बालानति कुतस्तुभ्यमेष बुद्धिविपर्ययः ॥९॥
vatsa prahrÄda bhadraá¹ te
satyaá¹ kathaya mÄ mṛṣÄ
bÄlÄn ati kutas tubhyam
eṣa buddhi-viparyayaḥ
vatsa - O dear son; prahrÄda - PrahlÄda; bhadram te - all blessings and good fortune unto you; satyam - the truth; kathaya - speak; mÄ - do not; má¹›á¹£Ä - a lie; bÄlÄn ati - passing over the other demon boys; kutaḥ - from where; tubhyam - unto you; eá¹£aḥ - this; buddhi - of the intelligence; viparyayaḥ - pollution.
Dear son PrahlÄda, all peace and good fortune unto you. Kindly do not speak lies; just reply with the truth. These boys you see are not like you, for they do not speak in a deviant way. How have you learned these instructions? How has your intelligence been spoiled in this way?
PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was still a boy, and therefore his teachers thought that if they pacified the little boy he would immediately speak the truth, revealing the secret of how the Vaiṣṇavas came there to teach him lessons in devotional service. It was surprising, of course, that in the same school the other boys of the Daityas were not polluted; only PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was supposedly polluted by the instructions of the Vaiṣṇavas. The main duty of the teachers was to inquire who those Vaiṣṇavas were that came to teach PrahlÄda and spoil his intelligence.
