True fear drives the devotee away from endless birth-death cycles toward eternal shelter at Krishna's lotus feet.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Anantarām Śāstrījī: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [chants verse, Prabhupāda and devotees respond] [break] trasto 'smy ahaṁ kṛpaṇa-vatsala duḥsahograsaṁsāra-cakra-kadanād grasatāṁ praṇītaḥ baddhaḥ sva-karmabhir uśattama te 'ṅghri-mūlaṁ prīto 'pavarga-śaraṇaṁ hvayase kadā nu [SB 7.9.16] Dayānanda: [chants synonyms, devotees respond] rastaḥ—threatened; asmi—I have so become; aham—I; kṛpaṇa-vatsala—O my Lord, who is so kind upon the fallen souls; duḥsaha—intolerable; ugra—very powerful; saṁsāra-cakra—the cycle of birth and death; kadanāt—from such miserable condition of life; grastām... Prabhupāda: Grasatām. Dayānanda: Grasatām—"overpowered by other conditioned souls." [devotees repeat] Prabhupāda: "Power?" "Other conditioned?" Grasatām? Grasatām means "taken over." Is it not? Hrdayānanda: Grasatām: "taken." Prabhupāda: "Taken over." There is some word.
Praṇītaḥ. Dayānanda: [continues with synonyms:] praṇītaḥ—being so thrown into such association; baddhaḥ—bound up; sva-karmabhiḥ—the course by my own resultant action of activities; uśattama—O the great insurmountable; te—Your; aṅghri-mūlam—root of Your lotus feet; prītaḥ—being pleased upon me; upavarga-śaraṇam... Prabhupāda: apavarga-śaraṇam. Devotee: apavarga-śaraṇam. Dayānanda: apavarga-śaraṇam—the shelter of Your lotus feet; which is meant for liberation from this horrible condition of material existence; hvayase—Your Lordship will call me; kadā—when; nu—indeed. [03:39] Translation: "O my Lordship, You are so kind upon the fallen souls. O the most powerful, insurmountable by anyone else, on account of my resultant action of activities, I have been put into the association of asuras, and therefore I am very much afraid of my condition of life within this material world. Of course, if You become very pleased upon me, I am waiting for that moment when You will call me to take shelter under Your lotus feet, which is the ultimate goal of life for being liberated from this conditional life." Prabhupāda: trasto 'smy ahaṁ kṛpaṇa-vatsala duḥsahograsaṁsāra-cakra-kadanād grasatāṁ praṇītaḥ baddhaḥ sva-karmabhir uśattama te 'ṅghri-mūlaṁ prīto 'pavarga-śaraṇaṁ hvayase kadā nu [SB 7.9.16] So Prahlāda Mahārāja was not afraid of the fierceful features of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. He was not fearful.
But question may be asked, "You are not afraid of anything? You are seeing so fierceful appearance, nṛsiṁha-mūrti. Everyone is afraid. And even Lord Brahmā; Lord Śiva; goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī; and other demigods—everyone is afraid of, but you say that 'I am not afraid of Your, this horrible feature.' " Nāhaṁ bibhemy.
[SB 7.9.15] This verse we have discussed, "I am not afraid." So the question may be that "If you are not afraid of this fearful appearance of Me, then that means you are not afraid of anything?" The answer is, "Yes, I am afraid. Yes, I am afraid." What is that? Trasto 'ham ahaṁ kṛpaṇa-vatsala duḥsahogra-saṁsāra-cakra-kadanād: "I am afraid of this material existence, not this, Your fearful..." This fearful appearance is fearful for the asuras, duṣkṛtina. When Kṛṣṇa comes, He has got two business: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām [Bg 4.8].
So those who are duṣkṛtām, duṣkṛtinaḥ... These words are used in the Bhagavad-gītā: na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante [Bg 7.15]. So anyone who is in this material world, he is a duṣkṛti. Kṛti means very meritorious. Kīrtir yasya sa jīvati.
[Anyone who is reputed for his good activities, he lives forever.—Cāṇakya Paṇḍita] Meritorious, kṛti. But duṣkṛti. Here in this material world there are many, many persons, very meritorious: big, big philosophers, scientists, politicians, very meritorious. But their merit is being used for sinful activities.
Just like a thief: he has got merit, but his merit is being used for stealing. So that is called duṣkṛti. And sukṛtina, just the opposite is sukṛtina. Sukṛti means one is acting or utilizing his merit for sukṛti.