“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

1. For every weapon

“Remember the attacks against me? All because I expressed my devotion to Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I was only going off what I heard, what was taught to me by the esteemed Narada Muni. I heard while in the womb, but by the grace of higher powers I remembered everything after taking birth. I was not going to lie, after the fact. If the father wanted to hear the most important teachings, I was going to tell him. Surely, the science of self-realization was not part of the instruction in school. The teachers are not to blame. They do not know better. They are not independent, either. They are too afraid of my father to have an independent thought.

“Still, for my honesty I earned the reward of being the target of powerful weapons. I somehow survived. I earnestly prayed that since Vishnu is inside of me, He would also be inside of those weapons. Therefore, I would not be hurt. That seemed to do the trick, but now that my father has been vanquished, I ask that he suffer from the same attacks. For every weapon that struck me, let the same protrude that erstwhile leader 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)

2. For every snake

“You have to hand it to my father. He sure was diligent. He would not accept failure in the matter. He was persistent. His dridha-vrata was not like it is for saintly people. His vow in determination was to kill a five-year old boy, who happened to be his own son. Remember when he threw me in with snakes? For every one of those serpents that approached me, I asked that the same occur for my father. Let him experience what it is like, now that he has been vanquished.”

3. For every meter of elevation

“Remember when my father threw me off a cliff? I can’t believe he would stoop so low, but then what else are you going to do? You are suffering one humiliating defeat after another. I ask that for every meter of elevation that I descended, against my will, allow the same fall to take place for my father. Let him experience the same lack of uncertainty. Let’s see how he handles having literally no foundation underneath him.”

4. For every rock

“Remember when he sent me to the ocean? At that point, he was beginning to get the idea that killing me wasn’t going to work. He tried to torture me, instead. His henchmen gathered up every rock they could find and placed them on top of me, such that I would sink. For every rock that was used, please apply the same to him. Let him feel the weight of the world literally upon his body. Let’s see how he likes it.”

5. For every moment of difficulty

“Remember the persistence to the attacks? Remember how he could never leave me alone, to worship in peace? I wrote the holy names on a slate. I drew symbols associated with Vishnu, such as the chakra. I was not hurting anyone. My father should never have interfered. I ask that he suffer the same kind of interference. Let him never find a moment of peace in whatever he is doing now.”

…

Take the hypothetical situation of trading places. Prahlada has finally emerged victorious, in a fight he never wanted to have. He did not have to lift a finger. The Supreme Lord decided to intervene. Vishnu appeared on the scene as Narasimha. That combination of man and lion literally tore the perpetrator apart. Forget applying anesthetic, beforehand. Forget preparing the operating table for surgery. Never mind asking medical professionals to stand close by. Narasimha grabbed Hiranyakashipu as if he were prey. Narasimha tore that villain apart, using only His nails.

The battle was over. Vishnu obviously liked Prahlada. Vishnu obviously favored Prahlada. Vishnu was kind enough to ask Prahlada to take a benediction. The father was no longer around. There were no negative consequences to consider. No one was going to hurt the child, anymore. The big bully was sent to the afterlife, to suffer his fate, which would be commensurate with his deeds and character, charitra.

What did Prahlada end up doing? What did he ask for? He did not want to take a benediction, but if Narasimha were to insist, then Prahlada would like to have forgiveness. For his father, who was slain. For his father, for the offense of creating a rivalry with Vishnu. For his father, for crossing the line of acceptable behavior and harassing a devotee of Vishnu.

श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
वरं वरय एतत्ते वरदेशान्महेश्वर
यदनिन्दत्पिता मे त्वामविद्वांस्तेज ऐश्वरम्
विद्धामर्षाशय: साक्षात्सर्वलोकगुरुं प्रभुम्
भ्रातृहेति मृषाद‍ृष्टिस्त्वद्भ‍क्ते मयि चाघवान्
तस्मात्पिता मे पूयेत दुरन्ताद् दुस्तरादघात्
पूतस्तेऽपाङ्गसंद‍ृष्टस्तदा कृपणवत्सल

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
varaṁ varaya etat te
varadeśān maheśvara
yad anindat pitā me
tvām avidvāṁs teja aiśvaram

viddhāmarṣāśayaḥ sākṣāt
sarva-loka-guruṁ prabhum
bhrātṛ-heti mṛṣā-dṛṣṭis
tvad-bhakte mayi cāghavān

tasmāt pitā me pūyeta
durantād dustarād aghāt
pūtas te ’pāṅga-saṁdṛṣṭas
tadā kṛpaṇa-vatsala

“Prahlada Maharaja said: O Supreme Lord, because You are so merciful to the fallen souls, I ask You for only one benediction. I know that my father, at the time of his death, had already been purified by Your glance upon him, but because of his ignorance of Your beautiful power and supremacy, he was unnecessarily angry at You, falsely thinking that You were the killer of his brother. Thus he directly blasphemed Your Lordship, the spiritual master of all living beings, and committed heavily sinful activities directed against me, Your devotee. I wish that he be excused for these sinful activities.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.15-17)

In Closing:

Imagine finding the same,
That God for you came.

And your enemy slew,
Because symbols drew.

Like chakra and the holy name,
Father to torture out of shame.

Revenge just maybe a little in task,
But Prahlada only forgiveness to ask.

Categories: the five

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