In the previous episode, we had witnessed Little Prahlaada “redefining” education at Chanda and Amarka’s Gurukula! He makes sure that he pulls all the other children in the Gurukula into the Bhakti towards Bhagawan Narayana – A move that was considered to be an unpardonable blunder by the teachers and Hiranya Kashibu. Upon coming to know that all the children have “strayed away” from their fold, Chanda and Amarka decide that they’ve had enough. The second attempt to “refine” Prahlaada was turning out to be a nightmarish experience for both of them – Something that they’ve not come across till that date in their lives. Thus, they take away Little Prahlaada back to Hiranya Kashibu and narrate the entire sequence of events that had unfolded at the Gurukula! Upon hearing thus from Chanda and Amarka, Hiranya Kashibu’s jitters only get stronger from here on. He is being challenged by Prahlaada every passing day! He thus decides that he has had enough with Prahlaada, and takes a firm decision to take the harsh route to teach Prahlaada a “lesson”.
Deciding thus, Hiranya Kashibu sends off both Chanda and Amarka and with a heavy heart, decides to punish Prahlaada for his alleged “atrocities”. He decides to met out the first punishment thus – To let Prahlaada be surrounded by a herd of wild elephants! The plan was simple – If the wild elephants threaten to crush Prahlaada, he might change his mind and still come into his father’s fold! Thus, with a seemingly heavy heart, Hirayna Kashibu takes Prahlaada to a place where the wild elephants were kept ready for an “all-round attack”! He thus leaves Prahlaada and walks back to his palace! The wild elephants start roaring at Prahlaada and come closer to him. However, Little Prahlaada is totally unmoved – Quite as usual! He closes his eyes and starts meditating on Bhagawan Vishnu as the elephants surround him, in a bid to scare him off. However, Prahlaada knew nothing of what was happening around him, as he quickly went into a state of extreme spiritual bliss! This is another characteristic of a “Mahatma” – With the spiritual power and acumen that they’ve acquired, Mahatmas can easily slip into extreme spiritual consciousness at any point in time, forgetting all what’s happening around them, and this is exactly what Little Prahlaada is doing here too! As he slips into deep penance by chanting Bhagawan Narayana’s name constantly in his lips, the spiritual vibrations created around Prahlaada slowly starts pushing the elephants back! At this time, Little Prahlaada talks to these elephants thus, “Oh my dear elephants! You were the same Gajendera for whom Bhagawan Narayana granted Moksha, isn’t it? If such is the case, aren’t you indebted to Bhagawan Narayana for what He has gifted you for? Hence, please join me in praying to Bhagawan Narayana, who is the sole savior of this world. Let us all pray to Him for attaining the highest “Moksha” as soon as possible!”
As Little Prahlaada says thus, the elephants were now starting to bow in front of him with respect. As onlookers saw what was happening, they were shell-shocked! How can a herd of the wildest of the wild elephants fall prey to Little Prahlaada’s Bhakti towards Bhagawan Narayana? They couldn’t believe their eyes for what they were seeing in front of them! Unable to believe what was going on, some onlookers rushed to Hiranya Kasibu to narrate what they saw! As Hiranya Kashibu came to know of what had just happened, he too couldn’t believe what he was hearing! He wanted to check the proceedings in person and rushed to the spot! He was in utter disbelief to see his son being respected and bowed down to, by the elephant herd. His fears were only getting stronger day after day – Courtesy – Little Prahlaada’s unending devotion towards Bhagawan Narayana! He has had enough now with the elephants. He quickly removes Prahlaada from there, and just to be sure, he asks Prahlaada thus, “Oh Prahlaada! The elephants would have scared you to bits, isn’t it? I’m sorry, but I had to take that extreme step to bring you to ways. Hope you’re fine and safe! Now tell me – Have you changed your approach? Have you taken off your mind from that Narayana, whom you’re after every passing day?”
As his father asks thus, Prahlaada replies calmly thus, “Oh father! How can I even take my mind off Bhagawan Narayana even for a moment? These elephants did not do any harm to me! Instead, all of them joined with me in praying to Bhagawan Narayana with all our devotion! I’m totally fine and with the divine grace of Bhagawan Narayana, nothing happened to me! You can be rest assured that your son is safe!” Hearing thus from little Prahlaada, Hiranya Kashibu was flabbergasted! For a moment, he did not know whether to be happy, or sad or angry or frustrated! His fear was clearly overriding him now and he could sense that there’s someone who is more powerful than him, who is saving Prahlaada. However, his ego was extremely high that he didn’t want to give up so easily!
With this, Hiranya Kashibu thought of a different plan – To roll down Prahlaada from the mountains! Perhaps this would scare the little child? Does Prahlaada have “fear for heights” like how many of us do? Hiranya Kashibu wanted to give this a try! Hence, he orders Prahlaada to be taken to the top of a cliff and to be pushed down from there! Now, what is going to happen next? Is Prahlaada going to survive this test of his father? Let’s wait till the next episode to witness this absorbing event! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 