Text 12] Prahlada, the Saintly Son of HiranyakaSipu 233

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 pasu-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-gatasati. The actual
fact is that everyone is a servant of the Lord, as confirmed in Caitanya-
caritamrta by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (jivera ‘svariipa’ haya—
krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). 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 Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking.
There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in
performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another
servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha 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 every-
one should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of
Vaikuntha. 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-gita (15.15), sarvasya céhar hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir
Jfianam 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 non-
devotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the
Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord’s ser-
vice, 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 dic-

tates in a different way. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (10.10):

tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-pirvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tarn

yena mam upaydanti te
