Prahlada

For the 1941 film, see Prahlada (film).

Prahlada overcoming the elephant

Prahlāda was a daitya king, the son of Hiranyakashipu, and the father of Virochana. He is often described as a saintly boy from the Puranas known for his piety and bhakti to Vishnu. Despite the abusive nature of his father, Hiranyakashipu, he continued his devotion towards Vishnu. He is considered to be a mahājana, or great devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and is of special importance to devotees of the avatār Narasiṁha. A treatise is accredited to him in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in which Prahlāda describes the process of loving worship to his lord, Vishnu. The majority of stories in the Puranas are based on the activities of Prahlāda as a young boy, and he is usually depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.

History

Narasimha kills Hiranyakashipu, as Prahlada and his mother Kayadu bow before Lord Narasimha.

Prahlāda was born to Kayadu and Hiranyakashipu, an evil daitya king who had been granted a boon that he could not be killed of anything born from a living womb, neither be killed by a man nor an animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on land, nor in the air nor in water and of no man made weapon! After the killing of his father, he took his father's kingdom and ruled peacefully. He was known for his generosity and kindness. He sowed similar seeds in his son Virochana and grandson Mahabali.

The story of Prahlada

File:Lakshmi narasimhan.jpg

Lord Narasiṁha kills demon hiraṇyakaśipu.(At left)The prahalāda bows before lord

Prahlada while being in his mother's womb got to hear Narada's chants. He was taught by Narada in early childhood. As a result, he was devoted towards Vishnu. His father didn't like his spiritual inclination. He tried to warn Prahlada. Despite several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlāda continued to worship Vishnu instead. His father then decided to commit filicide and poison Prahlāda, but he survived. He then trampled the boy with elephants, but the boy still lived. Then he put Prahlāda in a room with venomous snakes, and they made a bed for him with their bodies.

Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed in that she could not be hurt by fire. Hiranyakashipu puts Prahlāda on the lap of Holika as she sits on a pyre. Prahlāda prays to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika then burns to death as Prahlāda is left unscathed. This event is celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.

After tolerating abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlāda is eventually saved by Narasiṁha, Lord Vishnu in the form of a man-lion chimera, who places the king on his thighs, and kills him with his sharp nails at the entrance to his home at dusk, thus nullifying all of Hiranyakashipu's boon of virtual immortality.

There is an underground pillar known as "Prahlāda khamba" in Dharahra village, in the Purnia District of Bihar, India. It is said to be the pillar from which Narasiṁha manifested to kill Hiranyakashipu. Adjacent to the pillar is a large temple devoted to Lord Narasiṁha. Allegedly, attempts to excavate or move the "Prahlāda khamba" have failed. In Maharashtra, an underground temple near the banks of the river Krishna in Sangli District hosts a beautiful stone carved sculpture of "Narasimha and Laxmi".

The story of Prahlāda teaches that:

• Faith in God is paramount.
• God will always prevail.
• God saves his devotees.
• Devotion can be practiced at any time. Age does not matter.
• Evil will be punished.
• God is omnipresent.

Prahlāda eventually becomes king of the daityas and attains a place in the abode of Vishnu (Vaikuntha) after his death.

Scriptural references

In the Bhagavad Gita (10.30) Krishna makes the following statement in regard to Prahlāda, showing his favour towards him:

Translation: "Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda, among subduers I am time, among beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuda."

Later Life

Because of his steadfast devotion towards Vishnu as well as under the teachings of Shukracharya, Prahlada became the mighty king of the Asuras. Prahlada was even more powerful than his father, Hiranyakashipu ever was. He enjoyed the love and respect of his subjects. Even Ravana was a weakling before the powerful Prahlada.

Without lifting a single weapon, and by virtue of his good behaviour, Prahlada conquered the three worlds easily and Indra ran away from the Heavens. Indra then deceived Prahlada into giving him the power of his behaviour and Prahlada lost control of the three worlds.

The Asuras grew angry at the Devas for taking advantage of their King's virtuous behaviour and invaded the heavens. The Devas, afraid of the Asuras, enlisted the help of human Kings such as Yayati, Raji and Kakutstha and defeated them.

Prahlada then personally attacked the gods and defeated Indra in battle, forcing the King of the Gods to run for his life. Indra sought help of the divine Goddess as well as Lord Brahma. Infused with their power, Indra defeated Prahlada. The latter understood that the Goddess was helping Indra in battle and he withdrew his forces.

The Devi Bhagavatam narrates an incident, where Prahlada fought the Sages, Nara and Narayana. Prahlada defeated Nara, but continuously fought against Narayana for 360,000 years. The fight ended in a draw. Vishnu told Prahlada to desist from the fight as Nara-Narayana were the incarnations of himself.

Prahlada's son was Virochana, who was the father of Bali. The gods had Virochana killed by taking advantage of his generosity. Prahlada raised his grandson, Bali. Later on, Prahlada and Bali lived on Sutala Loka on instructions of Vishnu.

After a long life, Prahlada died of old age and attained Moksha. Prahlada's descendants included the Asura Bana, who was humbled by Krishna and the Nivatakavachas, who were slain by Arjuna.

Prahlāda in Sikhism

Prahlāda is regarded as one of the devotees of God in Satya Yuga. Sikhism also believes Prahlāda was a devotee of Paramātmā, Supreme God or Waheguru.

Scriptural references

Prahlāda is mentioned 27 times in Guru Granth Sahib. As in Hinduism, Guru Granth Sahib also describes Harnakash as the father of Prahlāda who wanted to kill him, but was stopped by Narasiṁha.

Prahlaad was placed in a cell, and the door was locked. The fearless child was not afraid at all. He said, "Within my being, is the Guru, the Lord of the World. The created being tried to compete with his Creator, but he assumed this name in vain. That which was predestined for him has come to pass; he started an argument with the Lord's humble servant. ||7|| The father raised the club to strike down Prahlaad, saying, Where is your God, the Lord of the Universe, now? He replied, "The Life of the World, the Great Giver, is my Help and Support in the end. Wherever I look, I see Him permeating and prevailing."||8|| Tearing down the pillars, the Lord Himself appeared. The egotistical demon was killed and destroyed. The minds of the devotees were filled with bliss, and congratulations poured in. He blessed His servant with glorious greatness. ||9|| (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1154)

Pilgrimage sites

The following sites in Andhra Pradesh, India, are associated with Prahlāda or Narasiṁha as places of pilgrimage:

• Simhachalam
• Ahobilam
• Kadiri

In popular culture

The story of Prahlada has been the theme of various films, including Bhakta Prahlada (1931 film), which was first Telugu talkie movie made in 1931, followed by Bhaktha Prahlada (1942 film) (1942). In Kannada, the story has been portrayed in Bhakta Prahlada (1942 film), Bhakta Prahlada (1958 film) and Bhakta Prahlada (1983 film). Tamil films, Bhaktha Prahlada (1942) and Bhakta Prahlada (1967) both directed by Chitrapu Narayana Rao, besides Malayalam film, Prahlada (1941), Hindi film, Bhakta Prahlad (1946) directed by Dhirubhai Desai and Bengali film Prahlad (1952).

See also

• Narada
• Bhakti Yoga
• Jaya-Vijaya
• Multan
• Raghavendra Swami

External links

• Bhagavata Purana Canto 7 - The Story of Prahlada (srimadbhagavatam.com)
• Dharma-Nirnayam short story on Prahlada (moralstories.wordpress.com)
• Prahlada in the Vishnu Purana (sacred-texts.com)

School of Prahlada at Ahobilam

• Prahlada Pathashala (School) (Flickr.com)

Preceded by Hiranyakashipu

Daityas unknown

Succeeded by Virochana