English
Prahlada and Narasimha
Source: Shrimad Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 7 (chapters 3–10)
Through fierce austerity, the demon king Hiranyakashipu won a boon from Brahma: he could not be killed by any being Brahma had created, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither by day nor by night, neither on the ground nor in the sky, by no weapon, by neither man nor beast.
With that boon he believed himself immortal. He conquered the three worlds and made Lord Vishnu his enemy, for it was Vishnu who had slain his brother Hiranyaksha.
Yet in his own house was born Prahlada, whose mind had rested in the Lord since childhood. One day his father asked fondly, “Son, what is the best thing you learned from your teachers?” Prahlada replied, “To hear the Lord's stories, to chant His name, to remember Him and serve Him: that is the best of all.”
Hiranyakashipu shook with rage and ordered the boy killed. The demons struck him with tridents, but the blows were useless. Then he was trampled by elephants, bitten by venomous serpents, given poison, thrown from a high mountain, starved. Each time Prahlada calmly remembered the Lord, and each time he survived.
At last, in the royal assembly, Hiranyakashipu roared, “Fool! On whose strength do you defy me?” Prahlada answered humbly, “Father, the one who is the strength of all beings is my strength too.”
“Where is this Lord of yours? If He is everywhere, why don't I see Him in this pillar?” Prahlada said, “He is in it too.”
“Then today I will cut off your head, and let your Hari save you if He can!” Hiranyakashipu leapt from his throne and struck the pillar with all his might. At that instant came a roar so terrible that the whole universe trembled…
The pillar split, and out of it appeared a wondrous form, neither wholly man nor wholly beast: the face of a lion on a human body, blazing eyes and sharp claws. This was Lord Narasimha.
Hiranyakashipu rushed at Him with his mace. For a while the Lord fought him almost playfully. Then at twilight, when it was neither day nor night, He seized him and carried him to the threshold of the assembly hall, which is neither inside the house nor outside it.
There He laid him across His thighs, which are neither ground nor sky, and with His claws, which are no weapon, He ended him. Every word of Brahma's boon stayed true, and still unrighteousness did not survive.
The gods came to offer praise, but the Lord's fury would not subside. No one dared go near, not even Goddess Lakshmi. Then Brahma said, “Prahlada, my child, you go.”
The boy walked forward without fear and lay at the Lord's feet. The Lord's heart melted. He lifted him up and placed His lotus hand on his head. Prahlada praised Him with love, and Lord Narasimha grew calm.
The Lord said, “Ask for a boon.” Prahlada replied, “Lord, if You must give, grant that no desire ever arises in my heart.” Then, with folded hands, he added, “My father spoke much ill of You. Please forgive him.”
The Lord smiled. “Because of a son like you, not only your father but twenty-one generations of your family are purified.” He had Prahlada crowned king, and then vanished from sight.
What this story teaches
True devotion is not shaken by fear, and the Lord will come out of a pillar to keep His devotee's word true. Prahlada asked nothing for himself; instead he asked forgiveness for the one who had tormented him.
Lord Narasimha's appearance is celebrated as Narasimha Jayanti on Vaishakha Shukla Chaturdashi. The well-known episode of Holika sitting in the fire with Prahlada is not in the Bhagavata; it comes from later tradition and is remembered at Holika Dahan.
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