॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Saturday, 21 January 2023 VII.09 - The wonderful prayer of Prahlada pleases Bhagavan.
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This prayer is a major part of the Srimad Bhagavatam. When a great devotee like Prahlada has the direct Darshan of Bhagavan who has come and saved him from being killed by his own father, what does the devotee say? Indeed Narasimha is in such an implacable rage that all the gods are unable to pacify Him. They bring Devi Sri Mahalakshmi to calm Him down, but even she is unsuccessful. Then the gods appeal to the young Prahlada that only he can make the Lord cool down from His terrible rage. I reproduce the entire chapter below from a scan and also give the translation from Swami Tapasyanandaji. I think it is a sacred experience to read the shlokas and the Swamiji's translation. I also embed here the audio for your listening.
Skandha VII Chapter 9 THE HYMN OF PRAHLADA
Prahlada assuaging the Lord's Wrath (1-7)
Narada said: l. None of the Divinities like Brahma or Rudra dared to go near the Lord in His wrathful mood which made Him unapproachable to them.
2. Even Sri Devi, when requested by the Devas, feared to go near Him in that wrathful mood of His, unseen and unheard of at any time before.
3. Thereupon Brahma told Prahlada standing nearby, "O dear boy! Go near the Lord who has been angry at your father, and try to pacify him."
4. Agreeing to do so, that great lover of the Lord, Prahlada, advanced slowly towards Him and with palms joined in salutation, prostrated full length on the ground before Him.
5. When He saw the boy lying in prostration before Him, the Lord was bathed in an upsurge of tender feelings. He lifted him up and placed on his head those Divine palms of His which offer shelter to those who are frightened by the threat of the serpent of Time.
6. The touch of the Lord's palms at once dissipated all traces of ignorance from Prahlada's heart and filled it with the clear Presence of the Lord. Overflowing with bliss within, his heart melted in love, his hairs stood on end, and tears streamed from his eyes.
7. His heart and eyes fixed on the Lord, his mind peaceful and concentrated, he now began to extol Sri Hari in a voice tremulous with love.
Birth no Inhibition to Lord's Grace (8-12)
Prahiada said 8. Even Brahma. Munis and personages ot' high spiritual attam- ment. whose minds are naturally devoted to matters of a Sattvika nature exclusively, have not been able to adore Thee adequately and please Thee even till today, in spite of the flood of words proceeding from them about Thy excellences Can l, born as I am In the race of Asuras With a fierce Tamastc nature. then ever hope to win Thy favour?
9. I feel that none of these—wealth, high birth, beauty, austerity. scriptural studies, vigour. impressiveness, prowess, strength of body, skill in action, intelligence, and the practice of concentration—is adequate to please the Supreme Being For. by mere devotion. The Lord was pleased With the lordly elephant who had none of these qualifications
10. I consider even a man of very low birth. a man born In the caste of dog-eaters, who has offered mind, words, hopes, objects of desire. and vital energy to the Lord, as immensely superior to a Brahmin possessed of the twelve qualifications mentioned above (in verse 9) but is still indifferent to the Lord's holy feet. This is because the former purifies even his tribe, while the latter has only pride as his asset and not purity.
11. The Lord, who is self-fulfilled by His own inherent bliss, does not solicit the worship of ignorant man for any purpose of His own. He accepts it only out of concern for the welfare of the worshipper For, whatever offerings are made by people to the worshipful Lord return as His blessings to themselves. Just as the beauty that a face derives from adornments only goes to beautify its reflection in the mirror
12. Since all can worship the Lord W\without any consideration of qualification, I, freed from all hesitation due to my low birth as an Asura. shall extol the Lord's majesty to the best of my capacity. Such praise of the Lord is the way for the purification of oneself caught in the transmigratory cycle created by the Lord's Maya, I fear not this fearful Form!
13. All these, Brahma and the Devas who stand there in utter fright of Thee, are Thy servants carrying out Thy will, unlike us Asuras. There is therefore no reason for them to fear Thee. All Thy incarnations are enchanting. as they are for the welfare of the world and for Thy sportive joy. They are never for causing fright.
14. Therefore deign to defuse Thy wrath. The Asura is now dead. and there is no one here deserving Thy anger. Even pious men rejoice at the killing of harmful creatures like scorpions and serpents. Similarly, the whole world feels relieved by the elimination of the Asura, and all are waiting to see Thy anger abate. O Thou of the Man-lion form! Henceforth men will contemplate this form of Thine for freedom from fear.
15. O Ever-victorious Lord! I am not frightened by this terror-inspiring form of Thine. Thy frightful face, tongue. sun-like eyes, quivering eyebrows, fierce molars, garlands of intestinal loops, bloodstained manes. bristling ears, fierce roars that startle even the elephants of the quarters, and claws that tore open the enemy's chest.
Involvement in Samsara (16-20)
16. But, O Thou friend of the lowly' I am afraid of the unbearable and frightful sufferings of this transmigratory cycle. Bound up by Karma, my lot has been cast in the midst of these Asuras given to violence and cruelty. When O Thou Lord of abounding charms, shalt Thou be gracious to summon me to abide at Thy holy feet, granting me protection and freedom from the thraldom of ignorance!?
17. I am being burnt, in the fire of birth in successive wombs, involving experiences of pleasure and pain of union and separation. In this worldly existence, all measures adopted for freedom from suffering bring new suffering in their turn. Not knowing this, I am in the grip of infatuation that makes one take the false for the real, the untrue for the true, Therefore grant me devotion and teach me to be Thy servant!
18. O, Lord! Thou of the Man-lion form! Thou being the dear one, the well-wisher and the Deity of all, I shall easily surmount the obstacles posed by body, mind and other limitations of material Nature by resorting to the recitals of Thy excellences and sportive manifestations, which have been glorified in songs even by Brahma, and by seeking the company of Thy great all-renouncing devotees—the Holy Swans (Paramahamsas) who always have homes at Thy feet.
19. No remedial measure sought by sufferers in this world can be effective n the case of God-forsaken ones. They can at the most be a palliative of short duration, never an ultimate remedy. They have been deserted by Thee, while none but Thou can save them really. For, O Narasimha. Thou all-pervading one! A child cannot be protected by parents, a medicine cannot cure a patient, and a boat cannot save a drowning man- if they are all not supported by Thy will.
20. Whatever agent high or low. be it one's own parents or the creator Brahma. constituted of the qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, brings Into existence under Thy command anything new, or creates any modifications in anything old, that agent and what he accomplishes are in essence Thyself. Thou art the only existence and Thine the only will.
The Lord's Maya (21-22)
21. Thy Power Maya, when her triune Guna is stirred into activity by the prompting of Time, creates under the blessing of Thyself as Purusha, the Linga-sharira or the subtle bodies of Jivas, which persist from birth to birth. They are the product of the latent effects of the Karmas of all the previous births. The hold of mind, the principal constituent of this subtle body, has its root in desires, which are confirmed and strengthened by Vedic ritualism. Mind is verily the wheel of Samsara, having for its spokes Sixteen types of modifications generated by Maya. O Eternal One! None except those who seek refuge in Thee can overcome it.
22. O Lord of all! Thou omnipotent Being! Self-luminous Consciousness as Thou art, Thou transcendest all the Gunas of Prakriti and their products. Thou art manifest as Time, which controls and regulates all objects, entities and forces. Entangled by Maya, Thy Power, in the transmigratory wheel with sixteen spokes, I am being crushed like a piece of sugar cane. Deign to draw this refugee of Thine away from this wheel towards Thee.
Vanity of worldly Pleasures (23-25)
23. O Almighty Lord! What men usually aspire after—long life. wealth, and the resources of the guardian deities of the heavens—I have seen enough of these. All these attainments of theirs were dissipated before the mere movements of the brows of my father when he laughed aloud in anger at deities. And that father of mine, surpassing all these deities in prowess, has been destroyed by Thee. Of what worth are these facilities and powers coveted by people?
24. Therefore, I, who know these tacts, do not desire blessings like sensuous enjoyment, wealth, and longevity. glory etc. after which all embodied beings from Iow creatures up to Brahma are mad. Not only these, I care not tor any state or felicity that is subject to destruction by Thee as Time. I only pray that I may be led to the company of Thy devotees.
25. Look at the nature of these worldly pleasures which are very attractive to hear about but insubstantial in actual experience like water m a mirage! Look at also these bodies through which the enjoyments are had—a hotbed of every kind oi disease! And there are learned men. who know all this but instead of feeling an abhorrence for such a life, vainly attempt to extinguish this name of desire the tiny honey drops of pleasure acquired With great difficulty!
The Lord as Kalpararu (26-29)
26. O Lord! Where am l, born in a family of Asuras having their origin in Rajas and dominated by Tamas? And where is Thy grace that prompted Thee to place Thy lotus hands on my head in blessing — a condescension that could not be had by Brahma or Siva or Thy consort Rama (Lakshmi)?
27. Thou,who art the soul and the well-wisher of all beings in the world, dost not look upon anyone as high or as low, unlike ordinary beings. Yet just as the heavenly wish-yielding Tree. the Kalpakavriksha gives one's obJects of desire only when one goes under it and prays for what one wants, so Thy grace, too, is bestowed on men through the service of Thee. Blessings come according to service, not on considerations of high and low.
28. Never shall I abandon the service of Thy devotees—I who, by contact with worldly people given to sensuous enjoyments. was about to fall into the pit of transmigratory existence infested by serpents in the shape of birth and death. It was Narada. a holy man. that took me as his own and lifted me up from that predicament. How can such a person like Thyself abandon the service of Thy devotees?
29. O Infinite Being! I believe that it is in order to prove the truth of the words of Rishis like Sanaka. Sanandana and others. who are Thy devotees and servants that Thou didst come forward to save me and destroy my father when the latter, with the evil intention of beheading me, took up the sword and challenged, saying: "Let me see if there is any Power (Ishwara) other than me to save you. I am going to take your head."
Divine Immanence and Transcendence (30-32)
30. It is Thou, the One Existence that hast manifested as the universe. Before its manifestation Thou wert, and at its dissolution also Thou wouldst exist as before. So in the middle, when the changeful universe is seen in the state of manifestation, Thou must have existed, uninvolved. By Thy inherent power Yoga-maya Thou manifestest this manifold universe through the transformation of the Gunas of Prakriti and abidest in it uninvolved and unaffected.
31. O, Lord! Thou art verily this universe both in its causal and manifested conditions. Thou art yet different from it insofar as Thou existest in Thy pristine condition at the end as Thou wert at the beginning of this series of changes called creation. For one who sees this basic unity of existence, the opposition of interests between that of 'mine' and 'of another' is meaningless, He in whom the origin and the manifestation, subsistence and dissolution of the universe take place, must necessarily be one with Him, Just as in the case of a tree and its seed, the atoms of their constituent elements in their gross and subtle condition continue to enter, so is the Spirit present in all as their substance, without being affected in the least by all transformation.
32. Withdrawing this whole universe into Thyself and established in Thy own inherent Bliss actionless, eyes shut in inward communion, and dispelling the dullness of sleep in the bliss of Pure Self-consciousness- Thou liest in the Cosmic Waters in the state of Turiya, which is neither absorption in the oblivion of deep sleep, nor involvement in the objective movement of the waking and dream states.
The emergence of Universe from Lord (33-36)
33. This universe is verily Thy gross form. Like a huge banyan tree emerging from its latent condition in a seed, it emerges from Thee in the form of the Cosmic Lotus, when through Thy Power, the Time-Spirit, Thou spurrest Prakriti (Nature) into activity on awaking from Thy spiritual absorption (Samadhi), streetched on Thy bed of Infinity (Ananta) in cosmic waters.
34. Brahma, who originated in that Lotus, could find nothing else existing except that Lotus whose source he could not discover. Though that source, the Supreme Lord, was latent in Brahma himself, he searched for Him for a hundred divine years in the cosmic waters, but could not discover Him. How could he? For Lo! when the shoot has come out, how can its source, the seed, exist separately from it?
35. Thereupon Brahma, the self-born, resumed his seat in the Lotus, being very much astonished and puzzled at his not being able to discover its source. Then he practised inward concentration for a very long time and gained purity of mind, which enabled him, O Lord, to experience Thy subtle presence in his own being constituted of the great elements, senses, mind, intellect etc., just as the presence of the quality of smell residing in the element earth is perceived by a Yogi.
36. Brahma was delighted to see that Mahapurusha, the Cosmic Being, who had thousands of faces, feet, heads, hands, thighs, noses, mouths, eyes, ornaments, and weapons, who was the seat of all power and who was possessed of limbs that corresponded with the various regions of the universe.
Incarnations (37-38)
37. Incarnated as Hayagriva (the Horse-headed), Thou didst destroy Madhu and Kaitabha, embodiments of Rajas and Tamas, and very powerful traducers of the Vedas, and retrieving the Vedas from them, Thou didst restore them to Brahma. This, Thy form as Hayagriva constituted of pure Sattva, by which Rajas and Tamas represented by the Asuras were destroyed, is described by the wise as Thy favourite form, it is conducive to the development of Jnana.
38. Thus, O All-powerful Lord! Incarnating Thyself as man, animal, fish, Rishi and celestial, in different Yugas (ages), Thou dost destroy the wicked and protect the worlds. Though Thou protectest the Dharma appropriate to every age, Thy presence is hidden in the age of Kali. Thou art therefore known as Triyuga, or one whose manifestations are confined to the three Yugas.
Prayer for Divine Grace (39-42)
39. O Lord of Vaikuntha! Evil tendencies corrupt my mind and make it outward-going. It is harassed by intense lust, by alternating feelings of joy and sorrow, by fear and the morbid craving for progeny, wealth and fame. As a consequence my mind is not able to feel delight in accounts of Thy deeds and excellences. Afflicted as I am with this shortcoming, how am I to persist in my quest of Thee?
40. O Achyuta! My sense of taste, ever insatiate, drags me in one direction while lust draws me in another. So also hunger, hearing and smell drive me in certain directions while the fickle sense of sight and thevigorous organs of action drive me in still others, am torn to pieces by their conflicting claims, as a husband by his several wives. Unfortunately, there is none among these senses to drive me towards Thee!
41. See us, a large number of Jivas fallen in this Vaitarini, the unfordable river of Samsara, by the force of our past actions, and struggling in it amidst the fear of life and death and of mutual competition for worldly enjoyments. See them engulfed in animosity and amity arising from the feeling of difference be-between oneself, one's friends and one's enemies. O Thou the resident on the bank of yonder river Vaitarani! Taking pity, save a fool like me from this predicament.
42. O Father and Teacher of all! For Thee, who by Thy mere will art effortlessly carrying on the creation, sustenance and dissolution of this whole universe, what diffculty is there in lifting up Thy creatures from Samsara? Not only there is no diffculty, it is but proper, too, For, O friend of the affected! Thou art reputed to be very gracious to the ignorant, It is no good to say that this grace is confined to those of us who serve Thy dear devotees and tread the path of devotion shown by them. Only if it is bestowed on the least deserving.
Prayer for universal Salvation (43-44)
43. I do not mind, O Lord, even if I am consigned to the Vaitarani, the river of hell, as my mind is ever immersed in the ambrosial ocean of the recital of Thy divine attributes and sportive deeds. I am sorrowing for the ignorant persons who eschew the path of devotion, and for the sake of the petty and short-lived pleasures of the senses, shoulder the great burdens of worldly life.
44. O Lord! Sages generally concern themselves only with their own salvation. They strive for it in solitude, without any thought for the salvation of others. But I do not desire salvation for myself alone, abandoning all other creatures to their miserable condition. I find no shelter other than Thee for these creatures caught in the travails of Samsara. (So if Thou art pleased to save me from Samsara, I am willing to accept it only on condition that all my fellow sufferers too are saved.)
Mastery of Senses and Salvation (45-46)
45. The pleasures of sex life and other fulfilments available in householdlife are very petty. As relief sought hy scratching an itching hand only adds a new form of suffering to the old one, these satisfactions only go to enhance the intensity of desire. Still these pitiable victims of sexual desire are never found to get satiation in spite of many sufferings arising from it.
A wise man here or there may overcome sexuality, as a man sometimes escapes the temptation of the itch to scratch himself; but that is achieved only through Thy grace.
46. O, Lord! For those who have no mastery of the senses, all the reputed means of spiritual attainment like silence, vows, scholarship, austerity, and study of the Veda. discharge of duty, teaching, and living in solitude, repetition of Mantras and practice of concentration, gets reduced to a mere show for earning a livelihood. It is doubtful whether such hypocrites succeed even in this.
The Supremacy of Devotion (47-50)
47. The Vedas reveal Thee under these conceptions like the seed and the tree- the causal condition in which Thou art the source of the manifold, and the effect condition in which Thou art the indweller of the manifold. In no other way canst Thou as the formless, be comprehended. As one fire stick is rubbed with another to bring out the fire latent in the sticks, so those who seek Thee practise communion with Thee in this causal and effect conditions through devotion and concentration. There is no other way.
48. Thou art the fire, air, earth, sky, water, subtle elements (Tanmatras), vital energy, senses, mind, Chitta, Ahankara, and all the deities. All that is gross and subtle art Thou. Nothing that thought can think or words describe is outside Thee.
49. O, praiseworthy Lord! None included in Prakriti and its evolutes like intellect, mind and others, nor Devas, nor men are able to know Thee, because they are limited by a beginning and an end. Knowing this, the wise ones give up all self-centred efforts for knowing Thee like the study of the Vedas and the philosophies (and practise pure resignation to attain Thy grace).
50. O worshipful one! Without the practice of the six-limbed devotional discipline consisting of various forms of adoration of Thee like salutation, praise, the dedication of all action, service, hearing and remembrance of Thy excellences and sportive manifestations—-without the practice of these, how can that constant and deep-rooted love of Thee, the goal of the Paramahamsas, sprout in the mind of man? (Mere study of philosophy, works or concentration cannot generate the wholehearted devotion, the one means for spiritual illumination.)
Prahlada tempted by Boons (51-55)
Narada said: 51. The Lord, who transcends the Gunas of Prakriti, whose excellences were thus extolled by the great devotee Prahlada lying prostrate at His feet, was now assuaged of His wrath, and being highly propitiated, said to Prahlada as follows.
The Lord said: 52. "O Prahlada, virtuous boy! May all that is good and auspicious befall you! Oh the best of Asuras! I am highly pleased with you. Ask for whatever boons you want. I grant all that a devotee wants.
53. I can never be seen by one who has not propitiated Me. One who has attained My vision shall have never afterwards any occasion to feel sorry that his wants have not been fulfilled.
54. Therefore all virtuous men who have insight, and who aspire for higher evolution, seek to please Me who am the bestower of all that one aspires for."
55. Though thus tempted with rare boons that can overpower anyone else in the world however advanced, that noblest one among the Asuras did not go after any of them, as he was a person of unswerving devotion, seeking nothing but the Lord.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
