226
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 5]
the preachers of Krṣṇa consciousness must go forward—in their Vaiṣṇava dress or any other dress—for the purpose of preaching. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita 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.
TEXT 8
गृहमानीतमाहूय प्रहादं दैत्ययाजकाः ।
प्रशस्य सूक्ष्णया वाचा समपृच्छन्त साममिः॥ ८ ॥
gṛham ānītam āhūya prahrādam daitya-yājakāḥ praśasya ślakṣṇayā vācā samapṛcchanta sāmabhiḥ
gṛham —to the place of the teachers (Śaṇḍa and Amarka);  ānītam —brought;  āhūya —calling;  prahrādam —Prahlāda;  daitya-yājakāḥ —the priests of the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu;  praśasya —by pacifying;  ślakṣṇayā —with a very mild;  vācā —voice;  samapṛcchanta —they questioned;  sāmabhiḥ —by very agreeable words.
TRANSLATION
When Hiraṇyakaśipu's servants brought the boy Prahlāda back to the guru-kula [the place where the brāhmaṇas taught the boys], the priests of the demons, Śaṇḍa and Amarka, pacified him. With very mild voices and affectionate words, they inquired from him as follows.
PURPORT
Śaṇḍa and Amarka, the priests of the demons, were eager to know from Prahlāda Mahārāja who the Vaiṣṇavas were that came to instruct him in Krṣṇa consciousness. Their purpose was to discover the names of these Vaiṣṇavas. 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.