Text 12] The Lord Slays the King of the Demons 131
death; hi—indeed; manda-dtman—O unintelligent rascal; nanu—cer-
tainly; syuh—become; viklavah—confused; girah—the words.
TRANSLATION

Hiranyakasipu 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 Hitopadesa, upadeso hi mirkhanadm prokopadya na
Santaye. If good instructions are given to a foolish person, he does not
take advantage of them, but becomes more and more angry. Prahlada
Maharaja’s authorized instructions to his father were not accepted by
Hiranyakasipu as truth; instead Hiranyakasipu became increasingly
angry at his great son, who was a pure devotee. This kind of difficulty al-
ways exists when a devotee preaches Krsna consciousness to persons like
Hiranyakasipu, who are interested in money and women. (The word
hiranya means “gold,” and kasipu 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. Prahlada Maharaja’s Vaisnava preaching to his
demoniac father was indirectly effective, for because of Hiranyakasipu’s
excessive jealousy of Krsna and His devotee, he was inviting
Nrsitnhadeva to kill him very quickly. Thus he was expediting his being
killed by the Lord Himself. Although Hiranyakasipu was a demon, he is
described here by the added word sri. Why? The answer is that for-
tunately he had such a great devotee son as Prahlada Maharaja. Thus al-
though he was a demon, he would attain salvation and return home, back
to Godhead.

TEXT 12
TRAM AAPA Tt ATA TTP: |
BATS TAIT TAG AE A TATA (2
yas tvaya manda-bhagyokto
mad-anyo jagad-isvarah
