ekadÄsura-rÄá¹ putram
aá¹…kam Äropya pÄṇá¸ava
papraccha kathyatÄá¹ vatsa
manyate sÄdhu yad bhavÄn
ekadÄ - once upon a time; asura-rÄá¹ - the Emperor of the asuras; putram - his son; aá¹…kam - on the lap; Äropya - placing; pÄṇá¸ava - O MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira; papraccha - inquired; kathyatÄm - let it be told; vatsa - my dear son; manyate - considers; sÄdhu - the best; yat - that which; bhavÄn - your good self.
HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu did not ask his young son anything that would be very difficult for him to answer; instead, he gave the boy a chance to speak plainly about whatever he thought might be best. PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, of course, being a perfect devotee, knew everything and could say what the best part of life is. In the Vedas it is said, yasmin vijñÄte sarvam evaá¹ vijñÄtaá¹ bhavati: if one properly understands God, he can understand any subject matter very nicely. Sometimes we have to challenge big scientists and philosophers, but by the grace of Kṛṣṇa we emerge successful. It is impossible, practically speaking, for ordinary men to challenge scientists or philosophers concerning genuine knowledge, but a devotee can challenge them because the best of everything is known to a devotee by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.11):
teá¹£Äm evÄnukampÄrtham
aham ajñÄna-jaá¹ tamaḥ
nÄÅ›ayÄmy Ätma-bhÄva-stho
jñÄna-dÄ«pena bhÄsvatÄ
Kṛṣṇa, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart as the Supersoul, dissipates all the ignorance from the heart of a devotee. As a special favor, He enlightens the devotee with all knowledge by putting before him the torch of light. PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, therefore, knew the best of knowledge, and when his father inquired from him, PrahlÄda gave him that knowledge. PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was able to solve the most difficult parts of problems because of his advanced Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore he replied as follows.