Krishna's Mercy

Why Get So Worked Up Over What A Kid Prefers

“Prahlada Maharaja admitted frankly, ‘My dear teachers, you wrongly think that Lord Vishnu is your enemy, but because He is favorable toward me, I understand that He is the friend of everyone. You may think that I have taken the side of your enemy, but factually He has bestowed a great favor upon me.’” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.13 Purport)

Four Issues Over Which Rivalry Might Develop

“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 Vaishnava 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.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.12 Purport)

Why Did Arjuna Fight If The Vaishnava Does Not Delineate Friends And Enemies

“Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaishnavas say that since everyone is a servant of the Lord, everyone is on the same platform. Therefore a Vaishnava treats other living entities neither as friends nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Krishna 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.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.12 Purport)

Questionable Interrogation Techniques

“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, Krishna, I have now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend. We are all actually eternal servants of Krishna, 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.’” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.12 Purport)

Don’t You Get Tired Of Praising Devotees

“In any assembly where there are discourses about saints and devotees, O King Yudhishthira, even the enemies of the demons, namely the demigods, what to speak of you, would cite Prahlada Maharaja as an example of a great devotee.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.4.35)

Why Didn’t Prahlada Just Stay Quiet

“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, Hiranyakashipu, 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.’” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.6)

Three Possible Reasons For Prahlada’s Reply To The Father

“Hiranyakashipu 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 Vaishnava instructions.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.6 Purport)

How Did Prahlada Acquire All Good Qualities Without Practical Experience

“Hiranyakashipu 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.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.5 Purport)

Four Topics That Might Be Discussed At The Dinner Table With Children

“Hiranyakashipu 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.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.4 Purport)

Three Sets Of Friends And Enemies Created In Politics

“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.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.3 Purport)