Text 5] Prahlada, the Best Among Exalted Devotees 287
svdmini—from the master; dsisah—material benefit; atmanah—for
personal sense gratification; na—nor; svémi—the master; bhrtyatah—
from the servant; su@myam—the prestigious position of being the
master; icchan—desiring; yah—any such master who; rdti—bestows;
ca—also; dsisah—material profit.
TRANSLATION

A servant who desires material profits from his master is cer-
tainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master
who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to
maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.20), kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ’nya-devatah. ““Those whose minds are distorted by ma-
terial desires surrender unto demigods.” A demigod cannot become
master, for the real master is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The
demigods, to keep their prestigious positions, bestow upon their
worshipers whatever benedictions the worshipers want. For example,
once it was found that an asura took a benediction from Lord Siva by
which the asura would be able to kill someone simply by placing his
hands on that person’s head. Such benedictions are possible to receive
from the demigods. If one worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
however, the Lord will never offer him such condemned benedictions.
On the contrary, it is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.88.8),
yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih. If one is too ma-
terialistic but at the same time wants to be a servant of the Supreme
Lord, the Lord, because of His supreme compassion for the devotee,
takes away all his material opulences and obliges him to be a pure devo-
tee of the Lord. Prahlada Maharaja distinguishes between the pure devo-
tee and the pure master. The Lord is the pure master, the supreme
master, whereas an unalloyed devotee with no material motives is the
pure servant. One who has materialistic motivations cannot become a
servant, and one who unnecessarily bestows benedictions upon his ser-
vant to keep his own prestigious position is not a real master.
