Text 24] Prahlada, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu 247

paraphernalia); vandanam—offering prayers; dasyam—becoming the
servant; sakhyam—becoming the best friend; atma-nivedanam—sur-
rendering everything, whatever one has; iti—thus; pumsd arpita—
offered by the devotee; visnau—unto Lord Visnu (not to anyone else);
bhaktih—devotional service; cet—if; nava-laksanaé—possessing nine
different processes; kriyeta—one should perform; bhagavati—unto the
Supreme Personality of Godhead; addha—directly or completely; tat—
that; manye—I consider; adhitam—learning; uttamam—topmost.

TRANSLATION

Prahlada Maharaja said: Hearing and chanting about the tran-
scendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes
of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the
Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of
paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant,
considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering every-
thing unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind
and words) —these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional
service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Krsna
through these nine methods should be understood to be the most
learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.

PURPORT

When Prahlada Maharaja was asked by his father to say something
from whatever he had learned, he considered that what he had learned
from his spiritual master was the best of all teachings whereas what he
had learned about diplomacy from his material teachers, Sanda and
Amarka, was useless. Bhaktih paresdnubhavo viraktir anyatra ca
(Bhag. 11.2.42). This is the symptom of pure devotional service. A pure
devotee is interested only in devotional service, not in material affairs.
To execute devotional service, one should always engage in hearing and
chanting about Krsna, or Lord Visnu. The process of temple worship is
called arcana. How to perform arcana will be explained herein. One
should have complete faith in the words of Krsna, who says that He is the
great well-wishing friend of everyone (suhrdam sarva-bhitanam). A
devotee considers Krsna the only friend. This is called sakhyam.
