Question
Did Prahlada think that the worldly people are ‘fools and rascals’?
Answer
No,. Not at all.
The original sloka is
naivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaraṇyās tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ śoce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyārtha- māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān
The lines made bold of the following quotation are all wrong translations. Let us see why
SYNONYMS na—not; eva—certainly; udvije—I am disturbed or afraid; para—O Supreme; duratyaya—insurmountable or very difficult to cross; vaitaraṇyāḥ—of the Vaitaraṇī, the river of the material world; tvat-vīrya—of Your Lordship’s glories and activities; gāyana—from chanting or distributing; mahā-amṛta—in the great ocean of nectarean spiritual bliss; magna-cittaḥ—whose consciousness is absorbed; śoce—I am simply lamenting; tataḥ—from that; vimukha-cetasaḥ—the fools and rascals who are bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; indriya-artha—in sense gratification; māyā-sukhāya—for temporary, illusory happiness; bharam—the false burden or responsibility (of maintaining one’s family, society and nation and elaborate arrangements for that purpose); udvahataḥ—who are lifting (by making grand plans for this arrangement); vimūḍhān—although all of them are nothing but fools and rascals (I am thinking of them also).
- Prahlada was a devotee of Sri Vishnu and so he never could talk of the 'Krishna-Consciousness.
2.'Vimukha-ChetA' means the ones whose mind are roaming away from God.
'Bhrama' means confusion.
Vimudha means the tempted/ beguiled/ignorant.
So there is no trace of any words like 'fools and rascals' in the original sloka. It is conveying something very unwanted and undesirable.
Reference: sanskritdictionary.com
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