“Prahlada Maharaja replied: O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vrindavana, where only Krishna consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.5)

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श्री-प्रह्लाद उवाच
तत् साधु मन्ये ’सुर-वर्य देहिनां
सदा समुद्विग्न-धियाम् असद्-ग्रहात्
हित्वात्म-पातं गृहम् अन्ध-कूपं
वनं गतो यद् धरिम् आश्रयेत

śrī-prahlāda uvāca
tat sādhu manye ’sura-varya dehināṁ
sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt
hitvātma-pātaṁ gṛham andha-kūpaṁ
vanaṁ gato yad dharim āśrayeta

1. I don’t believe in God

“It is all just make-believe. It is a fairytale people tell themselves to help in falling asleep at night. It is a theory to try to unravel the mysteries of the universe. If you ask me, there is no God. The people claiming to be of a higher stature are just bluffing. They are no different than those magicians hosting their televised specials. People will believe anything. They are gullible. I am not like them. I have some intelligence. It will take a lot more than a few magic tricks to convince me.”

2. I tell other people I don’t believe in God

“No, of course not. Why would I be ashamed about it? If I care about you, I will speak the truth. Doesn’t your beloved Shri Rama say something similar? When responding to His wife’s concerns about carrying weapons in a peaceful setting like a forest, Rama delivered a kind response by remarking how Sita must really care about Him in order to feel the need to correct Him.”

मम स्नेहाच्च सौहार्दादिदमुक्तंत्वयाऽनघे
परितुष्टोऽस्म्यहं सीते न ह्यनिष्टोऽनुशिष्यते

mama snehācca sauhārdādidamuktaṃtvayā’naghe
parituṣṭo’smyahaṃ sīte na hyaniṣṭo’nuśiṣyate

“Certainly all these words were spoken by you due to your kind-heartedness and affection for Me. I am very pleased with you, O Sita, for indeed one does not offer instructions and advice to another without caring for them.” (Lord Rama speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 10.20)

“I am trying to help others get their heads out of their you know whats. Wake up, man! There is no God. We need to tell everyone. We need to shout it! They are wasting their time. They are praying to nothing. Better to just enjoy. Stop torturing yourselves. Listen to me.”

3. I make fun of people who are religious

“You cannot reason with these people. They are so set in their ways that nothing can change them. It is like they are accepting the instruction of ‘dridha-vratah’ literally. You know, where Bhagavad-gita describes the firm resolve of the people who worship, who are always chanting the glories of God the person.”

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)

“I will admit, those songs are catchy. I find myself humming the tunes every now and then. I am not foolish enough to think there is some equivalence with transcendence, that I am somehow rising to a higher plane of consciousness in the process. These people are out of their minds. They wear weird clothes. They have those strange marks on their foreheads. They refuse to eat meat. Come on! Get over yourselves already. I will continue to make fun of you for as long as I live. Every time I eat a burger, I will be sure to take a picture and send it to you. A real man eats meat.”

4. I trample on religious sacrifices

“Was Maricha really that bad? You keep referring to him as an asura. This word is supposedly a negation of the positive term, sura. The suras are the good guys, you see. The asuras are bad. If you ask me, the asuras are the ones grounded in reality. These sura-like sages were living in the forest. They were conducting yajna, which is religious sacrifice. Just when things were about to finish, when all that hard work was about to come to fruition, Maricha and his band of troublemakers would pounce. Quickly arriving on the scene, they would destroy everything.

“It is kind of funny, don’t you think? It serves these sages right to get a dose of reality. No one is safe in this world. Might is right. If God is real, why wasn’t He protecting them? If God exists, why were the asuras able to succeed? Do you see what I mean? Maricha and his friends should be held up as heroes. They did everyone a favor.”

ततोऽहं मेघसङ्काशस्तप्तकाञ्चनकुण्डलः
बली दत्तवरोदर्पादाजगाम तदाश्रमम्
तेन दृष्टः प्रविष्टोऽहं सहसैवोद्यतायुधः
मां तु दृष्ट्वा धनुस्सज्यमसम्भ्रान्तश्चकार सः

tato’haṃ meghasaṅkāśastaptakāñcanakuṇḍalaḥ
balī dattavarodarpādājagāma tadāśramam
tena dṛṣṭaḥ praviṣṭo’haṃ sahasaivodyatāyudhaḥ
māṃ tu dṛṣṭvā dhanussajyamasambhrāntaścakāra saḥ

“Then I, resembling a cloud and having molten-golden earrings, made my way into Vishvamitra’s ashrama, for I was very proud of my strength due to the boon given to me by Lord Brahma. As soon as I entered, Rama quickly noticed me and raised His weapon. Though He saw me, Rama strung His bow without any fear.” (Maricha speaking to Ravana, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 38.16-17)

5. I try to kill children who are worshiping innocently

Is the exercise really necessary? Do we have to compare and contrast different degrees of interference, of obstinacy, of disdain, of rejection of the timeless principles of the Vedas? We can continue to deliberate on the matter, but the esteemed Prahlada Maharaja has already offered his opinion. He once referred to Hiranyakashipu as the best of the asuras. The Sanskrit is “asura-varya.”

Was it the bitterness talking? Was Prahlada upset that his own father, who was the leader of the Daityas, went against him? It was the opposite, in fact. Prahlada likely had the most objective viewpoint in history. This is because he harbored no resentment, no ill-will, and no anger. Prahlada had every reason to hate his father. Prahlada had every reason to want to wish poor things upon Hiranyakashipu.

The opinion is rooted in fact, based on the treatment of Prahlada, alone. You see, Hiranyakashipu did more than mock the concept of religion. He did more than try to interfere with formal religious observances. Hiranyakashipu tried to kill an innocent five-year old child, all because that child was speaking about the glories of Hari. This is one of countless names for the Almighty. Prahlada was not speaking from sentiment, either. He had logic, reasoning, and timeless wisdom for his support. That wisdom was passed along to him by his spiritual master, Narada Muni.

Bhagavad-gita has a section describing the difference between the divine and demoniac natures. It is said that the demoniac, the asuras, repeatedly fall into lower species. It is actually a curse to live in conditions conducive to adharma. In that degraded condition, the more powerful the individual is, the more egregious their violations of dharma tend to be.

तान् अहं द्विषतः क्रूरान्
संसारेषु नराधमान्
क्षिपाम्य् अजस्रम् अशुभान्
आसुरीष्व् एव योनिषु

tān ahaṁ dviṣataḥ krūrān
saṁsāreṣu narādhamān
kṣipāmy ajasram aśubhān
āsurīṣv eva yoniṣu

“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.19)

Despite the apparent hopelessness of the inauspicious conditions, there is a glimmer of hope. On occasion, the Supreme Lord arrives on the scene to personally deliver the asuras. He seems to reserve this exception for the worst of the worst. Hiranyakashipu met those conditions. Prahlada had already declared him to be the best of the asuras. This was proven through unspeakable torture committed against the innocent son. Hari showed mercy through eventually appearing as Narasimha and killing that leader. This removed any doubt as to the existence of God. This also liberated the father, as he was thinking of Hari at the time of death.

In Closing:

Thinking at time of death,
Thus liberation to get.

Despite of asuras the best,
And far surpassing the rest.

Because torture of innocent son,
With remorse or conscience none.

But Prahlada always of Hari speaking,
Enough that even to Vaikuntha reaching.

Categories: the five

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