Prahlāda Mahārāja was a great devotee, and his father was a great atheist. The struggle between the theist and the atheist is perpetual; it is not new. Actually, anyone who is in this material world, he is supposed to be atheist. Because just like the government gets together all the criminals in the prison house, similarly, those who are disobedient to the laws of the Supreme Lord, such criminals are sent into this material world.
- icchā-dveṣa-samutthena
- sarge yānti parantapa
- (BG 7.27)
Icchā and dveṣa. Icchā means desiring, and dveṣa means hating. These two things are there; it is natural. A living entity . . . even in God there is such things, but in God, because He is absolute, His hiṁsā, dveṣa or love is the same thing, advaya-jñāna. Just like, for example, those who are scientifically searching after God, the jñānīs, they also merge into the existence of God; and similarly the enemies, the atheists, just like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa, Kaṁsa, they were killed by God, but they got the same salvation. That is God, absolute.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja was a son of atheist. His father would not allow him to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but he was naturally Kṛṣṇa conscious, and as soon as he would get some opportunity in the school . . . because the school was also full of students who were born of atheistic father. So as soon as he would get some opportunity, in the tiffin hour, he would speak something about God consciousness. So that chapter is here. He is teaching to his fellow students:
- kaumāra ācaret prājño
- dharmān bhāgavatān iha
- durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
- tad apy adhruvam arthadam
- (SB 7.6.1)
This is the science. Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: this human form of body is very, very difficult to obtain. In this material world there are 8,400,000 species of life: jalajā nava-lakṣāṇi sthavarā lakṣa-viṁśati (Padma Purāṇa). The aquatic animals, there are nine lakhs, 900,000's. Similarly, sthavarā. Sthavarā means those who cannot move, just like trees, plants, hills, they are called sthavarā. And those who can move, they are called jaṅgama. Sthāvara-jaṅgama: moving and not moving. But all of them are living entities.