“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

In the following analysis, we cover hypothetical situations which are puzzling at the surface. They are headscratchers, for sure, as the people we expect to be at peace are full of paranoia. The ones who are in the superior position cannot help but remain upset at someone who literally can do nothing to them.

1. The champion in sports

“Can you explain something to me? Did these guys not just win the championship? Are they not participants in the upcoming parade? Did they not party the night away, visiting one establishment after another? They take the trophy with them. Their names will be inscribed on that trophy. It is this very championship that the players in the league are so desperate to win.

“Then why are these guys still harping on their opponents? Why are they talking about one of the players from the losing team? Why are they trolling these players online? It makes no sense to me. I guess that championship really doesn’t mean much; at least to them. That is my conclusion, anyway. The players on the team vanquished in the final round must have something that these winners are envious of. Psychology 101 tells you that something is off here.”

2. The winner of the election

“You know how I can tell the election was stolen? When you have to threaten jailtime for anyone who asks for an audit. When you order election officials to destroy evidence. When you work so hard to put your opponent from that election in jail. Otherwise, why would you care? If you won fair and square, then there is nothing to worry about. Let the other guy run again, the next time around. He will lose, for sure, since you already beat him in an honest contest. The only reason to be paranoid is if you did something wrong. There is that famous saying, the guilty conscience needs no accuser. Fits perfectly in this situation.”

3. The manager at the office

“Umm, didn’t you just get promoted? Aren’t you working in one of the highest offices at the company? Why, then, are you still harping about that other employee? She works in a totally different department. She is like three or four levels beneath you on the org chart. Okay, she got upset with you after you declined her advances. I mean, weren’t you the one spending late nights at the office with her, alone? I am not blaming you. These things happen. I am not blaming her, either. I would just expect you to get over it by now. You have not been harmed in the slightest.”

4. The parent

“Why are you taking that association away from them? You want this poor child to sit here all day and do nothing? You shove a phone in their hand and you wonder why they have no patience. Their minds are rotting by that filth which is short-term video content. You are the person in charge. You are the guardian. How about you try guarding, for a change? These kids have no one else, in case you didn’t realize. They are fully dependent on you. It’s about time you start acting like an adult.”

5. The most powerful king in the world

Here we have a father who happened to be specifically empowered by the creator, Lord Brahma. Hiranyakashipu asked for protection against various beings and conditions. Hiranyakashipu thought he had constructed immortality in this way. By utilizing individual components, he was set on outsmarting everyone and everything. The suckers and the losers previously succumbed to time, but Hiranyakashipu would be different.

नान्तर्बहिर्दिवा नक्तमन्यस्मादपि चायुधै:
न भूमौ नाम्बरे मृत्युर्न नरैर्न मृगैरपि

nāntar bahir divā naktam
anyasmād api cāyudhaiḥ
na bhūmau nāmbare mṛtyur
na narair na mṛgair api

“Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal.” (Hiranyakashipu praying to Lord Brahma, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.3.36)

The irony is that Hiranyakashipu would meet his end, anyway. He invited it on himself, too. It was through harassment of his own son, who happened to be five years of age. Prahlada had not asked for similar protection. Prahlada was not concerned with the false kind of immortality, wherein the living being desperately clings to their temporary body for as long as possible. Prahlada knew that the human birth is precious. He explained this to his classmates. He wanted everyone to shoot for the stars, to reach liberation.

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)

If Hiranyakashipu were truly in the superior position, he would have left well enough alone. Instead, he was sent into a rage by hearing from Prahlada about worship of Vishnu. Prahlada was not ashamed. He was not scared into silence. He would tell anyone about God and His supreme standing. He wanted the father to acknowledge the same. The father should recognize that Vishnu was his strength, that Vishnu was the very reason for the universe.

The harmless, innocent child, who was related by blood, became the target of vicious abuse. Hiranyakashipu wanted to kill Prahlada. This must mean that even immortality held together by duct tape is no match for the dridha-vrata of the devotees of Vishnu. The person who is fixed in their service, in always glorifying God the person, has the position enviable to the ones who are always paranoid, looking over their shoulder to see if eventual death has arrived. For Hiranyakashipu, it would finally appear from a pillar of all places, as the amazing Narasimha.

In Closing:

From a pillar of all places,
Combined man and lion faces.

To the one always to look,
Despite immortality took.

Component parts asking through,
Of Brahma the creator who.

Paranoid and concerned still,
His own son prepared to kill.

Categories: supplicating the inferior, the five

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