Story of Bhakt Prahlad
Prahlad’s
story begins during the time of God Vishnu’s fourth avatar Varaha Avatar. In
order to rescue the earth from the captivity of Hiranyaksha, God Vishnu had
arrived in the avatar Varaha form and killed him. Hiranyaksha’s elder brother
Hiranyakashipu was very angry about this. He resolved to take revenge of his
brother’s death. He went to the Himalayas and began to perform severe penance
for many, many years. God Brahma was pleased by his penance and asked him for a
boon. Hiranyakashipu asked that “May I never be killed neither by any weapon
nor any creature made by you, neither in the day nor in the night, and neither
on earth nor in the sky”. God Brahma agreed to Hiranyakashipu’s boon and gave it to him.
While
Hiranyakashipu was away, the gods had attacked his kingdom and killed his
nephews. God Indra had even abducted his wife, Kayadhu who was expecting a
child. Narad ji stopped Indra on his way back to heaven. Indra declared to Narad
ji that Kayadhu was pregnant; he would destroy her unborn baby and then release
her. Narad ji however, assured Indra that the unborn baby was a supreme devotee
of God Vishnu and that they should not fear him. God Indra was convinced and
released Queen Kayadhu, who then began to stay at Narad ji hermitage.
Addressing the unborn baby, Narad ji daily used to preach Kayadhu about the
devotion one should have for God. This was the way the baby would never forget
the preaching it received in the pre-natal stage.
At
the appropriate time, Kayadhu gave birth to a son, Prahlad. Prahlad was the
youngest among Hiranyakaship’s four sons. He appeared to be the eldest in
virtues. He did not have any desires. He was content like the hermits, truthful
and always wished well for everyone. He had full control over his senses, mind
and body. He was also completely untouched by the demonic virtues of his father
and brothers. Since childhood, he remained submerged in devotion to God Vishnu.
The demons even tried to use their illusionary powers on Prahlad but none of
their powers could stand before him. Two sages, Shand and Amark produced an
ogress, Kritya to kill Prahlad if he didn’t follow their ways, but she killed
them instead of killing Prahlad. But Prahlad was kind hearted and prayed to God
Vishnu and brought them back to life.
Hiranyakashipu
tried another way to kill Prahlad. He had a sister, Holika who had a boon that
she would not die by fire. King Hiranyakashipu asked her to sit on a bonfire
with Prahlad on her lap in the hope that this would kill Prahlad. Prahlad was
not at all worried and chanted God Vishnu’s name and was not hurt, but Holika
was burned to her death. All the measures taken by the demons to kill Prahlad
proved to be fruitless.
Because
of this, Hiranyakashipu began to feel afraid. Once more, he forcibly sent
Prahlad to the hermitage of Shand and Amark. Once there, Prahlad did take the
education they offered but had no interest in their teachings. When his
teachers used to get engaged in minor activities, Prahlad would assemble his
fellow disciples around him and preach to them that, “Brothers, this human
incarnation is not meant to be wasted. If we don’t find God in this birth, it would be
a great loss. We can achieve the means to find God right in our childhood, for
when we grow young, we are caught by the material wealth and nothing can be
done in old age. It is very easy to find God. He is present in everyone’s
hearts. He is in every living being. Hence, we should not torture any creature.
We should concentrate our mind in the God”.
At
the age of five years, Prahlad was preaching to the demon boys. The demon boys
followed him faithfully. His teachers saw that Prahlad’s teachings were against
demonic traditions, Prahlad was sent back to Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu
decided to kill Prahlad with his own hands. He tied Prahlad to a pillar.
Hiranyakashipu asked in a loud voice: “O fool, with whose powers you have been
humiliating me with? Now, I am going to kill you, call your God to save you.”
Prahlad was
unconcerned replied humbly: “Father, don’t be angry. God Vishnu is the
protector of us all. I am not dishonoring you. One’s own mind is his biggest
enemy in the world. God Vishnu is everywhere. He is in me, in you, in your
sword and is also present in the pillar”.
Little
Prahlad could not even finish his words when his angry father hit the pillar
with his mace. As soon as the mace touched the pillar, it broke with a
thundering sound. Everyone who was present in the court panicked. They saw a
creature emerging from the pillar. It had the face of a lion and a human body.
Emerging from the broken pillar was the avatar (incarnation) of God Vishnu as
Narsimha. Narsimha roared angrily. The demon king Hiranyakashipu tried his best
to escape from Narsimha. But at last, Narsimha caught hold of him and dragged
him towards the threshold. There, he put Hiranyakashipu on thighs and tore his
belly with his terrifying nails.
The
anger of Narsimha did not subside even after killing Hiranyakashipu. He was
still roaring repeatedly. God Brahma, God Shankar and even Goddess Lakshmi
prayed to God Narsimha from a distance but no one had the courage to go near
him. Finally, Brahma sent Prahlad near Narsimha to calm him down. Fearlessly,
Prahlad went near Narsimha and laid himself flat at his feet. Affectionately,
the God in Narsimha form raised Prahlad and embraced him and said: “O son
Prahlad, you had to bear the sufferings for so long. Please forgive me.” Prahlad
felt overwhelmed. The God of the universe was standing before him and was
stroking his head in assuring way. Prahlad bowed his head faithfully. God
Narsimha then asked Prahlad to seek some boon. Prahlad said: “You are my true
God. If you wish to grant me a boon, kindly bless me that no desire may arise
in my mind for anything.”
Prahlad
also prayed to God Narsimha for his father, asking him, “O God, my father had
always criticized you. Please free him from the sins he has committed.” God
Narsimha replied saying, “Prahlad, your father has now become holy.” God
Narsimha promised Prahlad that he would never kill any of his descendents. God
Narsimha then escorted Prahlad to the throne of his father and made him sit on
it, instructing him to follow good conduct and do his duties.
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