232 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 5

grace of my spiritual master and by the grace of my Lord, Krsna, I have
now learned that no one is my enemy and no one is my friend. We are all
actually eternal servants of Krsna, but under the influence of the exter-
nal energy we think that we are separately situated from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead as friends and enemies of one another. This
mistaken idea has now been corrected, and therefore, unlike ordinary
human beings, I no longer think that I am God and that others are my
friends and enemies. Now | am rightly thinking that everyone is an eter-
nal servant of God and that our duty is to serve the supreme master, for
then we shall stand on the platform of oneness as servants.”

Demons think of everyone as a friend or enemy, but Vaisnavas say
that since everyone is a servant of the Lord, everyone is on the same plat-
form. Therefore a Vaisnava treats other living entities neither as friends
nor as enemies, but instead tries to spread Krsna consciousness, teaching
everyone that we are all one as servants of the Supreme Lord but are
uselessly wasting our valuable lives by creating nations, communities
and other groups of friends and enemies. Everyone should come to the
platform of Krsna consciousness and thus feel oneness as a servant of the
Lord. Although there are 8,400,000 species of life, a Vaisnava feels this
oneness. The Isopanisad advises, ekatvam anupasyatah. A devotee
should see the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be situated in every-
one’s heart and should also see every living entity as an eternal servant
of the Lord. This vision is called ekatvam, oneness. Although there is a
relationship of master and servant, both master and servant are one be-
cause of their spiritual identity. This is also ekatvam. Thus the concep-
tion of ekatvam for the Vaisnava is different from that of the Mayavadi.

Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada Maharaja how he had become an-
tagonistic to his family. When a family member is killed by an enemy, all
the members of the family would naturally be inimical to the murderer,
but Hiranyakasipu saw that Prahlada had become friendly with the mur-
derer. Therefore he asked, ““Who has created this kind of intelligence in
you? Have you developed this consciousness by yourself? Since you are a
small boy, someone must have induced you to think this way.” Prahlada
Maharaja wanted to reply that an attitude favorable toward Visnu can
develop only when the Lord is favorable (sa yadanuvratah). As stated in
Bhagavad-gita, Krsna is the friend of everyone (suhrdam sarva-
bhitanam jratva mam santim rechati). The Lord is never an enemy to
