“Others will also ridicule and scorn saying, ‘This child is an asura but prays to the gods. It is like a cat offering prayers to a mouse or a peacock to a snake.’ This is indeed a bad omen, behavior resembling an enemy, as even after obtaining great wealth and power, an unintelligent person can fall down.” (Hiranyakashipu speaking to Prahlada, Narasimha Purana, 41.59-60)

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अन्येपि त्वां हनिष्यन्ति वदिष्यन्ति जनास्त्विदम्
असुरोयं सुरांस्तौति मार्जार इव मूषकान्
द्वेष्यान् शिखीव फणिनो दुर्निमित्तमिदं ध्रुवम्
लब्ध्वापि महदैश्वर्यं लाघवं यान्त्यबुद्धयः

anyepi tvāṃ haniṣyanti vadiṣyanti janāstvidam
asuroyaṃ surāṃstauti mārjāra iva mūṣakān
dveṣyān śikhīva phaṇino durnimittamidaṃ dhruvam
labdhvāpi mahadaiśvaryaṃ lāghavaṃ yāntyabuddhayaḥ

On the auspicious occasion of Holi, we remember the amazing resolve of a young child, born in what would seem to be the wrong family, placed in the wrong circumstances, taught by instructors with ill-intent, living in a household led by someone the entire world feared. Prahlada survived one attack after another, including being intentionally placed in a burning fire, but what was the heart of the problem? Why did a father intelligent enough to undergo austerities for pleasing the creator, Lord Brahma, follow through on such a base activity like attempted murder against a minor?

Indeed, it was the father who considered the son to be base. The Sanskrit word is lāghavaṃ. This can also refer to lightness or something that is the opposite of heavy. In this context, the word is paired with aiśvaryaṃ, which refers to opulence or wealth. Hiranyakashipu thought that the son was squandering the greatest opportunity, as not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

To Hiranyakashipu, to have opulence at the extreme end of the spectrum indicated power, influence, and the absence of a reason to fear. After all, if any problem should arise, the opulence could be tapped into. There is the saying that the empty sack cannot stand up straight. If a person has no means, if they are poverty-stricken, how can they be expected to wield influence in the world?

Prahlada was a problem in the eyes of the father. The young child appeared to have gone mad, in showing allegiance to Vishnu. This was the mortal enemy to Hiranyakashipu. The viewpoint was one-sided, as Vishnu does not have enemies. He is the greatest well-wisher to every living being, including Hiranyakashipu. Vishnu is also the enjoyer of all kinds of sacrifice. He is the deva to the devas which the Daitya leader had previously supplicated.

भोक्तारं यज्ञ-तपसां
सर्व-लोक-महेश्वरम्
सुहृदं सर्व-भूतानां
ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिम् ऋच्छति

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

“The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.29)

Vishnu was an enemy in this case due to a rivalry of sorts. A competitive spirit. Hiranyakashipu considered himself to be the owner of opulence; not the husband of Shri, who is Vishnu. Why was Prahlada showing allegiance to someone who was so weak? Where did the child learn such allegiance? Prahlada was otherwise attending school.

The father warned that the other children would make fun of Prahlada. They would view the child’s allegiance to Vishnu as the path of a madman. The comparison is to a cat offering wonderful prayers, stuti, to a mouse. Or a peacock doing the same for a snake.

With the animal community, there is no ambiguity here. The cat dominates the mouse. It can catch the mouse. This is the way of nature. The peacock eats snakes. There may be a case made for showing kindness and compassion, but what superior party would ever dream of praying before the inferior party?

Hiranyakashipu took this to be the work of an enemy, dveṣyān. It must be due to a lack of intelligence, abuddhayaḥ. Only the less intelligent fall down from the position of opulence. There was no reason for Prahlada to volunteer in this regard. There was no one forcing him down. Why was this happening?

And so the sinful, the evil, the wicked, and the like will rationalize their horrible behavior. If Prahlada had gone mad, then what choice did Hiranyakashipu have? The enemy-like behavior was indeed a bad omen. Some bad things were set to happen. And so Prahlada had to be eliminated.

It should be noted that such contradictions have been steady throughout recorded history. The unintelligent cannot understand how a devotee of Vishnu would give up interest in everything else. The person who actually lacks buddhi thinks that devotees of Vishnu are the crazy ones. The devotees spend their day chanting the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. They are more than satisfied in remembering, smaranam, in reading and hearing, shravanam, and in worshiping at periodic intervals, archanam.

Hiranyakashipu thought this was insane behavior, and so he felt compelled to interfere. Unfortunately for the father, Prahlada had not lost his mind. The child was indeed worshiping the highest being of all. Vishnu saved that beloved child during every single subsequent attack, such that the Daitya leader found out the true meaning to satya-sankalpa and how that property only belongs to Vishnu.

In Closing:

The cat towards mouse to praise,
The peacock to snake similar ways?

Only when person craziest at their peak,
Why the strong should supplicate the weak?

Father in this way viewing,
Son who family business eschewing.

But devotion to Vishnu seen in this light,
Prahlada protected from standing right.

Categories: holi, holiday, supplicating the inferior

Tags: feature, festival of colors, holi, poem, poems, poetry