{4}
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!
{5}
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.
{6}
Prahlaada was absorbed in the
contemplation of his dear deity in his worship room. And his joy knew no bounds
when he saw Lord Vishnu standing in front of him for real.
Prahlaada cried; wept;
worshipped; saluted again and again; recited hymns of praise; and said at last
in a choking voice-
“Lord! Command me whatever
you wish me to do!
I am your slave! What else
should I do? Is there any fault in my worship?
I do not want anything from
you! Your vision itself has fulfilled my life.
I have no desires at all!
Even this kingdom is not mine. Everything is yours!
You can do whatever you feel
good! I have nothing to gain or lose.
You are my all-in all! Your
devotion is enough for me!
Your thought is the most
blissful thing in the world!
It is enough that I remember
you always with love!”
Vishnu flashed his benevolent
smile and spoke with a voice oozing nectar:
“Dear Prahlaada!
I am happy that you love me
so much! But that is not enough.
I am not just the bluish form
you see adorned by discus, mace and lotus.
You have to reach further
heights in your spirituality.
There is the most Supreme
state that has to be achieved by you.
Practice ‘Vichaara’ and
enquire about the ‘Self’!
Who am ‘I’? Who are ‘You’?
What is this world?
Analyze these questions with
reason and find the answers.
Till you reach the Supreme
state of Brahman, do not stop this enquiry.”
Vishnu vanished like a wave
disappearing into the ocean.
{7}
Prahlaada, the obedient
devotee immediately started to think and analyze as his beloved Lord had
suggested.
He understood that all his
ancestors were following the unrighteous path prompted by their wicked
Vaasanaas. Instead of trying to attain the Supreme state of Brahman they had
wasted their lives pursuing the momentary pleasures of senses. He felt
disgusted that they were after heavens and ruler ship of the three worlds
rather than achieving the most blissful state of the Self.
Then he analyzed the nature
of the Self.
He started with the senses
and ascertained that he was none of the sense perceptions; not the mind; not
the intellect; not the memory faculty; and so on.
As he remained deeply
absorbed in the enquiry of the Self, he slipped into the perturbation less
state of Chit.
And his body remained
unmoving like a statue.
Time passed on.
He did not get up.
The ministers and his people
were alarmed by this statue like state of the king.
They tried and tried; but he
would not wake up.
Thousands of years passed
away like this.
The demon world became
erratic in ways because of the absence of the king.
The father was dead; and the
son was a statue!
The demons became
uncontrollable.
Every one acted as they
liked.
The good were harassed.
Houses were looted. The wicked killed anyone who opposed them.
Prahlaada was unaware of all
this.
He was lost in the blissful
state of Chit!
{8}
Vishnu woke up from his
Yoga-Nidraa (contemplative-sleep).
He scrutinized well, the
state of all the three worlds. He observed that the nether world was without
the attention of a king and had become uncontrollable. He saw that Prahlaada
was in deep trance. If the demons were not under a king, he knew that the demon
clan will soon perish and it would bring an imbalance state in the Creation.
The gods will not have any purpose in life and would merge in the Chit state.
The earth will be without penance and sacrifices because of the absence of
gods. And soon earth will also perish. The entire creation which had to remain
till the end of Kalpa will vanish before time like a snow-flake by heat.
And with the Creation gone,
the Trinities would have no duties to perform and so will dissolve into Para
Brahman.
Nothing good will come out of
this, he thought!
Only if the demons thrive,
the Gods can exist!
Only if Gods exist, the earth
beings would perform sacrifices and penance to get the required fruits. The
worldly existence can go on only if the earth beings get their fruits of
actions through the gods.
If any other king takes over
the demon clan, he will attack the gods again and make trouble. Prahlaada alone
was fit to rule the demon world for some more time. This is the ordained course
of things. Prahlaada has to live till the end of this Kalpa as a JeevanMukta.
In that case, the Creation
will not perish; the good and bad will be balanced in a proper way. Only then
could he himself play around the Creation, saving the good and destroying the
evil.
Though he actually was not
affected by the existence or non-existence of the Creation, he had to see that
nothing untoward happened to the Creation. That was his duty.
What had started as a created
phenomenon had to continue till the end of the process.
So Vishnu decided to give a
visit to the demon world and wake up his devotee.
{9}
Lord Vishnu stood the next
instant in front of Prahlaada and blew his conch.
Prahlaada woke up immediately
and opened his eyes.
Vishnu reminded him of his
duties and told him not to remain in the trance forever.
He chided him for discarding
the body unattended like this. He advised him that he should rule the nether
world till the end of the Kalpa.
Prahlaada apologized and said
to him that he had just rested there for a moment enjoying the bliss and had
never thought of discarding the body named Prahlaada. He was exhausted and
tired by the past battles and had lost himself in the restful state of the
Self. As it really made no difference to him whether he remained in trance
state or not, as he always was the ‘Self’, he promised Vishnu that he would
rule the kingdom from then onwards.
Lord Vishnu consecrated him
again on the throne of the nether world; blessed him; took leave of him; and
disappeared.
The gods returned the
imprisoned demons. Both the gods and demons stopped fighting with each other.
They rather helped each other like brothers.
No one cried. No one was
tormented. No blood flowed. No hatred reigned.
Vishnu remained on his
serpent bed; the gods in the heavens; the demons in the netherworld.
All remained happy forever
till the end of the Creation!
{10}
Rama had many doubts to
clear.
He shot forth questions after
questions to Sage Vasishta.
RAMA:
“How can Prahlaada wake up just to the sound of a conch?”
VASISHTA:
“Prahlaada was just absorbed
in the contemplation of the Self-state.
He was not dead. His body
remained alive by the streak of Praana lingering within.
He was a JeevanMukta. He had
attained liberation while living.
The liberated ones who have
discarded the bodies cannot be seen at all. They are like crushed seeds. Not so
Prahlaada.
He can be woken up from his
Samaadhi state even after thousands of years.
He still had pure Vaasanaas
within. So he woke up when the conch sound of Vishnu was heard!
And Rama, Vishnu resides in
all the minds as Vaasudeva. Whatever he thinks will happen immediately. He
thought that Prahlaada should wake up and Prahlaada woke up. So what is there
to feel surprised about that?”
The Chit only appears as
Vishnu with a form.
If the Self is realized,
Vishnu is seen!
If Vishnu is seen the Self
gets realized!”
RAMA:
“Lord!
You always advise me that everything gets achieved through self-effort! Then
how is it that Prahlaada reached the Self-state because of Vishnu’s boon?”
VASISHTA:
“Rama! Who said that Vishnu
gave the boon of Self-knowledge? Knowledge cannot be attained through a boon or
merit or by favoring a deity. Knowledge is possible only through self-effort. Vishnu
merely guided Prahlaada in the correct path. Prahlaada enquired about the Self
for long and reached the Self-state by himself.
No God or Guru can bestow
self-knowledge even if he is worshipped for hundreds of years. Each person has
to understand the truths by his own intellect and pursue the path of enquiry.
Then only Self-knowledge becomes possible.
If one does not develop
dispassion and sense-control, the worship of any God becomes meaningless!
If one develops dispassion
and sense-control, then also worship of a God becomes meaningless!
Vishnu or Shiva get pleased
and grace the devotee only if he develops dispassion and enquiry of the Self.
If a person develops
dispassion and Self-enquiry, then why one has to please Vishnu or Shiva?
Forms of Gods are just
expressions of Chit.
The worship methods of Gods
were invented only for those who were incapable of enquiry and sense-control.
By worshipping Gods with
forms, the mind gets purified easily. One slowly reached the state of the Self,
like a seed becoming a huge tree in course of time.
If a devotee worships Lord
Vishnu and Vishnu gives him a boon that he can attain Self Knowledge, still the
person has to reach that state only through his own effort. Without effort
nothing gets achieved!
Trying to gain knowledge
through mere penance or favoring a God is like trying to empty the ocean using
one’s hands as a tool!
Mind-control is the only
means to achieve the Highest state O Rama!”
Rama remained silent and
thoughtful as he had no more doubts.
END
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