In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna focuses
the entire tenth chapter to explain his vibhutis, glories. Where ever we see
magnificence we can see a ray of divinity. For an untrained mind, seeing these
divine expressions is evidence of divinity. Krishna says amongst Daityas, HE is
Prahlada. What more credibility can be attributed to Prahlada.
प्रह्लादश्चास्मि दैत्यानां
prahlādaś
cāsmi daityānāḿ (BG 10.30)
Among Daityas
I am Prahlada.
Hiranyakashipu, the younger brother
of Hiranyaksha, was enraged at his brother’s death at the hands of Varaha
Avatar. (A bereaved Hiranyakashipu gives a wonderful lecture on the ephemeral
nature of body and the permanence of soul to console his mom, Diti and his
sister-in-law, Rushabhanu. This gives an insight into the level of wisdom he
carried and is not like an idiotic demon as portrayed commonly)
As he carried his rule, he got
overpowered by the desire to be immortal, ageless, all powerful ruler. He
performed extreme Tapas (austerity)
which had repercussions throughout the universe. Brahma, pleased with his
tapas, restores his emaciated body. Having conquered Brahma’s heart, he pleads
for the following boon:
“None of Brahma’s creations can
overpower or kill him. He must not die at home or outside, neither during day
or night, any weapons ever created, nor on the ground or in the sky. He should
not die at the hands of devas or asuras or nagas or any other entity. He should
have no rivals, reign supreme in battles, rule all lokas with glory equal to
Brahma and never lose his yogic powers gained.”
Having thus gained an incomparable
boon, he let loose a reign of terror and garnered all the prosperities of the
lokas. Having wrongly reasoned that Vishnu gains his energies from the
sacrifices of his devotees, Hiranyakashipu declared that he was the supreme
self. All denizens must worship him and no one else. Anyone suspected of
praying to the Supreme Self, Narayana, were tortured or executed. His ego was
the only thing bigger than his terror and stature.
He fathered four sons, but Prahlada,
unlike his asura origin was filled with divine qualities. He transcended the
bodily cage and was always immersed in divine thoughts and singing praises of Sriman
Narayana. As a prince of the only King of the Universe, he was sent to the tutelage
of Shanda and Amarka, sons of Asura Guru Sukracharya. One day, Hiranyakashipu
picked Prahlada, aged five and sat him on his lap and asked what would do the best
to make him happy? Prahlada, whose name stands for the Joy of Understanding,
said, every atma is worrying due to the
attractions of the material world, chasing them due to body consciousness. The
best one can do is stay alone and seek the feet of the Lord.
Hiranyakashipu instructed the boy’s
teachers to provide proper guidance. The shocked Brahmin priests who inquired the
child were in store for a bigger shock as Prahlada gives a graphic description
of Hari, Hirankashipu’s sworn enemy and an insight into his deep devotion. The
teachers subjected Prahlada to strong punishments and he was strictly taught
only the three purusharthas – Dharma-Artha-Kama.
They deliberately left Moksha out of
the syllabus taught, so that Prahlada’s natural devotion will not grow.
After intense tutoring, one day
Prahlada was produced to showcase his knowledge to Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada
said,”To
listen, to sing, to remember Vishnu, to attend to the feet, to offer worship
and prayers, to become a servant, to be a friend and to surrender one's heart
and soul. These are the nine characteristics of the devotional service to
Vishnu delivered by the devotee. To reach the feet of this Supreme Purusha is
the aim and purpose of life and that is what he considered the best purpose of
learning”.
An enraged Hiranyakashipu is besought
by pleading teachers who claim not to be the source of his words. Prahlada’s
words add more fuel to the burning wrath. Hiranyakashipu thunders his demon
servants to put an end to Prahlada. When he discovered that weapons had no
effect on Prahlada. He schemed different ways to kill his own son. He let loose
mad elephants to trample, poisonous snakes to bite, throw him from great
heights, administer poison and so forth. All attempts could not even hurt the
hair of Prahlada, due to the grace of Vishnu.
Every failure only grew the fear and
anger of Hiranyakashipu. Shanda and Amarka again proposed to weaken Prahlada’s
spirit by persuasive teaching. They intensified teaching him that his dad was
the real master of the universe and not Hari.
One day, when the teachers were
gone, the boys tried to probe Prahlada. Prahlada gave a glimpse of his wisdom
that enraptured the kids. He explained how we humans waste our childhood in
ignorance, during adulthood in vain pursuit of frivolous objects of sensory pleasure
and oldage we find ourselves unable to focus on anything important. Having thrown
away our precious lives, we repeat this cycle of birth and death and buried in
this Samsara. Hence the mind must be trained to dwell upon the only reality,
the feet of Supreme Lord. The easiest path is that of devotion, Bhagavata
dharma. Prahlada declared to have received it from Sage Narada.
The boys wondered in disbelief, how
the Sage could have even established contact when even air was regulated.
Prahlada took them back to his conception time. When Hiranyakashipu was away,
doing his penances in Mandarachala, Indra attacked the asuras and took the
pregnant wife of Hiranyakashipu, Kayadhu, with the intention of killing the
child. Narada rescued her from Indra and took her to his ashram. Out of love,
he not only took care of their bodily needs, but also instructed both of them
with the highest spiritual knowledge. So we have a case preceding Abhimanyu of
an unborn child learning from his mother’s womb.
Prahlada claimed his mother did not
grasp and retain this divine grace, but he was blessed to not only retain, but
also grow it in the recesses of his heart. He advised the boys to discard the
impermanent by saying Neti, Neti – not this, not this and
thus divert the mind and attention to the only permanent Divine Grace. The
force of Prahlada’s knowledge was so great that even the asura kids gave up
their other interests and were absorbed in the thoughts of Vishnu.
A thoroughly shaken Shanda and
Amarka, seeing their logic being no match to the wisdom the boys had acquired
from Prahlada, went and appealed to the King. Hiranyakashipu wondered aloud
about the source of his power. Prahlada said that “Not only is Supreme Vishnu is the source of his strength, but also
that of Hiranyakashipu”. He suggested that his dad give up his
asuric paths and turn his mind to the feet of Hari. Hiranyakashipu bubbling in
wrath challenged where that Hari wass to protect Prahlada from his seething rage.
As he drew a sword and menacingly approached Prahlada with a barrage of abuses,
he struck the nearby pillar with his fist, taunting if Hari was hiding in that
pillar.
With a huge sound, the pillar
cracked and out of it came the most fearsome form of something that looked like
a giant lion head with a human form – Narasimha. The awe inspiring form had
sharp teeth and claws gave a swipe from its paw that parted Hiranyakashipu from
Prahlada. Narasimha completely overpowered Hiranyakashipu like a mouse being
overpowered by a hawk. Narasimha took the wretched Hiranyakashipu to the
entrance of the palace, which was neither inside nor outside, laid him hanging
on his lap, which was neither above nor below and tore this gut with his claws,
which was not a weapon during dusk, which was neither morning nor evening. As
Narasimha was not Brahma’s creation, Lord Narayana took extreme care to honor
every boon given by Brahma. What Hiranyakashipu thought of a backdoor to
immortality essentially turned out to be his own death warrant.
Though Hiranyakashipu was dead,
Narasimha was still trembling in anger and was fearsome. Brahma, Shiva and
devas assembled along with Lakshmi and could not dare to face the fearsome
countenance of Narasimha even to worship. Brahma, Shiva, Devas paid their
respects but were still trembling. They requested Prahlada to approach HIM on
their behalf. Prahlada endeared the Lord Narasimha with his prayers. When
Narasimha’s anger cooled a tad, he asked Prahlada to seek any benediction.
Prahlada pleaded not to be allured with any worldly distractions. He wanted
only the lotus feet of the Lord. An even pleased Narasimha blessed him to rule
justly and come to HIS abode when it was time for him to shed his body.
Prahlada wondered about the state of
his father and sought pardon on his behalf. Smiling Narasimha said that
Prahlada’s birth had purified all his fore-fathers because of his saintly
birth. He performed last rites to his father and assumed throne to spread the
wisdom of living under Lord Vishnu’s grace for long times to come.
Satchitananda’s
Microscope
- Age is not factor for wisdom or spiritual progress. One can turn their mind to the Supreme Self, at any age.
- Prahlada, defied not only his father, but the greatest power ruling the universe, as his mind was enveloped in thoughts of divinity. Divinity will outshine any materialistic splendor. To do the right thing is always right, under any circumstance.
- A Guru’s Grace will even bless an unborn. Guru’s Grace in the form of Sage Narada was able to liberate even an asura child. The seeds of Self-Realisation will work in parallel to the outward events, if it is deep-rooted.
- The events in our life – good or bad should act as a constant reminder to remember HIS presence behind every aspect of our life. Do not let the trials and tribulations of life nor do its successes distract our primary goal.
- The Lord protects all those who remember HIM. HE protects Prahlada during the numerous attempts made on his life.
- When Brahma appears, Hiranyakashipu seeks blessings based on his vasanas. Prahlada when blessed by Narasimha wants his mind not to be cluttered by vasanas, more materialistic distractions through possessions. He wants nothing but the Lord’s feet. This difference in outlook is fundamental. We get to make this choice too, every second of our life. The vasana expression or their exhaustion will determine our direction, not even face contact with divinity.
- The Lord blessed even Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu who were living their entire lives with only HATRED for the Supreme Divinity. Constant rememberance of the Lord, be it in faith(Prahlada), fear(Kamsa) or hatred(Hiranyakashipu) is a sure way to reach his lotus feet. But with our bhakti being Vyabhacharini type, like that of a prostitute, according to Krishna, we are not able to hold our attention by constantly being distracted by worldly pleasures.
- Vishnu was tolerant to the abuses heaped on HIM by Hiranyakashipu, but when someone was bent on hurting his devotee, HIS anger knew no limits. God's Grace for his true devotees knows no limits.
- Prahlada lives a life of an exemplary devotee, right from his birth and during his reign. An outstanding Bhagavata. Krishna in Bhagavad Gita informs the highest glories in Chapter 10.
यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोऽस्मि yajñānām
japa-yajño 'smi (BG 10.25)
Amongst
different Yajnas, I am the best, Japa Yajna
Krishna says the best of Yajna,
sacrifice, is the constant rememberance of the Lord. Today most religions
including Hinduism are centered around this Dharma, as that is the nature of
Kali Yuga. Prahlada not only is the example given for the best Daityas, he is
also the best example for one who practices the highest Yajna, Japa Yajna.
May we all strive to acquire the great
characteristic traits of Prahlada. May our steps be measured and guided in the
grace of the Lord Narayana. May HIS Grace and Blessings continue to inspire
through such great exemplars.
Om Tat Sat
Suggested Reading
Narayana Narayana Narayana ...
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