Text 12] Prahlāda, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu
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any of the millions of living entities, but is always a friend to everyone. This is true understanding. If one thinks that the Lord is an enemy, his intelligence is  paśu-buddhi , the intelligence of an animal. He falsely thinks, “I am different from my enemy, and my enemy is different from me. The enemy has done this, and therefore my duty is to kill him.” This misconception is described in this verse as  bheda-gatāsatī . The actual fact is that everyone is a servant of the Lord, as confirmed in  Caitanya-caritāmṛta  by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ( jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya—kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’ ). As servants of the Lord, we are one, and there can be no questions of enmity or friendship. If one actually understands that every one of us is a servant of the Lord, where is the question of enemy or friend?
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 Vaiṣṇava thinking, Vaikuṇṭha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuṇṭha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuṇṭha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuṇṭha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability. As confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā  (15.15),  sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanam ca : the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, giving dictation according to the attitude of the servant. However, the Lord gives different dictation to the nondevotees and devotees. The nondevotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord’s service, life after life, and are punished by the laws of nature. But when a devotee very sincerely wants to render service to the Lord, the Lord dictates in a different way. As the Lord says in  Bhagavad-gītā  (10.10):
teṣām satata-yuktānām bhajatām prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogam taṁ yena mām upayānti te