Text 17] Prahlada, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu 239

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 brahmanas Sanda and Amarka failed to
extract from Prahlada Maharaja the cause for his having opinions dif-
ferent from those of his father, they called for a stick with which to
chastise him to satisfy their master, Hiranyakasipu. Because Prahlada
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 Vaisnava
is certainly folly. Thus Prahlada Maharaja was charged with bad intelli-
gence because he was among demons, including his teachers, who were
supposedly brahmanas.

The members of our Krsna consciousness movement are in a position
similar to that of Prahlada Maharaja. All over the world, ninety-nine
percent of the people are godless demons, and therefore our preaching of
Krsna consciousness, following in the footsteps of Prahlada Maharaja, is
always hampered by many impediments. Because of their fault of being
devotees, the American boys who have sacrificed everything for preach-
ing Krsna consciousness are charged with being members of the CIA.
Moreover, the seminal brahmanas in India, who say that one can become
a brahmana only if born in a bréhmana family, charge us with ruining
the Hindu system of religion. Of course, the fact is that one becomes a
brahmana 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. None-
theless, confronting all kinds of difficulties, we must spread the Krsna
consciousness movement with great determination, like that of Prahlada
Maharaja. In spite of being the son of the demon Hiranyakasipu,
Prahlada never feared the chastisements of the seminal braéhmana sons
of a demoniac father.

TEXT 17
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THAHSTM MAMTA: 112911

daiteya-candana-vane
Jato ’yam kantaka-drumah
