FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.9

वत्स प्रह्राद भद्रं ते सत्यं कथय मा मृषा । बालानति कुतस्तुभ्यमेष बुद्धिविपर्यय: ॥ ९ ॥
vatsa prahrāda bhadraṁ te
[vatsa prahraada bhadram te]
satyaṁ kathaya mā mṛṣā
[satyam kathaya maa mrishaa]
bālān ati kutas tubhyam
[baalaan ati kutas tubhyam]
eṣa buddhi-viparyayaḥ
[esha buddhi-viparyayah]
vatsa — O dear son prahrāda — Prahlāda bhadram te — all blessings and good fortune unto you satyam — the truth kathaya — speak mā — do not mṛṣā — a lie bālān ati — passing over the other demon boys kutaḥ — from where tubhyam — unto you eṣaḥ — this buddhi — of the intelligence viparyayaḥ — pollution.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vatsa prahrāda bhadraṁ te
vatsa
O dear son
prahrāda
Prahlāda
bhadram te
all blessings and good fortune unto you
satyaṁ kathaya mā mṛṣā
satyam
the truth
kathaya
speak
mā
do not
mṛṣā
a lie
bālān ati kutas tubhyam
bālān ati
passing over the other demon boys
kutaḥ
from where
tubhyam
unto you
eṣa buddhi-viparyayaḥ
eṣaḥ
this
buddhi
of the intelligence
viparyayaḥ
pollution.
Dear son Prahlāda, 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?

Prahlāda Mahārāja 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 Prahlāda Mahārāja 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 Prahlāda and spoil his intelligence.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Dear boy! Good fortune you! Please speak the truth. Do not lie. How has your intelligence been changed and become different from that of the other boys? Good fortune to you! We will give you some sweets if you tell the truth! Bālān ati means “overriding the other boys.” Tubhyam stands for tava.
The teachers tell Prahlāda the other boys are not 'deviant' like him — how did your intelligence get spoiled? Conformity is treated as health; sincerity is treated as pollution. Notice when a community names its best member as its sick one.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose 'deviance' in your circle might actually be greater health?
  • Where are you tempted to label your own inner divergence as corruption rather than truth?
📝 My note

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