KING PRAHLAADA
INTRODUCTION
In this story of Prahlaada,
taken from YogaVaasishta, Prahlaada is an ordinary prince of the demon-clan
fighting gods along with his father.
In his effort to subdue
Vishnu, he meditates on Vishnu and becomes a staunch devotee of the Lord. The
devotion purifies his mind and with the guidance of Vishnu he attains the
Supreme state of the Self.
He rules the demon world till
the end of the Creation as a JeevanMukta.
PRAHLAADA
Nether worlds were once ruled
by a terrifying demon-king named HiranyakaShipu.
Gods and demons trembled at
his name. He conquered all the worlds including that of Indra. He had many
children from his many wives. Of them all, Prahlaada was his favored son.
Prahlaada proved a great
support to his father in all his invasions of the other worlds. Because of his
son, HiranyakaShipu could battle with any earthly king or godly ruler and be
sure of his victory. Prahlaada was highly valorous and proved to be a terror to
the gods like his father. Harassed by the demons, the gods took shelter with
Lord Vishnu and prayed to him for help. Lord Vishnu took the form of a man-lion
and killed HiranyakaShipu in no time.
His rage was pacified by the
gods and Lord Vishnu returned to his abode in Vaikuntha.
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The demon-kingdom wore a
forlorn look after the death of their king. It was as if a dissolution fire had
burnt the whole of the nether world. Most of the demons along with Prahlaada and
other princes had run helter-skelter to different places when the man-lion had
appeared. They all returned now to their dead city. They performed the funeral
rites for all those who were dead. Consoling each other somehow, they started
their lives anew, swallowing hard all their grief.
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Prahlaada was sitting alone
in his private chambers lost in thoughts. He was thinking of ways to regain
what had been lost by the intrusion of the man-lion. The very memory of that
man-lion brought him mixed emotions of fear, sadness, anger, reverence all at
once. He knew it was Hari who had taken that form to kill his father.
What a tricky fellow! If he
was not there, the god-world would be wallowing under his feet now. The gods
were always on the winning side because of this one Vishnu who always helped
them out.
Prahlaada wondered whether
that mighty lord could be subdued by him through direct attack!
No chance! That wise one was
mightier than all gods and would know of his move before he even thought of it!
The Sages said that he lived within all!
He was the great Vaasudeva!
Maybe that is why he understood every mind so easily!
Prahlaada wondered if he
could think of himself as Vaasudeva, the Lord Vishnu the mightiest and thus
become equal in prowess to that of Vishnu.
If he was as mighty as
Vishnu, he could easily overpower him and gods would be defeated within
minutes!
All the demons (women and
men) now slaving under the gods could be freed and brought back to their
homeland!
He could become the Vishnu of
the demon clan and support the demons as that Vishnu supported the god-clan.
All that the demons needed
was another mighty Vishnu on their side!
Prahlaada decided to become
the mighty Vishnu of the demons.
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Prahlaada sat in the lotus
posture; closed his eyes and meditated on himself as Vishnu. He conceived the
form of Vishnu as his.
He conceived the great milk
ocean around him; the serpent as his bed; the mace and discus weapons in his
hands; Goddess Lakshmi sitting next to him; all gods including Shiva and Brahma
propitiating him.
Bit by bit; he conceived
every detail of Vishnu’s form and imagined his form to be that of Vishnu!
Had he become Vishnu?
No!
He was still thinking like
the son of the demon king HiranyakaShipu and Vishnu’s form was still external
to him. However much he tried, he was not able to be the form of Vishnu.
Exhausted, he wondered what
to do next.
However by the constant
contemplation on the form of Vishnu, all his evil Vaasanaas had been destroyed.
His mind had purified as by the dip in the holy waters of Ganges .
He now felt no rage towards the form of Vishnu.
A deep emotion of finest love
was rising in him towards Vishnu.
He wanted to fall at the
tender lotus feet and surrender all that was his to that adorable God. The best
way to express his love was to worship that wonderful God, he decided.
He now conceived all the
ingredients needed for the worship; his heart filled with utmost devotion and
love, he offered worship to the conceived form of MahaaVishnu.
As he worshipped his mind
became purer and purer.
After he had satisfied
himself that he had expressed his devotion completely, Prahlaada opened his
eyes.
He had not become Vishnu. But
his every breath and thought were filled with the name and form of Naaraayana.
All his demonic qualities were annihilated by the thought of the Supreme
God-head.
The demon Prahlaada who wanted
to become the Vishnu of the demon clan now was the Prahlaada who carried Vishnu
in his heart-chamber!
Unable to think of anything
other than Vishnu, he taught all the demons that Vishnu was the Supreme Godhead
and told them to worship Vishnu. He built many worship places in his kingdom to
enable the people to become devotees of the Great Lord.
All the demons obeyed their
king and the land echoed everywhere the great mantra ‘Om Namo Naaraayanaaya’!
The weapons gathered dust and
the gods were left undisturbed!
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Gods were alarmed by this new
development.
They were less apprehensive
when the demons were attacking them whenever and wherever. But now the demons
were worshipping Lord Vishnu. Somehow the gods were unable to digest this
matter.
Were the demons planning a
secret attack trying to hide their plan behind this faked devotion to Vishnu?
Or, was the devotion real?
But how can that be possible?
How can evil become good?
How can that mean old
HiranyakaShipu’s son be different from his father?
Till now he was standing next
to his father and ruthlessly attacking gods!
He had dared even raise his
sword against Vishnu!
Now suddenly that wicked
demon fellow is acting like the greatest devotee of Vishnu!
A lotus cannot bloom on the
dry rock! A demon cannot have devotion in his heart! It was just impossible! It
was surely a trick of Prahlaada to deceive the gods. Vishnu must be informed
about this immediately.
So the gods decided to visit
Vishnu and report this new development of the demon-world.
Lord Vishnu was ready for the
visit of gods.
He just brushed aside their
irrational fear and assured them that he will himself visit the demon Prahlaada
and clarify the matters with him. The gods returned feeling better than before.
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