Text 17] Prahlāda, the Saintly Son of Hiraṇyakaśipu
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pacification, the offer of a post, or, finally, weapons. When there are no other arguments, he is punished. In logic, this is called  argumentum ad baculum . When the two seminal  brāhmaṇas  Śaṇḍa and Amarka failed to extract from Prahlāda Mahārāja the cause for his having opinions different from those of his father, they called for a stick with which to chastise him to satisfy their master, Hiraṇyakaśipu. Because Prahlāda had become a devotee, they considered him to be contaminated by bad intelligence and to be the worst descendant in the family of demons. As it is said, where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise. In a society or family in which everyone is a demon, for someone to become a Vaiṣṇava is certainly folly. Thus Prahlāda Mahārāja was charged with bad intelligence because he was among demons, including his teachers, who were supposedly  brāhmaṇas .
The members of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are in a position similar to that of Prahlāda Mahārāja. All over the world, ninety-nine percent of the people are godless demons, and therefore our preaching of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following in the footsteps of Prahlāda Mahārāja, is always hampered by many impediments. Because of their fault of being devotees, the American boys who have sacrificed everything for preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness are charged with being members of the CIA. Moreover, the seminal  brāhmaṇas  in India, who say that one can become a  brāhmaṇa  only if born in a  brāhmaṇa  family, charge us with ruining the Hindu system of religion. Of course, the fact is that one becomes a  brāhmaṇa  by qualification. Because we are training Europeans and Americans to become qualified and are awarding them brahminical status, we are being charged with destroying the Hindu religion. Nonetheless, confronting all kinds of difficulties, we must spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement with great determination, like that of Prahlāda Mahārāja. In spite of being the son of the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda never feared the chastisements of the seminal  brāhmaṇa  sons of a demoniac father.
TEXT 17
दैतेयचन्दन्सने जातोऽयं कण्टकद्रुमः । यन्मूलोन्मूलपरशोर्विष्णोनलियितोऽर्भकः ॥१७॥
daiteya-candana-vane jāto 'yaṁ kaṇṭaka-drumaḥ