Lessons from Prahlada

The father-son dynamic is often a multi-layered, at times complicated one. From one of love and fear tinged with respect and occasional friction, it evolves as the pair age in years. My recent visit to Ahobilam, where Lord Vishnu in His Narasimha avatar slayed the demon Hiranyakashipu, set me thinking on the subject. Hiranyakashipu, whose palace was once located in the Nallamalla forests where Ahobilam is situated, harboured a hatred for Lord Vishnu, who had killed his brother Hiranyaksha.

However, Hiranyakashipu’s son Prahalad was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu/Narayana, much to Hiranyakashipu’s consternation. Hiranyakashipu had, through severe penance, received a boon from Lord Brahma that he couldn’t be killed by man, animal or any other creature, in the earth or sky, inside the house or outside, in the day or night or by weapons, and therefore imagined he was invincible. He sent Prahalad to a patashala with instructions to the tutors to impress upon the boy that his father was the Supreme Lord. Once he asked the child what he had learnt, and the boy said there are many ways of reaching the Lord, such as smarana, kirtan, seva (meditation, song, service), surrender, etc.

When the father said he’d be delighted if the boy worshipped him, the child shocked him by retorting that Hiranyakashipu was not the Supreme Lord. He added that those who are after material possessions, seek sensual pleasures and perform rites perfunctorily under the mistaken notion that that was the very aim of life would never know the Lord who is the Paramatma (eternal soul) and the same as the atman in every being.

All this he divulged to his friends he learnt from Sage Narada when he was in his mother’s womb. Which is how the child of an asura was godly in nature. The incensed king decided to kill the boy, who explained that he was only trying to be of help. Lord Narayana is no enemy. It is your negative qualities, such as kama (lust), krodha (anger), mada (arrogance), lobha (greed), moha (infatuation), and matsarya (envy), which are your enemies, he clarified. The final challenge the king threw at the boy was asking whether His omnipresent Lord Narayana was even in the pillar, at which he struck, leading to the Lord bursting out from it and decimating the demon.

There is much to learn from this unique son-father relationship, where the child imparts valuable spiritual wisdom to the parent.