In the last post
Hiranyakashipu asked Prahaladan to summarize the best amongst everything he had
learnt at school.
‘Which is the best
amongst the things you have learnt?’
‘Shravanam is to
listen to the glories of the Lord, Keerthanam is the act of singing the Lord’s
praise, Smaranam is to think about Him with constant uninterrupted devotion
like an oil stream which never splatters, Pada Sevanam is the act of serving
the Lord and His Bagawathas, Archanam is a way to worship the Lord with
flowers, Vandanam is to prostrate before Him, dasyam is to know that we always
depend on him and that He is our master, Sakhyam is the act of staying the true friend of the Lord
and atmanivedanam is the ultimate act of offering oneself to the Lord. Even any
one amongst the nine acts is enough to obtain the Lord’s divine grace.’
Thus Prahladan
lectured Hiranyakashipu about the nava vidha Bakthi. Parikshit Maharaja
performed the act of shravanam while Sukabrahmam Maharishi performed
keerthanam, Prahladan practiced smaranam, PiraTTi(Goddess Lakshmi) performs
pada sevanam, Prithu Maharaja who was born in the lineage of Dhruvan performed
archanai, Akrurar performed vandanam, Lord Hanuman practiced daasyam, Arjuna
practiced sakhyam and Bali Chakravathi did atmanivedanam when he offered
himself to be measured by the Lord’s feet.
Hiranyakashipu’s eyes
turned red with anger. He felt steam come out of his ears as Prahladan narrated
the nine devotional acts by which the grace of Lord Vishnu could be obtained.
‘You are not my son
but my enemy!’ he thundered. ‘You have come to destroy my clan but you won’t be
able to harm me while I am alive! Soldier, come here immediately!’ commanded
Hiranyakashipu. ‘Dig a large fire pit. Line the pit with thousands of dry
firewood. Let me know after setting fire to the pit.’
As soon as the fire
pit was ready, Hiranyakashipu dragged Prahladan to the pit. ‘Child, I give you
one more chance. Do you want to alter your statement about the best thing you
have learned?’
The guards of
Hiranyakashipu watched Prahaladan being threatened by his father.
‘Listen to your
father. He always has the best intention for you in his heart. Say that which
will please your father,’ one of the guards advised.
‘What I told you
earlier is the best thing I have learned.’
‘Then may you burn in
the all-consuming fire!’ yelled Hiranyakashipu as he threw Prahladan inside the
burning pit.
Smoke from the pit raised high and
Hiranyakashipu’s eyes burned. Unable to stand near the pit, he moved away
coughing loudly. All of a sudden he realized that he had thrown his son in the
fire. Remorse grasped his heart and he cried. ‘Prahlada!’
‘Father,’ answered Prahladan
to the amazement of Hiranyakashipu. ‘You are the best father in this world. Who
else would make a mattress of lotus petals and place their son in the midst of
cool gentle breeze and apply cooling sandalwood paste on their child in order
to escape from the midday heat?’
Hiranyakashipu
ordered the fire to be put-out and found that Prahladan was unharmed. There was
not even a single burn mark on his body.
‘I felt remorse in
vain for you are definitely evil!’ he cried. ‘Round up all the poisonous
serpents present in this country! We will make the angry serpents bite
Prahladan!’
To the serpents
Prahladan appeared like Garudazhwar. They retreated in fear but
Hiranyakashipu’s men forced them to proceed towards Prahladan. As they bit
Prahladan, their fangs shattered into pieces and Prahladan was unharmed.
‘You may have escaped
the serpents but I will get the elephants to trample you!’
Hiranyakashipu
released eight angry elephants but the elephants too ran away in fear from
Prahaladan.
Hiranyakashipu called
for two of his strongest soldiers. ‘Take this boy to the top of the mountain
and throw him down so that he may smash his head on rocks and die.’
As Prahladan was
thrown from the mountain peak, the child hugged his chest not because he was
afraid of falling but he wanted to protect the Antaryami(Lord Vishnu) residing
in his heart.
‘We have thrown the
boy per your orders,’ said the soldiers.
‘Father,’ called
Prahladan and Hiranyakashipu saw his son standing behind the soldiers.
‘The earth felt like
velvet,’ said Prahladan.
‘Come with me,’ said
Hiranyakashipu as he dragged Prahladan back to his court.
Kayathu was waiting
for them in the court. As soon as she saw the unharmed Prahladan she rushed
forward and embraced him.
‘What terrible things
I heard!’ she said. ‘I am glad you are okay!’
‘Don’t get too
attached to your son!’ yelled Hiranyakashipu as he forced a glass of milk in
her hands. ‘This milk is laced with the venom of Karkotakan (most deadly snake).
Feed this milk to Prahladan this instant!’
‘Why do you hold such
a grudge against this innocent child? He is just a child and doesn’t realize
the consequences.’
‘Mother don’t worry,’
said Prahladan. ‘Jaganathan is in me and He will protect me,’ said Prahladan as
he snatched the milk from his mother’s hands and drank it so that she need not bear the blame of having
fed him poison.
