Three Things From Childhood I Grew Up To Hate

“One time, that wicked king of the Daityas saw his son of lotus-like face and beautiful eyes, surrounded by women, having returned from the home of the guru. In his hand, that boy was holding a slate which had the mark of a chakra at the top and the name of Krishna written with great adoration.” (Narasimha Purana, 41.35-36)

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तं पद्मवक्त्रं दैत्येन्द्रः कदाचित् स्त्रीवृतः खलः
बालं गुरुगृहायातं ददर्श स्वायतेक्षणम्
गृहीत्वा तु करे पुत्रं पट्टिका या सुशोभना
मूर्ध्नि चक्राङ्किता पट्टी कृष्णनामाङ्कितादरात्

taṃ padmavaktraṃ daityendraḥ kadācit strīvṛtaḥ khalaḥ
bālaṃ gurugṛhāyātaṃ dadarśa svāyatekṣaṇam
gṛhītvā tu kare putraṃ paṭṭikā yā suśobhanā
mūrdhni cakrāṅkitā paṭṭī kṛṣṇanāmāṅkitādarāt

1. Sports

“For my father, it was baseball. He loved everything about it. He took me to so many games. As we sat there through the dreadfully long nine innings, he would explain the ins and outs. The infield fly rule, for instance. The double switch. The sacrifice bunt. The importance of getting the runner over with less than two outs. Not making the first or third out of an inning at third base.

“When I reached the appropriate age, he enrolled me in every kind of league there was. From tee-ball to little league to the travel team. I was never any good, but I felt bad in just giving up. People would call me names. My father would think I was a quitter. He said there was nothing worse in this world than a quitter.

“It may come as no surprise to you that now, as an adult, I absolutely loathe the sport. I want nothing to do with it. The trauma of running the wrong way on my first hit in tee ball still haunts me. I do not look back fondly on those team pictures. I could never meet bat to ball. I loved to walk, but then eventually they turn off walks if the game is running late. The kids and parents need to return home, after all. So I would be standing there at the plate, for what seemed like an hour, fouling off pitches left and right. Finally, after what seemed to be twenty balls in my favor, I would strike out.

“These are horrible memories. I try not to relive them. I never lived up to my father’s expectations. I wish he hadn’t set them in the first place.”

2. The military

“It was almost like the family business. The profession ran many generations. I was expected to enlist when I reached the minimum age. Even prior to that, I heard so many stories of the various deployments my father had. I was just so happy to have him home. It seemed like he was broken from all that time in the trenches, but for some reason he insisted that I follow the same path.

“Well, that is what ended up happening. I am more of a computer person. Put me in front of a challenging problem involving coding and I will shine. Put a rifle in my hand and I will embarrass both you and everyone else in the group. That is the best word to describe my time in the military: an embarrassment. I wish my father had never forced me into it.”

3. Religion

“I hated every second of it. Going to church. Sitting there, pretending to pay attention. Wearing those uncomfortable clothes. It felt as though my parents were more interested in impressing their friends than in actually praying to God. They had all these crazy stories they made us children memorize, from some thousand-year old book. It felt more like a meeting with a parole officer. We were guilty of something, but what exactly? The hypocrisy was too much to take after a while. I never want to go back to that. I don’t think there is a God; at least not the version they tried selling us.”

…

You have found a higher taste. You have seen something better, param drishtva. You never knew such an experience was possible, since you never knew something like this existed. The promises were lofty at the start. The acharya and his followers were all smiles, chanting and dancing constantly, insisting that others would be in bliss if they only took some time to hear the plea. Turns out they were correct.

विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

You are so happy that you want to pass along this transcendental way of life to your dependents. The issue is that you are well-aware of the horror stories, of the general trend in pushing a child too far. They often rebel, and in almost a linear formula, inverse to the pressure you applied. For as much as you insisted they follow a certain way, their defiance is equally as strong. It is like the attempt completely backfires.

The historical example of Prahlada Maharaja shows that hearing can be sufficient for sparking an interest. Prahlada was more than interested. Right from the time of birth he was steady in his devotion. He was strong, like the dridha-vratah associated with saintly people who always chant the glories of the Supreme Lord.

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां
यतन्तश् च दृढ-व्रताः
नमस्यन्तश् च मां भक्त्या
नित्य-युक्ता उपासते

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.14)

Prahlada heard while within the womb. The way of devotion to Vishnu was never forced upon him. Rather, it was entirely discouraged. There would have been no other way to learn of the option, in fact, had Narada Muni not intervened. Aligning with his age, in his childlike innocence Prahlada did not conceal his inclination. He showed signs of allegiance to Vishnu, both in the figurative and literal senses.

There was the mark of the chakra. There was the name of Krishna. These were decorating the slate, which was the tool of learning. Associated with the classroom, this slate became something equivalent to the offering plate seen in temples, holding the worship paraphernalia shown before the deity, which is the merciful manifestation of the Supreme Lord, in the physical, saguna form, for the benefit of the fallen.

The father tried to force a change in course. He attempted to deprogram Prahlada, through instruction from the teachers. The father tried to force the way of atheism upon the child, but this was more than a mere refusal to believe in the power of an Almighty being. Rather, Hiranyakashipu wanted Prahlada to value dominance, authority, assertiveness, and acquisition at the personal level. Hiranyakashipu, who was the leader of the Daityas, wanted his son to grow up to be just like him.

Prahlada showed signs of rebellion, but that was not the intent. Prahlada simply stayed true to himself. He continued to meditate on Vishnu, who is the source of strength in everyone. If you are concerned over how to pass along a similar allegiance, to spark devotion in dependents, then the example of Prahlada is sufficient. This is because every rational adult will one day ask about the mysteries of life. They will wonder what is the source of strength in people.

श्री-प्रह्राद उवाच
न केवलं मे भवतश् च राजन्
स वै बलं बलिनां चापरेषाम्
परे ’वरे ’मी स्थिर-जङ्गमा ये
ब्रह्मादयो येन वशं प्रणीताः

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
na kevalaṁ me bhavataś ca rājan
sa vai balaṁ balināṁ cāpareṣām
pare ’vare ’mī sthira-jaṅgamā ye
brahmādayo yena vaśaṁ praṇītāḥ

“Prahlada Maharaja said: My dear King, the source of my strength, of which you are asking, is also the source of yours. Indeed, the original source of all kinds of strength is one. He is not only your strength or mine, but the only strength for everyone. Without Him, no one can get any strength. Whether moving or not moving, superior or inferior, everyone, including Lord Brahma, is controlled by the strength of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.8.7)

They will question whether there can even be a single source. They might contemplate on the proper utilization of this great machine that is the body. That machine can remain viable for upwards of one hundred years, through proper care and maintenance, but what will happen once the machine finally breaks down? To where will the individual travel? What sort of machine did they operate in the past?

ईश्वरः सर्व-भूतानां
हृद्-देशे ऽर्जुन तिष्ठति
भ्रामयन् सर्व-भूतानि
यन्त्रारूढानि मायया

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ‘rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.61)

They might wonder about the future fate of someone like Hiranyakashipu. Proceeding along in the story, we see that Prahlada’s devotion coupled with Hiranyakashipu’s interference created the conditions for the amazing appearance of Narasimha. This was the same Vishnu that Prahlada had worshiped and Hiranyakashipu had slandered. Vishnu was hearing those prayers. Vishnu was watching the entire time. Prahlada was protected in his devotion and Hiranyakashipu was eventually ejected from his post as ruler, in a cruel and violent manner, at that.

In Closing:

On one side protected,
And the other ejected.

Prahlada just one time heard,
Enough for dedication stirred.

In devotion the chakra sight,
And respectfully the name to write.

Father the opposite tried to instill,
But never dream to fulfill.