Stories From The Bhagavatham - Narasimha Avatar (Part 2)

 

Hiranyakashipu became a father to four sons – Samhrada, Anuhrada, Hrada and Prahlada who was the youngest and showed all traits that did not belong to anyone in the Asura clan. From a very young age, he showed impeccable conduct, respect to elders and sages, had no ego and was full of humility and equanimity.

Sukracharya, the Guru of the Asura clan had two sons – Chanda and Amarka. Hiranya appointed these two as the teachers of Prahlada and told them to instruct the child in the rules of conduct that were to be followed by an Asura. Prahlada, who was only five at that time, learnt from these teachers, along with other Asura children but unlike them, he did not approve of the teachings.

Once Hiranya took Prahlada in his lap and asked him, “You have been learning from your teachers for a long time. Tell me, what do you think is the best thing in this world?”

“I have noticed that people are always caught up in the illusion of sorrow.” Prahlada said. “That is because they wrongly believe in the misconceptions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. This belief is the cause of all pain in the world and leads to the downfall of the soul. I think the best thing to do is to abandon everything and take refuge in the feet of Lord Narayana.”

This was absolutely the last thing that Hiranya expected to hear from a five-year old child. He became speechless with anger but he regained his control and laughed. ‘This is only a child.’ He thought in his mind. ‘He will repeat only what he hears from others. Perhaps the child has been seeing some devotees of Narayana and heard these words from them. I will not blame my child for speaking such nonsense.’

Hiranya thought that some devotees of Narayana were probably roaming in disguise and trying to influence his son. He told the teachers of Prahlada, “Ensure that he never meets any devotees of Narayana, like that Narada or others. Do not let him out of your sight. He will stay in your house and learn from you.’

The gurus, in their home, gently asked Prahlada, “How is it that your  mind works in a different way from the others? You are very unlike the Asura children. Please tell the truth – are your thoughts your own or is someone instilling these thoughts into you. We will not punish you, so speak the truth without fear.”

“It is the Lord who gave me such noble thoughts.” Prahlada said. “There is really no such thing as ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and man in his ignorance thinks of these. It is your deluded mind which makes you think that my thoughts are different from those of the others. This sense of duality robs a man from his power of reasoning and involves him in this false world of sorrow. One whom the Lord blesses, is able to get rid of this duality. That Lord who is beyond duality has put these thoughts in my mind. My mind is drawn to Him like a magnet. I do not know what good deeds I performed in my last birth to have such an intense craving for Lord Narayana.”

The gurus lost their temper and threatened the child with dire punishment. They taught him the essential knowledge required for an Asura prince. Once they were convinced that he had changed his mind-set and had learnt the ways of the Asura clan, they decided to present him before his father.

When Prahlada met his father, he touched his feet and took his blessings. With tears of joy, Hiranya took Prahlada and made him sit on his lap. “Tell me what you have learnt and make me happy.” He told his son.

“Father, I have learnt nine important lessons which will help me.”

“What are they?”

“Shravana – listening, kirtana – singing, smarana – meditation, padasevana – service, archana – praising, vandana – worshipping, Dasya – working with humility, sakhyam – friendship and atmanivedana – complete surrender of the self.”

“Wonderful!” Hiranya exclaimed in joy. “If you employ just one of these modes of worship to serve me, it will give me immense happiness. You have learnt well!” He looked at the teachers with happiness and they in turn felt relieved.

“Father, these are the methods of worshipping Lord Narayana.” The fearless Prahlada said. “The all-pervading Lord can be worshipped and beheld by any of these nine methods. This is the lesson I was blessed enough to learn.”

Hiranya’s anger boiled over and he shouted at the gurus. “What is this boy speaking?? Is this what I told you to teach him? You are ruining my child! You are not loyal to me and are taking sides with my enemy!”

The teachers with great humility pleaded to the king that they had not taught the child and all this was his own knowledge.

“Look child, these people are saying that they did not teach you this.” Hiranya scolded Prahlada. “Tell me, who taught you such dreadful lessons?”

Not bothered by his father’s anger, Prahlada said calmly, “People like you who are caught up in the materialistic world, who seek enjoyment of their senses and who run after pleasure like blind men leading blind men, won’t be able to understand the greatness of the Lord. Yours is a pitiable state, for you think the end and aim of life is the gratification of your desires. Unless and until you abandon the attachment to the materialistic world, you cannot learn the lessons that I learnt.”

Hiranya pushed the child away from his lap. “Take this sinner away from me. This son of mine is none other than my enemy. At the age of five, he has renounced his father. This child should be killed as soon as possible.”

The king’s henchmen took up their weapons and started attacking the child. It was as if some shield was protecting Prahlada, for none of the weapons could even touch him. Many more methods were deployed for killing the child.

Prahlada was made to lie on the ground and wild elephants were made to walk on him. When this tactic failed, he was thrown into a pit of serpents. He was thrown from the top of a mountain. He was buried alive. He was fed poison. Wonder of wonders, in spite of all these, nothing could harm the blessed child. Om Namo Narayana!

The gurus of Prahlada suggested to the king, “There is still time and the child may be corrected. We will try once again and will take him with us. In the company of other Asura children, he may get interested in things they usually do.” Thus Prahlada once again was taken to the home of his gurus where he stayed with other Asura children.

These children knew the way his father had treated him and were sympathetic towards the child.

Once when his gurus had gone somewhere and Prahlada was on his own with his friends, he spoke to them. “Listen my friends, it will be a crime if we waste the wonderful mind and body that we all have been blessed with. There is a purpose to both the mind and the body. The mind should be set on the Lord, and the body must be used for His worship. Abandon all the demonic qualities that are passed on to us as our heritage and replace them with good qualities like loving people, hating no one and having compassion for everyone. The Lord will be easily pleased with us and we can reach Him without any efforts if we practice these rules.”

“You speak all this very surely as if you are certain that all this is true. Tell us how do you know all this?” His friends asked him.

“I learnt all this from the great Rishi Narada.” Prahlada said, much to the amazement of his friends. “I will explain.”

When Hiranya was meditating on the Mandara mountain, the Devas attacked the Asuras. They entered his palace and Indra captured his wife. Sage Narada came to her rescue and rebuked the king for his actions.

“This woman has an Asura growing inside her!” Indra said. “I will keep her with me till the child is born and I will kill it myself!”

“The child growing inside her is no Asura, and will be a devotee of Lord Narayana. He will be the means to end his father’s tyranny.” Rishi Narada said to Indra who, trusting the Rishi, released Hiranya’s wife. Rishi Narada gave refuge to her in his ashram and taught her everything about Bhakti Yoga. The young one growing in her womb learnt the ultimate knowledge of Bhakti Yoga even before he was born!

When Prahlada’s gurus returned to their ashram, they found the child sharing his knowledge of Bhakti Yoga with the other Asura children who seemed to be enthralled by his teachings. Nothing that the gurus said or did, took away their enthusiasm. Prahlada had converted them all into devotees of Lord Narayana!

Absolutely frustrated with Prahlada, the teachers reported the happenings to Hiranya whose rage knew no bounds.

“Bring that son of mine here in this very instant.” He bellowed in rage. “It is time to put him in his proper place.”

The father was all set to kill his own son.