Begin Krishna consciousness in childhood, for human life is rare and temporary yet meaningful for devotional service.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
[SB 7.6.1] Pradyumna: Translation: "Prahlāda Mahārāja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life, in other words, from the tender age of childhood, to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary, like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete..." [break] Prabhupāda: ...the mother of Prahlāda Mahārāja [indistinct] of her residence in Nārada Muni's āśrama. So he instructed her.
And later on, as women usually forget, she could not utilize the instruction of Nārada Muni. But the child was within the womb of his mother. He heard it from Nārada Muni and became a great devotee. This is the history of Prahlāda Mahārāja's birth.
There are many other things. If you read this Seventh Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam... So anyway, somehow or other, he became a great devotee of the Lord. But he was born in a family of atheists.
His father, Hiraṇyakaśipu, was atheist number one, but the child was a devotee. Such thing happens. The father is devotee and the child is a demon, and sometimes the father is a demon but the child is a devotee. Everyone comes with his own karma.
It doesn't mean that because the father is atheist, therefore the child has to become an atheist; or the father is a devotee, therefore the child has to become a devotee. No. Everyone is responsible for his past deeds. So Prahlāda Mahārāja was a devotee, but his father did not like that the child should be trained up as a devotee.
That was the misunderstanding between the father and the son, and the whole history of Prahlāda Mahārāja's life is a description of misunderstanding between the father and the son. The father did not like that the son should be a devotee, but Prahlāda Mahārāja would not give up his devotional service. So that city was full of nondevotee class of men, asuras. There are two classes of men everywhere: asura and sura, devatā and asura. In Sanskrit language, those who are devotees, they are called devatā—demigod or godly persons.
And those who are nondevotees, they are called demons or asura. These two classes of men are always there in this material world. Mostly they are demonic, atheist, and few of them are devatā. But there are two classes.