses of materialists, and there are imposters who advertise themselves as God. Maya Dānava was such a person, a god among the demons, and he could perform some wonderful feats, one of which is described here: he made a well filled with nectar and dipped the asuras into that nectarean well. This nectar was known as mrita-sanjīvayitari, for it could bring a dead body to life. Mrita-sanjīvayitari is also an Āyurvedic preparation. It is a kind of liquor that invigorates even a person on the verge of death.

The Supreme Lord is one — Krishna, the vishnu-tattva. Krishna expands Himself into vishnu-tattva personal expansions (svāmśa), who control everything. Maya Dānava said, “However I plan, you plan or both of us plan, the Lord has planned what is to happen. No one’s plan will be successful without His sanction.” We may make our own various plans, but unless they are sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, they will never be successful. Hundreds and millions of plans are made by all kinds of living entities, but without the sanction of the Supreme Lord they are futile.

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.13.16): vaishnavānām yathā śambhuh: Lord Śiva is the best of the Vaishnavas, the devotees of Lord Krishna. Indeed, he is one of the mahājanas, the twelve authorities on Vaishnava philosophy (svayambhūr nāradah śambhuh kumārah kapilo manuh, etc.). Lord Krishna is always prepared to help all the mahājanas and devotees in every respect (kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktah pranaśyati). Although Lord Śiva is very powerful, he lost a battle to the asuras, and therefore he was morose and disappointed. However, because he is one of the chief devotees of the Lord, the Lord personally equipped him with all the paraphernalia for war. The devotee, therefore, must serve the Lord sincerely, and Krishna is always in the background to protect him and, if need be, to equip him fully to fight with his enemy. For devotees there is no scarcity of knowledge or material requisites for spreading the Krishna consciousness movement.

Bhagavad-gītā and all the Vedic literatures fully explain that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, appears in human society as an ordinary human being but acts very uncommonly for the well-being of the entire world. One should not be influenced by the illusory energy and think Lord Krishna to be an ordinary human being. Those who really seek the Absolute Truth come to the understanding that Krishna is everything (vāsudevah sarvam iti). Such great souls are very rare. Nonetheless, if one studies the entire Bhagavad-gītā as it is, Krishna is very easy to understand. The Krishna consciousness movement is just trying to make Krishna known all over the world as the Supreme Personality of Godhead (krishnas tu bhagavān svayam). If people take this movement seriously, their lives as human beings will be successful.