“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

“I am sorry, but sometimes the resemblance to a cult is too obvious to ignore. The warning level reaches red and alarms start ringing. It becomes a little too much to tolerate, as well. I think you know exactly what I am referring to. All of those references to ‘Krishna consciousness’ and how only those within that lifestyle will be saved. Everyone else is doomed, you see. They have fallen at the feet of maya, which is a force of illusion at the foundation. Therefore, maya has every opportunity to trick, to fool, to debilitate, to squash, and to deliver tragedy at the most unexpected and inconvenient times.

“Everyone should become a devotee. That is the solution. That is the recommendation from the acharyas of the Vaishnava tradition. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada repeatedly criticizes the impersonalists, who are the Mayavadis. The criticism is so consistent and so tight in wording that it is like a virtual record playing on repeat. We should be personalists, you see. We should worship Krishna.

“Actually, even that is insufficient. We have to worship Krishna through an assembly of devotees. Only then will we make progress. Otherwise, we are like the sahajiyas, who take everything cheaply. Okay, can we pause for a moment? Time for a reality check. I mean come on, the game is obvious to detect. You have all other angles covered. Everyone else is the ‘bad guys.’ We are the only good guys. If you stay with us, you are saved. If you go anywhere else, you are doomed.

“Is that not a recipe for disaster? Once you create such strict parameters, drawing lines which cannot be crossed, the supposed good guys are free to do as they wish. You see, there are terrible consequences for leaving the association of the good guys. You will lose all of your friends and family. Everyone will assume that you have fallen, that you have returned to your old friend, which is maya. You are doomed, when all you had to do was stay with the good guys. How could you make such a terrible miscalculation? Why would you ever do such a thing?

“Well, think about it from this angle. Why can’t anyone else do the same? Shouldn’t Krishna consciousness be more than some cool club to join? Do you see what I am saying? Any person can start their own club. They can claim to be the only way, that any person not joining their club is doomed. They assign a book of importance and then comment on the content of that book. Every comment eventually finds its way back to the foundational claim of joining the club. It is like one giant fraud scheme.”

In practical implementation, any group furthering a cause can descend into the scene described above. There is a person or two who started out with good intentions. They were pure. They had a sense of purpose. They were trying to legitimately help people. As that organization began to grow, the pressure ramped up to keep the members in line. Soon the membership itself became the designation for elevation, instead of the actual principles to follow.

Krishna consciousness is one way to translate the Sanskrit term of bhakti-yoga. It is meant to be practiced at the individual level. It is a connection between the living being and God. Here, Krishna is God, presented as a way to further understand the mysteries of the single individual who is responsible for the entire creation, who works free of boundaries and consequence, who is eternally fixed in a supreme position, irrespective of what takes place in the universes He creates.

That consciousness is not dependent on any single factor. As Goswami Tulsidas describes, the person who associates with the holy name can transcend even a poor status inherited at the time of birth. Like the smallest trees lining the roads of the heavenly planet, they become worthy of honor and fame. This is due to their association with God through sound.

राम नाम सुमिरत सुजस भाजन भए कुजाति
कुतरूक सुरपुर राजमग लहत भुवन बिख्याति

rāma nāma sumirata sujasa bhājana bhae kujāti
kutarūka surapura rājamaga lahata bhuvana bikhyāti

“By remembering Shri Rama’s holy name, even those who are born into a low caste become worthy of fame, just as the wild trees that line the roads in the heavenly realm are famous throughout the three worlds.” (Dohavali, 16)

Of course, living within certain parameters can help in speeding up the elevation. There are trade shows and industry conferences for a reason. These are gatherings of individual corporations in a particular market. The individual participants are competitors in the truest sense, but they still meet with one another to share ideas, insights, and forecasts. The association, formally known as networking, is seen as a way to improve the chances of success.

It is true that anyone can create a system of good and bad. If they wield enough influence, they can pressure others into aligning with their definition of good, even if they happen to be the worst person in the world. We have the historical example of Hiranyakashipu, the leader of the Daityas. He had so much power that simply declaring a certain way of life was enough for others to fall in line.

Except there was a notable case of failure. It happened to be Hiranyakashipu’s own son. The five-year old boy named Prahlada was following Krishna consciousness. He followed it since birth. His was a special case, as devotee association was otherwise lacking. Prahlada developed the interest while within the womb, of all places. He happened to receive instruction during that time from the venerable Narada Muni. That interaction was enough to develop something like a fixed vow, dridha-vrata.

In the kingdom of the Daityas, Prahlada was the bad guy. The father was the good guy. It was the father essentially leading a cult. It was one dedicated to ignoring the realities of time. It was one trying to fight against eventual death, which is guaranteed for everyone. It was a cult that denied the existence of God, especially in the identification of Vishnu.

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 was outside of this cult. His devotion was spontaneous. He would write the name of Krishna on a slate. He would draw the chakra symbol associated with Vishnu. This was not to win favor. This was not to remain a member in good-standing of an organization. Rather, the attachment was strong. Prahlada was going to worship God even if everyone else was against him. That is the real objective in bhakti-yoga. Whether that summit is reached through association with like-minded individuals or in isolation whilst tolerating the worst kind of interference, the object of worship is witnessing the entire time, alighting the path ahead.

तेषां सतत-युक्तानां
भजतां प्रीति-पूर्वकम्
ददामि बुद्धि-योगं तं
येन माम् उपयान्ति ते

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te

“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.10)

In Closing:

Despite fear, torment, and dread,
Alighting the path ahead.

Where membership without,
To cult popular and devout.

Like Prahlada the only one,
To king of Daityas son.

Father inimical of Vishnu who,
But failed in conversion through.

Categories: prahlada and his slate, questions

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, prahlada