The Most Beautiful Weapons

“My Lord, who are never conquered by anyone, I am certainly not afraid of Your ferocious mouth and tongue, Your eyes bright like the sun or Your frowning eyebrows. I do not fear Your sharp, pinching teeth, Your garland of intestines, Your mane soaked with blood, or Your high, wedgelike ears. Nor do I fear Your tumultuous roaring, which makes elephants flee to distant places, or Your nails, which are meant to kill Your enemies.” (Prahlada Maharaja, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.9.15)

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नाहं बिभेम्य् अजित ते ’तिभयानकास्य-
जिह्वार्क-नेत्र-भ्रुकुटी-रभसोग्र-दंष्ट्रात्
आन्त्र-स्रजः-क्षतज-केशर-शङ्कु-कर्णान्
निर्ह्राद-भीत-दिगिभाद् अरि-भिन्-नखाग्रात्

nāhaṁ bibhemy ajita te ’tibhayānakāsya-
jihvārka-netra-bhrukuṭī-rabhasogra-daṁṣṭrāt
āntra-srajaḥ-kṣataja-keśara-śaṅku-karṇān
nirhrāda-bhīta-digibhād ari-bhin-nakhāgrāt

“What is your response to the following criticism? It is offered by a self-proclaimed open-minded person. They are not stuck at the point of dogmatic insistence. They believe in God. They acknowledge the presence of an Almighty, all-pervading figure. They do not foolishly consider the amazing intelligence embedded into every aspect of nature to be the result of chance, accident, or randomness. This is, of course, because if randomness created the seed of the cucumber, then certainly the same randomness would be present in the result of the planting of that seed. In other words, in a world run by randomness, a cucumber seed could produce a banana, and vice versa.

“No, this person offering the criticism has intelligence, but there is one reservation when casually observing the timeless practices and procedures of the Vedic tradition. They take issue with the violence. Not in the worship, but in the visuals associated with the objects of worship. You have Durga Devi, for example, holding the trident and striking it into a victim. You have the half-man/half-lion figure tearing open someone on his lap, as if a real-life lion has snatched a victim from the wild.

“You have the four-armed Vishnu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The two arms holding a lotus-flower and a conch make sense. Those are symbols of peace. Those are auspicious in nature. But then there is the disc and the club in the other hands. Those are weapons. Those are symbols of violence. Why should meditation focus on the act of hurting someone else? How can that be auspicious? Is not ahimsa one of the principles taught in Bhagavad-gita? In the ideal elevation of consciousness, should not a person renounce any urge to harm? Why is Vishnu promoting such violence, then?”

One way to understand is to consider the story of a person victimized by a corrupt justice system. They are sitting in jail. They did nothing wrong. They merely happened to be in a place where something else was going on. They got caught up in the swell of a crowd, which moves according to its own desires. This person never hurt anyone. They never tried to break the law.

Nevertheless, the authorities have managed to press the highest charges. It has been years since the first arrest, but still no trial. The reason is obvious. There has not been a crime committed, and the lack of wrongdoing would become obvious in the first day of legal proceedings. No, there is some nefarious motivation involved in the persecution. There is a political score to settle. This person is merely the victim of egregious corruption.

Imagine, then, that one day someone comes to the rescue. They carry weapons. They go after the guards that have been torturing the innocent prisoners for no reason. This savior exposes all of the corruption in the process. They deliver justice in a swift manner. The crimes of the law enforcement body become obvious to everyone.

How would the rescued person view the weapons used by that savior? Would they not remember them fondly? Would they not cry at the thought of someone being so brave as to take on a powerful force like a large government? Would they not consider the weapons used to be gifts from above? Would they not hold on to the memory for as long as they could, to remember just how great it felt to be rescued?

This is one way to understand the visuals associated with someone like Narahari. Prahlada Maharaja directly states that he is not afraid of such a vision. Even the devas are hesitant to approach, in the aftermath of the slaying of the Daitya named Hiranyakashipu. That leader got what he deserved. He went on with his abuses for too long. He thought that no one was watching. He thought that no one could take him on. He thought that Prahlada could be eliminated by brute force.

Hiranyakashipu thought wrong. Prahlada knew that it was Vishnu the entire time. Prahlada knew that Vishnu is generally neutral towards the population of living beings, bhutas, in the material world, but that He makes an exception for the devotees. He brings to them what they lack, and maintains what they have.

अनन्याश् चिन्तयन्तो मां
ये जनाः पर्युपासते
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां
योग-क्षेमं वहाम्य् अहम्

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

“But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.22)

In Closing:

The invisible having his back,
Now ferociously to attack.

Like Garuda catching a snake,
Demons His reach unable to shake.

Blessed because going after them,
Weapons precious as a gem.

Thus Prahlada never afraid,
Auspicious in that vision stayed.