182 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 9

can sincerely offer heartfelt prayers to the Lord, and the Lord will accept
them. As soon as one offers his prayers to the Lord, he is immediately
situated on the Brahman platform.

Lord Nrsirnhadeva appeared for the benefit of all human society, not
only for Prahlada’s personal benefit. The fierce form of Lord
Nrsitnhadeva may appear most awful to a nondevotee, but to the devotee
the Lord is always affectionate as He is in other forms. Conditioned life
in the material world is actually extremely fearful; indeed, a devotee is
not afraid of anything else. Fear of material existence is due to false ego.
Therefore the ultimate goal of life for every living entity is to attain the
position of being servant of the servant of the Lord. The miserable condi-
tion of the living entities in the material world can be remedied only by
the mercy of the Lord. Although there are so-called material protectors
like Lord Brahma and the other demigods, or even one’s own father, they
are unable to do anything if one is neglected by the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. However, one who has fully taken shelter of the Lord’s lotus
feet can be saved from the onslaught of material nature. Therefore every
living entity should be unattracted by material so-called happiness and
should take shelter of the Lord by all means. That is the mission of
human life. To be attracted by sense gratification is simply foolish.
Whether one is a devotee of the Lord or is a nondevotee does not depend
upon one’s birth in a high or low family. Even Lord Brahma and the god-
dess of fortune cannot achieve the full favor of the Lord, whereas a devo-
tee can very easily attain such devotional service. The Lord’s mercy is
bestowed equally upon everyone, regardless of whether one is high or
low. Because Prahlada Maharaja was blessed by Narada Muni, Prahlada
became a great devotee. The Lord always saves the devotee from imper-
sonalists and voidists. The Lord is present in everyone’s heart as the
Supersoul to give the living being protection and all benefits. Thus the
Lord acts sometimes as the killer and sometimes as the protector. One
should not accuse the Lord for any discrepancies. It is His plan that we
see varieties of life within this material world. All of them are ultimately
His mercy.

Although the entire cosmic manifestation is nondifferent, the material
world is nonetheless different from the spiritual world. Only by the
mercy of the Supreme Lord can one understand how the wonderful ma-
terial nature acts. For example, although Lord Brahma appeared from
