“’You said that He is indeed everywhere, so why can He not be seen in this pillar? If I do see that Vishnu right now in the middle of the pillar, then I will not kill you. Otherwise, you will be divided into two.’ Having seen (his father) in that way, Prahlada began to meditate on that Supreme Lord.” (Narasimha Purana, 44.10-11)

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त्वयोक्तं स हि सर्वत्र कस्मात् स्तम्भे न दृश्यते
यदि पश्यामि तं विष्णुम् अधुना स्तम्भमध्यगम्

तर्हि त्वां न वधिष्यामि भविष्यसि द्विधान्यथा
प्रह्लादो ऽपि तथा दृष्ट्वा दध्यौ तं परमेश्वरम्

tvayoktaṃ sa hi sarvatra kasmāt stambhe na dṛśyate
yadi paśyāmi taṃ viṣṇum adhunā stambhamadhyagam

tarhi tvāṃ na vadhiṣyāmi bhaviṣyasi dvidhānyathā
prahlādo ‘pi tathā dṛṣṭvā dadhyau taṃ parameśvaram

1. You must take the medication to protect me

“Hold on. Back up. Wait a second. Have you been sufficiently injected? Did you take that new medication, which was rushed to market, at warp speed? Never mind the safety profile, in comparing the placebo group against those who received the actual medication. You can find out later how many people died, how many pregnancies ended prematurely, how many side effects there were, and the like.

“Right now, I need to see proof that you have taken the medication. Me? Well, of course I have. Why would you ask such a thing? Yes, that means I am now protected from that unusually severe seasonal respiratory illness. I am fine. I am not sure about you, though. I cannot allow you in here unless you are sufficiently protected. No, my medication does not work only if others take it. At least I think that’s true. Anyway, stop asking difficult questions.”

2. The medication has side effects but I’m baffled by the injury

“Oh, I am so sorry for your loss. I can set you up with grief counsellors, if you like. These things do happen from time to time. The scientific community is still researching to find out the cause. Hmm, yes, we did inject your child with six of those medications a few days ago. Right, that is definitely the printed insert that comes with the package. Sure, it lists side effects. Some of those side effects are pretty harmful. It does say that fatalities can occur. But I am not sure what you are getting at. Those injections we administered did not cause the harm to your child. I can assure you. We can proceed to research any other cause, but we will never accept that it was the injections.”

3. I am God though I was once a baby

“You don’t need to waste your time visiting the temples. Sing those songs if you like, but that is for the immature. Books are not necessary. Just meditate. Realize your oneness with Divinity. Just repeat to yourself, ‘I am God.’ It is the truth. It is the reality. Sure, I was once a small child, helpless and innocent. I depended entirely on my parents. Sure, one day I will be old and diminished in capability. I am still God. Believe me.”

4. I will live forever even though everyone else dies

“Have you heard of that person doing the experiment to live beyond one hundred years? They are altering diet and exercise to make it happen. Should be interesting to see the results. Scientists say that pretty soon death will be a thing of the past. We will be able to live forever. That sounds exciting. No, I am not familiar with that exchange between Yudhishthira Maharaja and Yamaraja, found in the Mahabharata. How does it go?”

अहन्य् अहनि भूतानि
गच्छन्तीह यमालयम्
शेषाः स्थावरम् इच्छन्ति
किम् आश्चर्यम् अतः परम्

ahany ahani bhūtāni
gacchantīha yamālayam
śeṣāḥ sthāvaram icchanti
kim āścaryam ataḥ param

“Day after day countless living entities in this world go to the kingdom of death. Still, those who remain aspire for a permanent situation here. What could be more amazing than this?” (Maharaja Yudhishthira speaking to Yamaraja, Mahabharata, Vana-parva, 313.116)

5. I never considered that Vishnu might actually be in the pillar

During our youth, the children at school would play a game that started with the letter “R”. The word is no longer socially acceptable, though it was back then. It was a game invented at the time, meant more as a joke. It was a test to see if someone had their wits about them, if they were thinking clearly. If they could not identify something obvious, they would lose the game and the other children would laugh. In the case of the Daitya leader named Hiranyakashipu, despite carrying a sword that literally meant the laugh of the moon, the last laugh would be on him.

You see, Hiranyakashipu made a threat. It was a promise with two sides. There was to be an impromptu scientific experiment, conducted with the strike of a sword against a solid mass. The field for the experiment was chosen almost at random. The leader would strike a nearby pillar. There were two possible outcomes, but dragged down by the influence of his senses the person making the threat never considered the positive result.

You see, Prahlada Maharaja was getting on the nerves of the leadership in the kingdom. Prahlada happened to be the son of Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada happened to be five years of age. He insisted on worshiping this person called Vishnu. Prahlada did not make up this friend. It was imaginary at the time, but Prahlada revealed that this Vishnu person is all-pervading. One proof of that pervasiveness is the existence of strength. If any person shows strength to any degree, it is because of Vishnu. Prahlada wanted the father to understand this.

Hiranyakashipu heard of Vishnu. He was familiar with Vishnu’s body of work. Hiranyakashipu hated Vishnu. The father certainly was not going to identify Vishnu as the source of strength. Prahlada was being ridiculous, you see, and so that absurdity had to be illustrated with further absurdity. The idea is that if you are foolish enough to think that one person, who goes by the name of Vishnu, can be sarvatra, then I will test your foolish hypothesis with the ridiculous proposal of Vishnu being in the nearby pillar. There should be no issue with conducting the test immediately. Prahlada should not object to the chosen field, kshetra, since this Vishnu person is supposed to be everywhere. That is the meaning to sarvatra, after all.

Of course, there was a cost to this experiment. Like paying a fee for sitting in an exam, Prahlada had to contend with the consequences to a negative result. If Vishnu did not prove Himself to exist within the pillar, then the same sword would strike again. This time, it would split Prahlada into two pieces. Hiranyakashipu had reached the limits of his tolerance. The frustration was boiling over. No second chances. He never wanted to hear from Prahlada again.

This is where the cognitive test comes into play. Just what would happen if Prahlada was right? What if there was sufficient evidence produced from the pillar? Just what might that evidence look like? If Vishnu is everywhere and supplying strength, there must be intelligence involved. There must be a person at the source. If Vishnu is a person, then surely as sarvatra He had witnessed the recent torture applied to the small child who was Prahlada. Vishnu surely had seen and identified the perpetrator. How would Vishnu feel about a five-year-old devotee being thrown off a cliff for speaking true words? How would Vishnu feel towards Hiranyakashipu, who was one of the greatest abusers of children the world has ever known?

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

“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)

In Closing:

One of greatest abusers shown,
In torture of son his own.

Who only five years of age,
Setting scene of grandest stage.

Where research to conduct,
But failed logically to deduct.

That if Vishnu true and real,
Then keeping memory of ordeal.

Categories: chandrahasa, the five

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, medicine, narasimha, poem, poems, poetry, prahlada, science