Prahlada

Prahlada
King of the Asuras[1]
A mural of Prahlada in Srirangam Ranganatha Ranganayaki Temple, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu, showing him witness Narasimha as Gandaberunda disimboweling and killing both Hiranyakashipu and Sharabha.
Devanagari	प्रह्लाद
Affiliation	Vaishnavism Asura
Predecessor	Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha
Successor	Virochana
Texts	Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Yoga Vasistha, Kurma Purana, Vamana Purana
Gender	Male
Genealogy
Parents	Hiranyakashipu (father) Kayadhu (mother)
Siblings	Saṃhlāda, Anuhlāda, Śibi, and Bāṣkala (brothers)
Spouse	Dhriti
Children	Virochana, Kumbha, and Nikumbha

Prahlada (Sanskrit: प्रह्लाद, romanized: Prahlāda) is an asura king in Hindu mythology. He is known for his staunch devotion to the preserver deity, Vishnu. He appears in the narrative of Narasimha, the lion avatara of Vishnu, who rescues Prahlada by disimboweling and killing his evil father, the asura king Hiranyakashipu.^[2]

Prahlada is described as a saintly boy, known for his innocence and bhakti towards Vishnu. Despite the abusive nature of his father, Hiranyakashipu, and his uncle and aunt, Hiranyaksha and Holika, he continues to worship Vishnu, and Vishnu as Varaha kills his paternal uncle Hiranyaksha by piercing and crushing him, and Vishnu kills his paternal aunt Holika by burning her to ashes alive, and Vishnu as Narasimha disimbowels and kills his father Hiranyakashipu and saves Prahlada and the universe from destruction and chaos.^[3] He is considered a mahājana, or great devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions. A treatise is attributed to him in the Bhagavata Purana, in which Prahlada describes the process of his loving worship towards Vishnu.

The majority of stories in the Puranas regarding him are based on the activities of Prahlada as a young boy, and he is usually depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.

Prahlada was born to Kayadhu and Hiranyakashipu, an evil asura king who had been granted a boon from Brahma that he could not be killed off by anything born from a living womb, neither by a man nor an animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on land nor in the air nor in water, and with no man-made weapon. However, after repeated attempts of filicide by Hiranyakashipu against Prahlada, Prahlada was finally saved by Narasimha, the fourth avatara of Vishnu, who descended to demonstrate the quality of divine rage and redemption and then Narashima killed Hiranyakashipu. The word "Narsimha" is derived from the Sanskrit words "Nara", meaning man, and "Simha", meaning lion. Thus, the preserver god took the form of a part-human, part-lion and killed Hiranyakashipu.^[4]

After the death of his father, Prahlada ascended the Asura throne and ruled peacefully and virtuously. He was known for his generosity and kindness. He sowed similar seeds in his son, Virochana, and grandson, Mahabali.^{[citation needed]}

When the ruler of the asuras, Hiraṇyakashipu, was performing a penance in the forest to gain the boon of destroying Vishnu, the devas attacked the asura realm. A great battle ensued, in which the devas were defeated. While fleeing, Indra abducted the pregnant Kayadhu, the wife of Hiranyakashipu, as a spoil of war. Narada listened to the wails of the poor asuri and got her released from Indra’s captivity. She stayed in the ashrama of the divine sage in gratitude. Prahlada, while inside his mother's womb, listened to Narada's chants of devotion towards Vishnu. He was taught by Narada during his early childhood. As a result, he grew devoted to Vishnu. His father was antagonised by his spiritual inclination and tried to warn Prahlada against offending him since he had greatly desired to turn his son against Vishnu in particular. Despite several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continued to worship Vishnu instead of the former. The child is successful in converting other students of the Asura clan into Vaishnavism by teaching them the Narayana mantra.^[5] His father then decided to commit filicide and poison Prahlada, but he survived. When the daitya soldiers attacked their prince with weapons, Prahlada informed them that their efforts were futile since Vishnu resided within them. The asura then had the Prahlada trampled by the aṣṭadiggajas, the eight elephants who bear the weight of the earth, but their tusks were broken to bits upon contact with him and they went away. He placed Prahlada in a room with venomous, dark snakes, and they made a bed for him with their bodies.^[6]

Prahalada was then thrown from a valley into a river but was saved by Bhumi, the companion of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed in that she could not be hurt by fire. Hiranyakashipu put Prahlada on the lap of Holika as she sat on a pyre. Prahlada prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika is burned to ashes and killed, as Prahlada goes away. This event is celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.^[7]

The asuras Shambara and Vayu were tasked with slaying the prince, but both of them were driven away and were killed by Vishnu. The boy was entrusted to Shukra, who educated him regarding his duties, the sciences, and justice, and was returned to his father after he was deemed to have become humble. The asura king once again broached the topic of deities with his son, only to discover that the latter had never wavered in his faith. Finally, the wicked daitya commanded all the daityas and the danavas to collect all the mountains of the earth to construct a barrier over the boy in the ocean, so that his son would be submerged for a year. Even though they spread over him for a thousand kilometres, Prahlada, bound hands and feet, prayed to Vishnu, who granted him a number of boons, moved all the mountains of the earth to their places from the seas and moved the asuras away and had Prahlada returned to prostrate before his father, who was left bewildered.^[8]

After tolerating repeated abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada is eventually saved by Narasimha, an avatara of Vishnu in the form of a lion, who emerges from within a stone pillar in the palace, caught and placed Hiranyakashipu on his thighs, and then disemboweled and killed Hiranyakashipu with his sharp nails at the threshold to his home at dusk and Hiranyakashipu died after being disemboweled by Narasimha, thus nullifying all of Hiranyakashipu's boon of virtual immortality and destroying it fully and Narasimha disembowels and kills Hiranyakashipu.^[9]

Prahlada eventually becomes the king of the asuras and attains a place in the abode of Vishnu and Lakshmi (Vaikuntha) after his death.^[10]

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Vaishnavism
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In the Bhagavad Gita (10.30) Krishna makes the following statement in regard to Prahlada, showing his favour towards him:

prahlādaścāsmi daityānāṁ kālaḥ kalayatāmaham .
mr̥gāṇāṁ ca mr̥gēndrō’haṁ vainatēyaśca pakṣiṇām .. 10-30..

— Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10, Verse 30

Translation: "Among the Daityas, I am the great devotee Prahlada and of calculators, I am Time; among quadrupeds, I am the lion; and among birds, I am Garuda."

In the Vishnu Purana, the sage Parasara ends narrating the tale of Prahlada to Maitreya with the following proclamation:^[11]

Such, Maitreya, was Prahlada, the wise and faithful worshipper of Vishnu, of whom you wished to hear; and such was his miraculous power. Whoever listens to the history of Prahlada is immediately cleansed from their sins: the iniquities that they commits, by night or by day, shall be expiated by once hearing, or once reading, the history of Prahlada. The perusal of this history on the day of full moon, of new moon, or on the eighth or twelfth day of the lunation, shall yield fruit equal to the donation of cattle. As Vishnu protected Prahlada in all the calamities to which he was exposed, so shall Vishnu protects them who listens constantly to the tale.

— Vishnu Purana, Book 1, Chapter 20

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Because of his steadfast devotion to Vishnu as well as the teachings of Shukra, Prahlada became the mighty King of the Asuras and Asuris. Prahlada was even more powerful than his father, Hiranyakashipu, who was killed by Vishnu as Narasimha, ever was. He enjoyed the love and respect of his subjects. Without lifting a single weapon and by virtue of his good behaviour, Prahlada conquered the three worlds easily, and Indra ran away from Svarga. In the disguise of a Brahmana, Indra sought an audience with the asura and asked him to teach him about Hinduism. Pleased with this pupil, he offered him a boon, and Indra sought the king's virtue and hence robbed Prahlada of his dharma as well.^[12]

Prahlada once commanded the asuras to accompany him to the holy tirtha of Naimiṣa, where he hoped to see a vision of Vishnu. They went hunting along the banks of the Sarasvati River. Prahlada observed two ascetics with matted hair, bearing the bows of Sharanga and Ajagava. The asura king asked them why they held weapons while performing a penance, and the two ascetics responded that all those who held power were righteous in their conduct. One of the rishis assured the king that none of the three worlds could conquer them in a duel. Prahlada rose to the challenge. Nara fired arrows at the king with his Ajagava, but the latter was able to defeat him with his own gold-plated arrows. Prahlada employed the divine Brahmastra against Nara's Narayanastra. Seeing them neutralised in a mid-air collision, Prahlada wielded his mace against Narayana. His mace broke, and Prahlada found himself growing helpless and sought Vishnu's assistance. Vishnu told his devotee that the Nara-Narayana brothers were invincible as they were the sons of Yama and could only be conquered in devotion rather than combat. The king left the regency to Andhaka and erected an ashrama to propitiate Nara-Narayana and apologise for his folly.^[13]

According to the Kurma Purana, Prahlada always served thousands of Brahmanas daily. One day, Prahlada accidentally forgot to serve one Brahmanas. The latter cursed the asura, saying that he would forget Vishnu and become unrighteous. The curse soon came into fruition, with Prahlada ignoring the Vedas and the Brahmanas and soon deviating from the path of dharma. Determined to avenge his father's death, he waged war against Vishnu. When he was defeated, he realised his folly and ruled on the throne, making Andhaka also to reign as king.^[14]

According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Prahlada was compelled to wage war against Indra and the devas by the daityas. In the fierce devasura war that ensued, Prahlada emerged as the victor. Fearing that the asura king would destroy the devas, Indra prayed to Parvati, and Prahlada responded in kind. Pleased, the goddess pacified both of them, and they returned to their abodes.^[15]

Prahlada, Virochana, Bali, and Banasura fought against Shiva and Parvati with the devas and devis when Andhaka attacked Kailasha. Prahlada had strongly advised Andhaka against the invasion of Kailasha, but Andhaka refused. Andhaka was eventually killed by Shiva and Parvati, and Prahlada once more became the King of the Asuras.

Prahlada was present during the Samudra Manthana and also fought in the Tarakamaya War against the devas and devis alongside the asuras and asuris.

Prahlada's son was Virochana, who was the father of Bali. The devas had Virochana killed by taking advantage of his generosity.^[16] Prahlada raised his grandson, Bali. Later on, Prahlada and Bali lived on Sutala Loka under the instructions of Vishnu.

It was Prahlada who asked Shukracharya to acquire the Mritasanjivani mantra from Shiva to save the asuras from the devas and devis.^{[citation needed]}

After a long life, Prahlada attained Vaikuntha. Prahlada's great-grandson was the thousand-armed Banasura, who was defeated in battle by Krishna and later, Banasura was killed by Kartikeya in the Mahabharata.^{[citation needed]}

The following sites in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh in India, are associated with Prahlāda or Narasiṁha as places of pilgrimage:

• Prahlad Ghat, Hardoi
• Shri Laxmi Narsimha Temple
• Malakonda
• Simhachalam
• Ahobilam
• Kadiri
• Yadagirigutta Temple
• Lakshmi Narasimha swamy temple, Penna Ahobilam

In Pakistan:

• Prahladpuri Temple, Multan

The Prahallada Nataka (also spelled Prahlada-Naṭaka), a folk dance-theatre from Ganjam, Odisha enacts the story of Narasimha and Hiranyakashipu. This art form dates back to the 18th century, when Rāmakruṣṇa Chhoṭarāya, the erstwhile king of the Jalantara state, wrote the text and the songs of the drama and started it.

The story of Prahlada has been the theme of various films.

• Kapila
• Narada
• Bhakti Yoga
• Jaya-Vijaya
• Narasimha
• Hiranykashipu

• Cole, W. Owen; Judith Evans-Lowndes; Judith Lowndes (1995). The Story of Prahlad. Heinemann Educational. ISBN 0-431-07756-8.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prahlada.

• Prahlada in the Vishnu Purana