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Prahlada
For the 1941 lm, see Prahlada (lm).Prahlda was a daitya king,
the son of Hiranyakashipu,
Prahlada overcoming the elephant
and the father of Virochana. He is often described asa saintly
boy from the Puranas known for his piety andbhakti to Vishnu.
Despite the abusive nature of his fa-ther, Hiranyakashipu, he
continued his devotion towardsVishnu.[1] He is considered to be a
mahjana, or greatdevotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and
is ofspecial importance to devotees of the avatr Narasiha.A
treatise is accredited to him in the Bhgavata Pura inwhich Prahlda
describes the process of loving worship tohis lord, Vishnu. The
majority of stories in the Puranasare based on the activities of
Prahlda as a young boy,and he is usually depicted as such in
paintings and illus-trations.
Narasimha kills Hiranyakashipu, as Prahlada and his motherKayadu
bow before Lord Narasimha.
1 HistoryPrahlda was born to Kayadu and Hiranyakashipu, anevil
daitya king who had been granted a boon that hecould not be killed
by man or animal, day or night, in-side or outside. After the
killing of his father, he took hisfathers kingdom and ruled
peacefully. He was knownfor his generosity and kindness. He sowed
similar seedsin his son Virochana and grandson Mahabali.
1.1 The story of Prahlada
Main article: Narasiha and Prahlda
Prahlada while being in his mothers womb got to hearNarada's
chants. He was taught by Narada in early child-hood. As a result,
he was devoted towards Vishnu. Hisfather didn't like his spiritual
inclination. He tried towarn Prahlada. Despite several warnings
from his fatherHiranyakashipu, Prahlda continued to worship
Vishnuinstead. His father then decided to commit licide andpoison
Prahlda, but he survived. He then trampled theboy with elephants,
but the boy still lived. Then he putPrahlda in a roomwith venomous
snakes, and they madea bed for him with their bodies.Holika, the
sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed inthat she could not be hurt
by re. Hiranyakashipu putsPrahlda on the lap of Holika as she sits
on a pyre.Prahlda prays to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika
thenburns to death as Prahlda is left unscathed. This event
iscelebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.[2]
After tolerating abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlda is
1
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2 3 PILGRIMAGE SITES
Lord Narasiha kills demon hirayakaipu.(At left)The pra-halda
bows before lord
eventually saved by Narasiha, who places the king onhis thighs,
and kills him with his sharp nails at the en-trance to his home at
dusk.[3]
There is an underground pillar known as Prahldakhamba in
Dharahra village, in the Purnia District ofBihar, India. It is said
to be the pillar from whichNarasiha manifested to kill
Hiranyakashipu. Adja-cent to the pillar is a large temple devoted
to LordNarasiha. Allegedly, attempts to excavate or move thePrahlda
khamba have failed. In Maharashtra, an un-derground temple near the
banks of the river Krishna inSangli District hosts a beautiful
stone carved sculpture ofNarasimha and Laxmi".The story of Prahlda
teaches that:
Faith in God is paramount. God will always prevail. God saves
his devotees. Devotion can be practiced at any time. Age does
notmatter.
Evil will be punished. God is omnipresent.
Prahlda eventually becomes king of the daityas and at-tains a
place in the abode of Vishnu (Vaikuntha) after hisdeath.[4]
1.2 Scriptural referencesIn the Bhagavad Gita (10.30) Krishna
makes the follow-ing statement in regard to Prahlda, showing his
favourtowards him:
Translation: "Among the Daitya demons Iam the devoted Prahlda,
among subduers I amtime, among beasts I am the lion, and amongbirds
I am Garuda."[5]
2 Prahlda in SikhismPrahlda is regarded as one of the devotees
of God inSatya Yuga. Sikhism also believes Prahlda was a devoteeof
Paramtm, Supreme God or Waheguru.
2.1 Scriptural referencesPrahlda is mentioned 27 times in Guru
Granth Sahib.As in Hinduism, Guru Granth Sahib also describes
Har-nakash as the father of Prahlda who wanted to kill him,but was
stopped by Narasiha.
Prahlaad was placed in a cell, and the doorwas locked. The
fearless child was not afraidat all. He said, "Within my being, is
the Guru,the Lord of the World. The created being triedto compete
with his Creator, but he assumed thisname in vain. That which was
predestined forhim has come to pass; he started an argumentwith the
Lords humble servant. ||7|| The fatherraised the club to strike
down Prahlaad, saying,Where is your God, the Lord of the
Universe,now? He replied, "The Life of the World, theGreat Giver,
is my Help and Support in the end.Wherever I look, I see Him
permeating and pre-vailing."||8|| Tearing down the pillars, the
LordHimself appeared. The egotistical demon waskilled and
destroyed. The minds of the devo-tees were lled with bliss, and
congratulationspoured in. He blessed His servant with glo-rious
greatness. ||9|| (Guru Granth Sahib, p.1154) [6]
3 Pilgrimage sitesThe following sites in Andhra Pradesh, India,
are associ-ated with Prahlda or Narasiha as places of
pilgrimage:
Simhachalam Ahobilam Kadiri
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34 In popular cultureThe story of Prahlada has been the theme of
variouslms, including Bhakta Prahlada (1931 lm), which wasrst
Telugu talkie movie made in 1931, followed byBhaktha Prahlada (1942
lm) (1942). In Kannada, thestory has been portrayed in Bhakta
Prahlada (1942 lm),Bhakta Prahlada (1958 lm) and Bhakta Prahlada
(1983lm). Tamil lms, Bhaktha Prahlada (1942) and BhaktaPrahlada
(1967) both directed by Chitrapu NarayanaRao, [7] besides Malayalam
lm , Prahlada (1941), Hindilm, Bhakta Prahlad (1946) directed by
Dhirubhai Desaiand Bengali lm Prahlad (1952).
5 See also Narada Bhakti Yoga Jaya-Vijaya Multan Raghavendra
Swami
6 References[1] The story of Prahlada.
Ramakrishnavivekananda.info.
Retrieved 2015-03-30.
[2] Varadaraja V. Raman - Variety in Religion And Science:Daily
Reections, iUniverse, 2005, ISBN 0-595-35840-3,p.259
[3] Dimmitt, Cornelia; Johannes Adrianus Bernardus Buite-nen
(1978). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in theSanskrit Puras.
translated by J. A. Van Buitenen. Tem-ple University Press. p. 312.
ISBN 0-87722-122-7.
[4] P. 452 The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hin-duism
By Benjamin Walker - Summary
[5]
[6] Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Srigranth.org. Retrieved
2015-03-30.
[7] G Dhananjayan (3 November 2014). Pride of Tamil Cin-ema:
1931 TO 2013: T . Blue Ocean Publishers. pp. 115.
GGKEY:L1DLZDAEJ47.
7 Further reading Cole, W. Owen; Judith Evans-Lowndes;
JudithLowndes (1995). The Story of Prahlad. HeinemannEducational.
ISBN 0-431-07756-8.
8 External links Bhagavata Purana Canto 7 - The Story of
Prahlada(srimadbhagavatam.com)
Dharma-Nirnayam short story on Prahlada
(moral-stories.wordpress.com)
Prahlada in the Vishnu Purana (sacred-texts.com)
School of Prahlada at Ahobilam
Prahlada Pathashala (School) (Flickr.com)
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4 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses9.1 Text
Prahlada Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahlada?oldid=663208304 Contributors:
TUF-KAT, Gtrmp, Utcursch, Profvk, Rosarino,Alren, Rramphal,
Sfacets, Phi beta, Stemonitis, Shreevatsa, Dangerous-Boy, Pranathi,
Crzrussian, Jorunn, Wikirao, TheRingess,Gsp, Bgwhite, Fwc, Aldux,
Zwobot, SmackBot, Rokfaith, Colonies Chris, Karthik.raman, Derek R
Bullamore, GourangaUK, Mlpkr,Duskrider, Shyamsunder, Don't fear the
reaper, RandomCritic, Ksri99, Jlrobertson, Saketh.nath, CmdrObot,
Cydebot, Mattisse, Panka-jwillis, Ekabhishek, Barek, RainbowCrane,
Lenny Kaufman, Nposs, Hedwig in Washington, Kingkobra123,
Redtigerxyz, VolkovBot,Bovineboy2008, Raji.srinivas, Buddhipriya,
AlleborgoBot, Randomatom001, Arjun024, SieBot, Oldag07, Jacob.jose,
Sitush, ClueBot,HujiBot, Venkatavunnava, Smr521, Goldenhawk 0,
VsBot, Nipunshukla, DragonBot, Elizium23, Mikaey, Hindu01,
Enimerotita, Ismschism, Addbot, Opus88888, Yobot, AnomieBOT,
Jim1138, Citation bot, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Omnipaedista,
DrilBot, XxTimber-lakexx, Dazedbythebell, EmausBot, SteveM123,
TeleComNasSprVen, Josve05a, LordSuryaofShropshire, Gamblinglol,
Ramanathan.k.i,Serectrus, Booradleyp, 28bot, ClueBot NG, Helpful
Pixie Bot, Titodutta, Rijinatwiki, Sbblr0803, Kriteesh,
ScrollsofAryavarta, Chris-Gualtieri, Comatmebro, BrightStarSky,
Dexbot, Drpranavpc, Pphanse, Triphala108, Alexander585, Manavatha,
Xfthhxk, Cooper Swenson,Monkbot, Calcium Cookie, Filedelinkerbot,
Exasperation115, AbHiSHARMA143, , Manish Bhan 95, Nkkenbuer,
KasparBotand Anonymous: 54
9.2 Images File:Lakshmi_narasimhan.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Lakshmi_narasimhan.jpg
License: CC-BY-3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Narasimha_Disemboweling_Hiranyakashipu,_Folio_from_a_Bhagavata_Purana_(Ancient_Stories_of_the_Lord)
_LACMA_M.82.42.8_(1_of_5).jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Narasimha_Disemboweling_Hiranyakashipu%2C_Folio_from_a_Bhagavata_Purana_%28Ancient_Stories_of_the_Lord%29_LACMA_M.82.42.8_%281_of_5%29.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors:
Image:
http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-34348536-O3.jpg
Original artist: ? File:Om.svg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Om.svg License: PD
Contributors:
svg created by Rugby471 from a public domain symbolOriginal
artist:Rugby471
File:Prahlada_overcoming_the_elephant.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Prahlada_overcoming_the_elephant.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors:
http://archive.org/details/storiesofindiasg00monr Original artist:
Monro, W. DIllustrations by Evelyn Paul
9.3 Content license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
3.0
HistoryThe story of PrahladaScriptural references
Prahlda in SikhismScriptural references
Pilgrimage sitesIn popular cultureSee alsoReferencesFurther
readingExternal linksText and image sources, contributors, and
licensesTextImagesContent license
