“’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

The son was obviously playing with him. It must have been a ruse. The contraptions were rigged, beforehand. There was some mystical force, working in the background. The child must have prepared. Someone must have tipped him off. Never mind, as the father was now going to expose the child to be a fraud. Everyone would know, once and for all, that there was no potency to this Vishnu person. Vishnu certainly was not sarvatra. One strike to the pillar would settle the matter for eternity. In his fit of rage to embarrass his own son, Hiranyakashipu failed to account for the possibility that Prahlada might be telling the truth.

In the following hypothetical account, you are a student formally enrolled in school. The exact grade level does not matter for the purposes of this discussion. We can say that you are in junior high school. There is a big exam coming up. It will account for at least fifty percent of your final grade. You are not that concerned, but other students are freaking out. They are worried beyond belief. You are known as the “good” student. Not quite at the level of being the teacher’s pet or being called a nerd, you still have a firm grasp of the material. You complete and hand in assignments on time.

Meanwhile, one of your friends is the opposite in nature. They always wait until the last minute to get things done. They are sometimes late. They like to make jokes during class, to annoy the teacher. This friend is always looking for shortcuts. They are not really interested in the material. They would rather put in the same amount of work trying to find ways around the rules, as established by this particular teacher.

With regard to the upcoming exam, your friend happened to stumble upon some valuable information. Like a fortuitous discovery or an inside tip, he is relatively certain that the teacher will be using the standardized exam from three years ago to give to the class. The same exact ones that students sat for in the past, that was since published in practice books, will be handed out to the class. Your friend decides to share this news with others, but for something in return. Be it a favor or an exchange of cash, others line up to get access to this privileged information.

The news does not mean much to you, since you are already familiar with the material. You took those practice exams in your spare time and did rather well on them. You feel no need to memorize the questions from the particular one your friend referenced. On the day of the exam, there is a sudden change. You see, the regular teacher is out sick. There is a substitute, to take their place. This new teacher makes an announcement at the beginning of class. They say that the regular teacher left an exam for the students but that they won’t be getting that one. The substitute has decided to use a different version.

The entire class stares daggers at your friend. It seems that the inside information went for naught. All that memorizing will not help students taking this new exam. You are not that concerned, as you have been following along properly the entire time. We can translate this situation to the one in the Daitya kingdom, from thousands of years ago. The five-year-old prince named Prahlada is the student. Hiranyakashipu is the teacher, who decides to give a pop quiz. Prahlada has no time to prepare. The stakes are a little different. If Prahlada does not get a passing grade, he will be divided into two pieces by a powerful sword. Hiranyakashipu will deliver the punishment himself.

The quiz consists of only a single question. Could Prahlada prove that there is this Vishnu person who is all-pervading? If Vishnu is truly sarvatra, then Vishnu would have no problem proving His presence in the nearby pillar. There was no opportunity to rig the contraption beforehand. Prahlada did not know this was coming. If Prahlada was a cheater, he would be exposed immediately. If Prahlada was bluffing the entire time, going against the teachings of the kingdom of the Daityas, of which Hiranyakashipu was the leader, then the game was up.

Of course, Prahlada was telling the truth. Prahlada spoke so confidently because he had nothing to hide. There was no deception. There was only compassion and concern. Hiranyakashipu happened to be Prahlada’s own father. That father failed to consider that by striking a pillar so angrily he might be taking part in a higher test. The father would fail, since he had harassed an innocent child for so long. The authority figure administering the test was the very same Vishnu, who would swiftly deliver the punishment by emerging from that very pillar, as the amazing Narahari.

In Closing:

As teacher authority to command,
Student on pop quiz to land.

That Vishnu had to reveal,
Not even in pillar could conceal.

But overlooked in move sinister,
That another test to administer.

By the highest being of all,
Who all atrocities to recall.

Categories: chandrahasa, stories

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, school, tests