Text 12] The Lord Slays the King of the Demons
131
death;  hi —indeed;  manda-ātman —O unintelligent rascal;  nanu —certainly;  syuh —become;  viklavāḥ —confused;  giraḥ —the words.
TRANSLATION
Hiraṇyakaśipu replied:  You rascal, you are trying to minimize my value, as if you were better than me at controlling the senses. This is over-intelligent. I can therefore understand that you desire to die at my hands, for this kind of nonsensical talk is indulged in by those about to die.
PURPORT
It is said in  Hitopadeśa ,  upadeśo hi mūrkhāṇāṁ prokopāya na śāntaye . If good instructions are given to a foolish person, he does not take advantage of them, but becomes more and more angry. Prahlāda Mahārāja's authorized instructions to his father were not accepted by Hiraṇyakaśipu as truth; instead Hiraṇyakaśipu became increasingly angry at his great son, who was a pure devotee. This kind of difficulty always exists when a devotee preaches Kṛṣṇa consciousness to persons like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who are interested in money and women. (The word  hiraṇya  means "gold," and  kaśipu  refers to cushions or good bedding.) Moreover, a father does not like to be instructed by his son, especially if the father is a demon. Prahlāda Mahārāja's Vaiṣṇava preaching to his demoniac father was indirectly effective, for because of Hiraṇyakaśipu's excessive jealousy of Kṛṣṇa and His devotee, he was inviting Nṛsiṁhadeva to kill him very quickly. Thus he was expediting his being killed by the Lord Himself. Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was a demon, he is described here by the added word  śrī . Why? The answer is that fortunately he had such a great devotee son as Prahlāda Mahārāja. Thus although he was a demon, he would attain salvation and return home, back to Godhead.
TEXT 12
यस्त्वया मन्दभाग्योक्तो मदन्यो जगदीश्वरः ।
कासौ यदि स सर्वत्र कसात् स्तम्भे न दृश्यते ॥१२॥
yas tvayā manda-bhāgyokto mad-anyo jagad-īśvaraḥ