SB 7.8.5

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Seventh Canto - Chapter 8: Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

SB 7.8.3-4 - SB 7.8.6

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 5

śrī-hiraṇyakaśipur uvāca

he durvinīta mandātman

kula-bheda-karādhama

stabdhaṁ mac-chāsanodvṛttaṁ

neṣye tvādya yama-kṣayam

SYNONYMS

śrī-hiraṇyakaśipuḥ uvāca — the blessed Hiraṇyakaśipu said; he — O; durvinīta — most impudent; manda-ātman — O stupid fool; kula-bheda-kara — who are bringing about a disruption in the family; adhama — O lowest of mankind; stabdham — most obstinate; mat-śāsana — from my ruling; udvṛttam — going astray; neṣye — I shall bring; tvā — you; adya — today; yama-kṣayam — to the place of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death.

TRANSLATION

Hiraṇyakaśipu said: O most impudent, most unintelligent disruptor of the family, O lowest of mankind, you have violated my power to rule you, and therefore you are an obstinate fool. Today I shall send you to the place of Yamarāja.

PURPORT

Hiraṇyakaśipu condemned his Vaiṣṇava son Prahlāda for being durvinīta — ungentle, uncivilized, or impudent. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, however, has derived a meaning from this word durvinīta by the mercy of the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī. He says that duḥ refers to this material world. This is confirmed by Lord Kṛṣṇa in His instruction in Bhagavad-gītā that this material world is duḥkhālayam, full of material conditions. Vi means viśeṣa, "specifically," and nīta means "brought in." By the mercy of the Supreme Lord, Prahlāda Mahārāja was especially brought to this material world to teach people how to get out of the material condition. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). When the entire population, or part of it, becomes forgetful of its own duty, Kṛṣṇa comes. When Kṛṣṇa is not present the devotee is present, but the mission is the same: to free the poor conditioned souls from the clutches of the māyā that chastises them.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura further explains that the word mandātman means manda — very bad or very slow in spiritual realization. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 1.1.10), mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā. Prahlāda Mahārāja is the guide of all the mandas, or bad living entities who are under the influence of māyā. He is the benefactor even of the slow and bad living entities in this material world. Kula-bheda-karādhama: by his actions, Prahlāda Mahārāja made great personalities who established big, big families seem insignificant. Everyone is interested in his own family and in making his dynasty famous, but Prahlāda Mahārāja was so liberal that he made no distinction between one living entity and another. Therefore he was greater than the great prajāpatis who established their dynasties. The word stabdham means obstinate. A devotee does not care for the instructions of theasuras. When they give instructions, he remains silent. A devotee cares about the instructions of Kṛṣṇa, not those of demons or nondevotees. He does not give any respect to a demon, even though the demon be his father. Mac-chāsanodvṛttam: Prahlāda Mahārāja was disobedient to the orders of his demoniac father.Yama-kṣayam: every conditioned soul is under the control of Yamarāja, but Hiraṇyakaśipu said that he considered Prahlāda Mahārāja his deliverer, for Prahlāda would stop Hiraṇyakaśipu's repetition of birth and death. Because Prahlāda Mahārāja, being a great devotee, was better than any yogī, Hiraṇyakaśipu was to be brought among the society of bhakti-yogīs. Thus Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has explained these words in a very interesting way as they can be interpreted from the side of Sarasvatī, the mother of learning.

SB 7.8.3-4 - SB 7.8.6