Text 13
sarve hy amī vidhi-karās tava sattva-dhāmno
brahmādayo vayam iveśa na codvijantaḥ
kṣemāya bhūtaya utātma-sukhāya cāsya
vikrīḍitaṁ bhagavato rucirāvatāraiḥ
sarve — all; hi — certainly; amī — these; vidhi-karāḥ — executors of orders; tava — Your; sattva-dhāmnaḥ — being always situated in the transcendental world; brahma-ādayaḥ — the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā; vayam — we; iva — like; īśa — O my Lord; na — not; ca — and; udvijantaḥ — who are afraid (of Your fearful appearance); kṣemāya — for the protection; bhūtaye — for the increase; uta — it is said; ātma-sukhāya — for personal satisfaction by such pastimes; ca — also; asya — of this (material world); vikrīḍitam — manifested; bhagavataḥ — of Your Lordship; rucira — very pleasing; avatāraiḥ — by Your incarnations.
O my Lord, all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, are sincere servants of Your Lordship, who are situated in a transcendental position. Therefore they are not like us [Prahlāda and his father, the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu]. Your appearance in this fearsome form is Your pastime for Your own pleasure. Such an incarnation is always meant for the protection and improvement of the universe.
Prahlāda Mahārāja wanted to assert that his father and the other members of his family were all unfortunate because they were demoniac, whereas the devotees of the Lord are always fortunate because they are always ready to follow the orders of the Lord. When the Supreme Lord appears in this material world in His various incarnations, He performs two functions — saving the devotee and vanquishing the demon (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām). Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, for example, appeared for the protection of His devotee. Such pastimes as those of Nṛsiṁhadeva are certainly not meant to create a fearful situation for the devotees, but nonetheless the devotees, being very simple and faithful, were afraid of the fierce incarnation of the Lord. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja, in the following prayer, requests the Lord to give up His anger.