“Shri Hari, who is the Lord of the demigods, who is worshiped by the people of the world, for benefiting the moving and nonmoving beings of the world took that dreadful form through His own energy and tore apart Hiranyakashipu, who caused suffering to so many, with His nails.” (Narasimha Purana, 44.43)

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हरिः सुरेशो नरलोकपूजितो हिताय लोकस्य चराचरस्य
कृत्वा विरूपं च पुरात्ममायया हिरण्यकं दुःखकरं नखैश् छिनत्

hariḥ sureśo naralokapūjito hitāya lokasya carācarasya
kṛtvā virūpaṃ ca purātmamāyayā hiraṇyakaṃ duḥkhakaraṃ nakhaiś chinat

“Listen, I think any decent, honest, kind, thoughtful, considerate, and good person would find the story of Prahlada Maharaja heartwarming. Who doesn’t like a classic weak overcoming the strong triumph? A child of five years of age, no less, pitted against an inimical father. Hiranyakashipu tried his best. Hiranyakashipu tried and tried. No matter how much effort and thought he put into the ordeal, Prahlada managed to survive.

“Just what was there to survive, exactly? Well, Prahlada had to endure being prodded by weapons from the palace guards. He lived to tell the tale of being fed to poisonous snakes. There was the matter of large logs placed on top of his body, to keep him pinned to the surface of the ocean. There was the air travel in being tossed from high atop a mountain, against his will. Long before Houdini, there was the son of the king of the Daityas.”

विष्णुः शस्त्रेषु युष्मासु मयि चासौ यथा स्थितः
दैतेयास् तेन सत्येन मा क्रामन्त्व् आयुधानि वः

viṣṇuḥ śastreṣu yuṣmāsu mayi cāsau yathā sthitaḥ
daiteyās tena satyena mā krāmantv āyudhāni vaḥ

“O Daityas, just as Vishnu is in those weapons and also situated in me, so by that truth your weapons will not be able to overcome me.”  (Prahlada Maharaja, Vishnu Purana, 1.17.33)

“We can only now look back fondly on those moments because Prahlada survived. I understand it was a special case. We thank the Supreme Lord for protecting the innocent boy. The issue I have is that children are not always protected. There are no guarantees in life. There are unspeakable tragedies, in fact. That is the standard. That is the outcome more commonly witnessed.

“For instance, you have these horrible accidents that occur with air travel. There are young children involved. Why doesn’t God protect them? More importantly, how can He allow those horrors to take place? Do you see what I am saying? I am generally aware of the Vaishnava position, that God tends to stand above, neutrally disposed. Okay, every person has to die, but why should they have to suffer like that? Why should the innocent be subjected to such torture? What kind of Supreme Lord would allow that?”

Ironically, the same Prahlada Maharaja provides the answer. His emphasis when speaking to his classmates is transcendence. The opposite of transcendence is bondage, in being tied to the cycle of birth and death. The reality is that the horrors begin from birth. That is the start of the ordeal. If someone steps onto a playing field, to participate in a sporting competition, they obviously want to win. That victory can occur easily, with great struggle, or miraculously. At the same time, there is potential for defeat. That defeat can take place after a valiant fight or when all signs pointed in the other direction. In other words, someone can lose in the most heartbreaking way.

श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
कौमार आचरेत्प्राज्ञो धर्मान्भागवतानिह
दुर्लभं मानुषं जन्म तदप्यध्रुवमर्थदम्

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam

“Prahlada Maharaja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from the tender age of childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.6.1)

The potential is there for all sorts of outcomes. Apply the same principle to the entire life experience. The potential is there from birth. We only get fooled by the illusory energy of maya into thinking that everything is steady and within our control. The truth is that we are not in control of anything. As Bhagavad-gita explains, we are not the doer.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

Prahlada was indeed a special case. It is not that simply chanting the holy names will provide immunity from the heat of fire or the cold of ice. Miseries are concomitant with birth. Prahlada worships God as Hari. Prahlada asks others to worship. Prahlada asked his father to acknowledge Hari as Vishnu, who is all-pervading. The father refused. The insistence from Prahlada in worshiping is what triggered the atrocities. Fortunately, the persistence from Prahlada, in a steady vow, dridha-vrata, is what eventually caused the appearance of Hari as Narasimha. Consciousness of Hari during the final moments is what stops the cycle of birth and death. That liberation is the highest goal to attain.

अन्त-काले च माम् एव
स्मरन् मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्
यः प्रयाति स मद्-भावं
याति नास्त्य् अत्र संशयः

anta-kāle ca mām eva
smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

In Closing:

A child innocent and free,
Why then tragedy to see?

Possible not fault their own,
But hellish experiences shown.

Reality that from time of birth set,
Potential for horrible outcomes to get.

Prahlada insisting on worshiping way,
That all to Hari should pray.

Categories: questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, life, poem, poems, poetry, reincarnation