We’re at the most critical juncture of the “Prahlaada-Charithra” wherein, Hiranya-Kashibu is laying his own trap of destruction. Due to his sheer ignorance, he engages with a bitter war of words with his son Prahlaada and during this heated conversation, Prahlaada stands his ground firmly! He’s not willing to relent even a single inch here or there. This relentless “arrogance” of Prahlaada angers Hiranya-Kashibu beyond a point and this is where he takes a pledge to wage an all-out war over his bitter enemy Vishnu! He thus asks Prahlaada for Vishnu’s whereabouts. Prahlaada gives a “Vedantic” reply saying that Bhagawan Vishnu is omni-present. That is, He is present within every living and non-living object in this world. He is present in the land, mountains, oceans, rivers, etc. that comprise the world in total! As Prahlaada narrated thus in detail, Hiranya-Kashibu did not understand any of what Prahlaada is explaining!
Normally, short-sighted people wouldn’t understand the intricacies of Vedanta! We can witness this not only in Hiranya-Kashibu’s case, but also in many of today’s useless debates given by atheists and anti-Hindus who are roaming around everywhere! As Hiranya-Kashibu fails to understand the significance of little Prahlaada’s words, he finally asks whether Vishnu is within this pillar that is in front of him! Prahlaada replies the affirmative! Within this time period, Bhagawan Vishnu on his part, prepares himself for an all-out assault on Hiranya-Kashibu! He has had enough now! Thus, Bhagawan Vishnu tries to recollect all the boons that Hiranya-Kashibu had obtained from Bhagawan Bramha! Thus, managing all the permutations and combinations, Bhagawan Vishnu enters inside the pillar in the form of a half-animal and a half-human being.
However, the final decision as to which animal’s form should Bhagawan appear, is only made at the last minute. We had witnessed in the yesterday’s episode that Hiranya-Kashibu makes an open challenge towards Prahlaada thus, “If Vishnu fails to appear from this pillar, I’m going to thwart your head into pieces and drink the blood of yours, just like how a ferocious lion is thirsty for human blood!” Prahlaada openly accepts that challenge and quickly goes into a meditative state! It is at this point, Bhagawan decides that the best option available for Him at this stage is to take the form of a ferocious lion, above his neck! Thus, Bhagawan enters inside the pillar finally, with the form of a half-lion and a half-human being (Bhagawan Nara-Simha).
All of these events are also unfolding during the evening time – The time wherein the day and the night meet each other! Now, Hiranya-Kashibu takes his “Gadha” and advances towards that very pillar inside which Bhagawan Narasimha is present! As the “Gadha” hits the pillar hard, the pillar cuts open into two halves and there arises Bhagawan in one of His fiercest forms! Bhagawan is now roaring with anger and upon seeing the half-lion and half-human form, Hiranya-Kashibu is totally perplexed and stunned! Prahlaada is still in a deep meditative state and is totally unaware of the conspiring events! Bhagawan has finally answered the little child’s ardent devotion! At the same time, Bhagawan has made sure that His ardent devotees’ words come true as well! Hiranya-Kashibu has clearly been outsmarted here! Everything has conspired in accordance to all the loopholes of Hiranya-Kashibu’s boons!
Thus, as Bhagawan Narasimha approaches Hiranya-Kashibu, the whole world is trembling with fear! This is the first time Bhagawan Vishnu has got terribly angry – The primary reason being, Hiranya-Kashibu has repeatedly insulted His ardent devotee, a “Mahatma” in the form of little Prahlaada! Thus, Bhagawan Narasimha comes near Hiranya-Kashibu and carries him in his arms, takes him to the entrance of the palace, places him on his lap, tears open his chest with His razor-sharp nails, throttles him and kills him on the spot! All of this unfolds within minutes and the once mighty Hiranya-Kashibu is totally over-powered by Bhagawan’s dazzling brilliance, strength and infiniteness!
As Hiranya-Kashibu is totally consumed by Bhagawan Narasimha, Prahlaada realizes what has happened, and is amazed to see Bhagawan in front of him, perhaps for the first time in his life! He realizes that Bhagawan has answered his prayers finally, but is of course sad that this process has to consume his father’s life! Although Prahlaada was put to immense amounts of torture by his father, he was compassionate towards his father and prayed to Bhagawan for his “Moksha”! This is yet another typical characteristic of a great “Mahatma”! No matter how much a person is inflicting trouble upon him, Prahlaada had that unchanged amount of love and compassion, which is truly remarkable!
As Hiranya-Kashibu gets killed, Bhagawan’s fury is not going to end with that! Bhagawan Narasimha is still roaring aloud with all His fury, which sends even the Devas to run for safe shelters! Even little Prahlaada is scared to take one step closer to Bhagawan and thank Him for what He has done! Now, who is going to bring down Bhagawan’s fury? Who’s going to make Bhagawan return to His normal condition? What is going to happen next? A very important episode in terms of learnings from the Prahlaada-Charitra awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 😊
The Indian Dharma 