202
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 4]
devotional service. Although his good qualities cannot be enumerated, they prove that he was a great soul [mahātmā].
PURPORT
In his prayers to the ten incarnations, Jayadeva Gosvāmī says,  keśava dhṛta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagad-īśa hare . Prahlāda Mahārāja was a devotee of Lord Nṛsiṁha, who is Keśava, Kṛṣṇa Himself. Therefore when this verse says  vāsudeve bhagavati , one should understand that Prahlāda Mahārāja's attachment for Nṛsiṁhadeva was attachment for Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva. Prahlāda Mahārāja, therefore, is described as a great  mahātmā . As the Lord Himself confirms in  Bhagavadgītā  (7.19):
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ
“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” A great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vasudeva, is a great soul very rarely to be found. Prahlāda Mahārāja's attachment for Kṛṣṇa will be explained in the next verse.  Kṛṣṇa-graha-gṛhītātmā . Prahlāda Mahārāja's heart was always filled with thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja is the ideal devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
TEXT 37
न्यस्तक्रीडनको बालो जखतन्मनस्तया । कृष्णग्रहगृहीतात्मा न वेद जगदीदृशम् ॥३७॥
nyasta-krīḍanako bālo jaḍavat tan-manastayā kṛṣṇa-graha-gṛhītātmā na veda jagad īdṛśam
nyasta —having given up;  krīḍanakaḥ —all sportive activities or tendencies for childhood play;  bālaḥ —a boy;  jaḍa-vat —as if dull, without