Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/08/srimadh-bagawatham-prahalada-charitram.html
In the last post Hiranyakashipu made Prahaladan drink the venom of Karkotakan.
Time passed but nothing seemed to happen
to Prahladan. At Namakkal, Lord Ranganatha is seen to be reclined on Karkotakan
as Karkotakan wished the Lord to lie on his coils for a change. The cave face
is charred since it was entered by Karkotakan and his toxic breath burnt the
rock. Even the toxic venom which burnt rock couldn’t harm Prahaladan.
‘Take this as a sign and spare this
child,’ begged Kayathu.
‘Alright I will send him back to school,’
said Hiranyakashipu. ‘I will give him one more chance to turn in to a new
leaf.’
Within a week Shandan and Amarkan returned
with Prahladan.
‘We give up,’ they said. ‘Earlier we only
had to deal with Prahladan but now he has got all the other children perform
Hari Nama Sankeerthanam!’
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| holydham.com |
‘Brat!’ yelled Hiranyakashipu in rage. ‘I
will kill you with my own hands! Who is He? Where is He?’
‘Why do you have this doubt father that if
he is here or not? He is everywhere! There is not a single place in which He is
not present. In fact He is even present in you, in me and even in your words!’
‘Do you see this pillar?’ asked
Hiranyakashipu. ‘I built this pillar with my own hands! Every inch of this
pillar was built by me. Do you see Him in this pillar?’
‘I see Him in this pillar as well since He
is present everywhere.’
‘Liar!
Why do you pretend to see things which I can’t see! I will cut your head! If He
is there in this pillar let Him come and put your head back on your body!’
‘He won’t do this task.’
‘If He won’t do this task why do you keep
singing His praise? Come to me your father for I will protect you!’
‘You misunderstand me; He won’t do the
task of putting my head back on my body because He is not going to sit by and
watch while you lay your hand on my head!’
‘I will break this pillar with my mace! If
He is not there, I will break open your head like a lion breaking open an
elephant’s skull and will drink your blood!’
Hiranyakashipu raised his mace and hit the
pillar hard. From the place where he hit the pillar and the very instant he hit
the pillar appeared the Lord as Narasimha with the face of a lion and the body
of the man.
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| bal-mukund.blogspot.com |
The Lord appeared with the head of a lion
because Hiranyakashipu had threatened to crush Prahaladan’s head like a lion
crushing an elephant’s head. Lord Narasimha appeared out of the very built
which had been built personally by Hiranyakashipu. Since Hiranyakashipu had
sculpted the pillar with his own hands he could not say that Prahaladan was
playing a trick by concealing this fearsome form within the pillar!
The Lord laughed loudly. Hiranyakashipu’s
attendants ran away in fear while the Lord picked the trembling Hiranyakashipu
in His hands and carried Him to the front porch. There, sitting on top of the
stairs which were neither part of the inside nor of the outside, the Lord
placed Hiranyakashipu on His lap. Hiranyakashipu realized that he was neither
lying on the ground nor was he hanging from the sky and as he looked at the
setting Sun he knew that it was neither day nor night as twilight had set in.
Fearfully Hiranyakashipu looked at the Lord’s nail as the Lord tore
Hiranyakashipu’s belly with His nails which were neither living nor dead. A
person’s nails can be cut without feeling pain and yet they grow long
indicating the presence of life.
The Lord’s half human half animal form was
to depict the animal nature present in Hiranyakashipu and the human nature
present in Prahaladan.
The Lord laughed loudly while killing
Hiranyakashipu. At Satya Lokam Lord Brahma was meditating while Goddess
Saraswati was playing the veena. The vibration from the Lord’s laugh knocked Lord
Brahma down but the vibration didn’t affect any of the other celestials. Only
Lord Brahma fell down and it was the Lord’s way of cautioning Lord Brahma to be
careful in the future while confering boons upon evil minded people like
Hiranyakashipu.
The Lord incarnated not to protect
Prahladan as He could have done this task without having to incarnate but to
protect Prahaladan’s words. Earlier the Lord had protected Prahladan from fire,
snakes, elephants and poison without incarnating. He incarnated now because
with firm faith Prahladan told Hiranyakashipu that the Lord was present inside
the pillar. Thus to uphold Prahladan’s faith He incarnated the instant
Hiranyakashipu’s mace touched the pillar. Like Prahladan we should worship the
Lord with faith in our pooja and temples and feel the presence of the Lord in the
archa muthies.
The Lord also protected Brahma’s words by
incarnating with a face of lion and a body of man. Such a being was never
created by Lord Brahma. He used His nails to finish Hiranyakashipu as nails can
neither be classified as living or non-living. The time was twilight hour and
He killed Hiranyakashipu on the porch stairs which were neither inside not
outside.
All the celestials gathered and marveled
at the Lord’s incarnation. After killing Hiranyakashipu the Lord went inside
the court and sat on Hiranyakashipu’s throne in order to bless the throne as it
would now belong to Prahaladan.
All the celestials were afraid to approach
the Lord and requested Sridevi Nachair to approach Him but she too refused not
because she was afraid but to reveal the qualities of Prahaladan.
Prahaladan approached the Lord with his
palms joined. The Lord looked at Prahaladan with love like a lion looking at
its cub with love after hunting prey. The Lord placed his hand on Prahladan’s
head and blessed Him.
‘Child, ask me any boon you want.’
‘Please forgive my father so that he may
go to a good abode.’
‘I have already forgiven your father.
Don’t worry about him. Ask me something else.’
‘All evil doers on earth must turn a new
leaf and become good.’
‘Granted. Ask me something else.’
‘I don’t wish for any boons for myself
from you as I have already got your Supreme Grace. What else could I want?’
‘I insist. Ask me something else.’
‘I should always stay true to you in any
birth I might take and never ask you any boon as a bargain for my devotion.’
The Lord was pleased with Prahladan. ‘In
addition to what you havea asked me, I promise that I will never kill anyone
belonging to your lineage.’
As per His promise, the Lord did not kill
Bali, Namuchi and Banasura.
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