In the previous episode, we had witnessed Hiranya Kashibu interrogating and confronting Little Prahlaada straight on his face. He has had enough with the “gimmicks” that Bhagawan Narayana has been playing with him, by keeping Prahlaada as his proxy. Hiranya Kashibu thus finally asks a question to Prahlaada thus, “Oh Prahlaada! Where is your Narayana? If he has the guts, let him come and stand in front of me and engage in a battle. Why is he doing this cowardly battle with you in the front? Is he there inside this pillar in front of me?” As Hiranya Kashibu angrily asks thus, Prahlaada replies back with enormous confidence – “Oh father! I assure you that you will find Bhagawan Narayana everywhere in this world, just not this only pillar. You can try it for yourself and I’m sure you’ll be able to find Him! He is omni-present. He is everywhere! It is only your ignorance, which is not letting you see Him!” As Little Prahlaada says thus with extreme confidence, Bhagawan Narayana Himself started to shake with fear! He was thinking within Himself thus, “Oh wow! What level of confidence and trust is this Prahlaada having upon us? Now I somehow need to honour his words, else, I would end up being a huge disgrace to an ardent devotee! If I’m not honouring Prahlaada’s words today, the world would say that I’ve failed to protect my devotee. I don’t want such a bad name and reputation upon me! Hence, I’ll have to somehow quickly get into the pillar, which Hiranya Kashibu is about to target!”
Thinking thus, Bhagawan Vishnu recollects and reminds Himself of all the boons that this Hiranya Kashibu had obtained from Brahma, and within a jiffy, enters into the pillar! He’s all set now, for the final assault! We can witness here, how Bhagawan honours the words of an ardent devotee – No matter whether he is a child or an adult. We’ve witnessed a similar instance earlier in the form of Little Dhruva too, wherein Bhagawan had appeared in front of him, to honour his blind devotion. Here too, Bhagawan Vishnu is making sure that He’s going to honour Little Prahlaada’s words, come what may. Thus, the important lesson for all of us to learn here is that, age is not a criteria for exhibiting devotion towards Bhagawan. Many of us might have this thought in us – “Oh! Young age should be enjoyed by going out with friends, partying, etc. and Bhagawad Bhakti is only for people who are 60+ in age!” This is a huge misconception that we have. We should understand here that age is not a bar for Bhakti, and little Prahlaada and Little Dhruva are great examples of it.
Thus, Hiranya Kashibu is also getting ready to have a go at the pillar, as he takes his weapon in hand. He slashes hard at the pillar, and out emerges a ferocious form! The light that is getting emitted out of the pillar is something that nobody was able to witness with the naked eye! A ferocious form emerges out of the pillar, with a unique physique – The upper half of the body is of a lion (Simha) and the lower half is of a human (Nara)! Recollecting Hiranya Kashibu’s boon here – He shouldn’t be killed either by a human being or an animal. But, there is a possibility for him to be killed by a “half-human-half-animal”! Bhagwan Vishnu thus, has incarnated as Bhagawan Nara-simha – A combination of a human and a lion, so as to protect Little Prahlaada! As Hiranya Kashibu’s atrocities have reached the threshold, Bhagawan Vishnu has had enough with him! He’s going to be taken to task and is going to be shown his place!
Bhagawan Narasimha emerges thus, out of the pillar with all His fury. He quickly advances towards Hiranya Kashibu, grabs him with both His hands, takes him to the entrance of the palace. We should recollect Hiranya Kashibu’s yet another boon here – He shouldn’t be killed either inside or outside the house. This is why, Bhagawan Narasimha takes him to the entrance of the palace, which is neither “inside” nor “outside”! We can see here how Bhagawan can outsmart anybody, who might even perhaps have the greatest of the great boons in this world! He thus grabs Hiranya Kashibu to the entrance of the palace, sits down on the ground and has him on His lap! Again, recollecting Hiranya Kashibu’s boon here – he shouldn’t be killed either on the ground or in the “Aakaasha” (Air). Thus, Bhagawan Narasimha was smart enough to have him on His lap, which was neither the ground, nor the air!
With this, all of Hiranya Kashibu’s boons were neutralized, and with his immense fury, Bhagawan Narasimha tears open Hiranya Kashibu’s chest with His ultra-sharp nails! Even before Hiranya Kashibu can react a bit, Bhagawan Narasimha was quick enough to tear him open and cut him to pieces! Hiranya Kashibu was in a pool of blood and with that, he passed away! Little Prahlaada was saved and Hiranya Kashibu’s atrocities come to an end! Thus, Bhagawan Narasimha finishes off Hiranya Kashibu and we can see here, how Bhagawan’s fury was beyond description if His ardent devotee was harmed by someone! There’s a very important lesson that we’ve to learn from this point, and we shall wait till the next episode to witness that! We shall also see what happened to Prahlaada and Bhagawan Narasimha after this! An absorbing episode awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 