Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 25
Rāhu, Eclipses, Antarikṣa, and the Seven Subterranean Heavens
Bila-svarga
यस्यानुदास्यमेवास्मत्पितामह: किल वव्रे न तु स्वपित्र्यं यदुताकुतोभयं पदं दीयमानं भगवत: परमिति भगवतोपरते खलु स्वपितरि ॥ २५ ॥
yasyānudāsyam evāsmat-pitāmahaḥ kila vavre na tu sva-pitryaṁ yad utākutobhayaṁ padaṁ dīyamānaṁ bhagavataḥ param iti bhagavatoparate khalu sva-pitari.
Sinabi ni Bali Maharaja: Ang lolo kong si Prahlada Maharaja lamang ang nakaunawa ng tunay niyang kapakanan. Nang mamatay ang ama ni Prahlada na si Hiraṇyakaśipu, nais ni Bhagavan Nṛsiṁhadeva na ibigay kay Prahlada ang kaharian ng ama at maging ang moksha, ngunit hindi tinanggap ni Prahlada ang alinman. Itinuring niyang ang kalayaan at materyal na karangyaan ay hadlang sa bhakti-sevā; kaya hindi niya hiniling ang bunga ng karma at jñāna, kundi ang pagtalaga lamang sa paglilingkod bilang “alipin ng alipin” ng Panginoon.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has instructed that an unalloyed devotee should consider himself a servant of the servant of the servant of the Supreme Lord ( gopī-bhartuḥ pāda-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ ). In Vaiṣṇava philosophy, one should not even become a direct servant. Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered all the blessings of an opulent position in the material world and even the liberation of merging into Brahman, but he refused all this. He simply wanted to engage in the service of the servant of the servant of the Lord. Therefore Bali Mahārāja said that because his grandfather Prahlāda Mahārāja had rejected the blessings of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in terms of material opulence and liberation from material bondage, he truly understood his self-interest.
FAQs
This verse states that the truly fear-free abode is granted by Bhagavān and is attained through humble service (anudāsya), not through worldly power or inherited status.
Because he valued only service to the Supreme Lord, knowing that the Lord alone gives the highest, fear-free destination—especially meaningful since Prahlāda’s own father was hostile to the Lord.
Prioritize devotional service and spiritual integrity over prestige, control, or “inheritances” of identity and advantage, remembering that lasting fearlessness comes from surrender to Bhagavān.