Prahlāda: Devotee of Bhagavān Viṣṇu

Prahlāda is the son of the asura king Hiraṇyakaśipu and Kayādhu. He is the best-known example of steady bhakti (loving devotion) to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He was born in the house of the greatest enemy of the devas, yet his love for Bhagavān Viṣṇu came to him naturally. It was sahajasiddha, meaning it arose by itself and was not learned.

The Purāṇas say Nārada Maharṣi taught his mother Kayādhu while she lived in his āśrama (hermitage), and Prahlāda received this teaching while still in the womb. His father tried many ways to kill him, and all of them failed. Prahlāda’s faith drew out Bhagavān Narasiṃha, the fierce form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, from a pillar. After the killing of Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda calmed Bhagavān Narasiṃha with a stotra (hymn of praise), asked for no boon except to refuse all boons, and was crowned king of the daityas. He also taught the nine forms of devotion, and he is part of the Prahlāda–Dattātreya saṃvāda (dialogue) on avadhūta wisdom.

Lineage

Prahlāda belongs to the great daitya line. His grandparents were Kaśyapa and Diti, who had Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa. Hiraṇyakaśipu is the elder of the two and is Prahlāda’s father. His mother is Kayādhu. Hiraṇyakaśipu had four sons: Anuhlāda, Hlāda, Prahlāda and Saṃhrāda. Prahlāda was the most famous of them for his devotion. Siṃhikā was his sister.

Prahlāda’s son was Virocana. Virocana’s son was Bali Cakravartī. Bali had a hundred sons, and the eldest was Bāṇāsura. So Prahlāda is the great-grandfather of Bāṇāsura. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 4 and 19)

Agni Purāṇa account

Unwavering devotion

Prahlāda was born into the first asura household, yet from his earliest years he loved Bhagavān Viṣṇu without limit. The Agni Purāṇa says that Nārada Maharṣi put this devotion in him while he was still in the womb. Hiraṇyakaśipu had taken Nārada’s hermitage, and Kayādhu lived there.

When Prahlāda was old enough to speak, he would not praise the greatness of his father. He spoke only of Viṣṇu. Hiraṇyakaśipu had driven the devas out of Svarga. He had taken for himself all the shares of the yajña (fire ritual) that belonged to the devas, and he ruled the three worlds. He burned with anger to see his own son devoted to his sworn enemy.

He ordered Prahlāda’s teachers to cure the boy of his “delusion”. When that failed, he used cruel punishments. Prahlāda was thrown from mountain heights, cast into fire, trampled by great elephants and drowned. In every trial the grace of Bhagavān Viṣṇu kept him safe. He came out unharmed, and his devotion shone even brighter than before.

The end of Hiraṇyakaśipu

At last Hiraṇyakaśipu, in his final rage, faced Prahlāda and asked, “Where is your Viṣṇu? Is he in this pillar?” Prahlāda answered that Viṣṇu is everywhere, even in the pillar. At that moment Bhagavān Narasiṃha burst from the pillar in a most fearsome and glorious form, neither fully man nor fully lion. He seized the asura king and laid him across his thighs. He did this because Hiraṇyakaśipu could not be killed on earth or in the sky, or inside or outside the house. At twilight, which is neither day nor night, Bhagavān Narasiṃha tore open his chest with his bare claws. In this way he met every condition of the boon of safety from death that Brahmā had given Hiraṇyakaśipu.

The devas were glad and trembling, and they praised Bhagavān Narasiṃha from far away. Only Prahlāda stepped forward without fear and with deep devotion, and he calmed the anger of Bhagavān Narasiṃha. Pleased with his devotee, Bhagavān Narasiṃha put the devas back in their places and made Prahlāda the rightful king of the asuras. So Prahlāda received, as a gift from Bhagavān Narasiṃha, the kingdom his father had taken by force. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 4)

Prahlāda’s place in the dānava line

The Agni Purāṇa says Prahlāda was honoured by all for his spiritual greatness. Among the dānavas of the Vaivasvata manvantara, he was held to be the chief of the dānava line. Virocana came from Prahlāda, and Bali Cakravartī came from Virocana. Bali was the great daitya emperor who conquered all three worlds until Bhagavān Vāmana overcame him.

Bali’s hundred sons carried the daitya line forward. The eldest and most famous was Bāṇāsura, who won the special protection of Bhagavān Śiva and who has a part in the Aniruddha–Uṣā episode of the Kṛṣṇa-kathā (the story of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa). Great dānava families came from Prahlāda’s wider line, among them four crore (forty million) Nivātakavaca warriors. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 19)

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa account

The seventh Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells Prahlāda’s life in full. Nārada tells it to Yudhiṣṭhira. It begins with the question of why Bhagavān Viṣṇu seems to favour some over others. It goes on to the curse on Jaya and Vijaya, which explains why Hiraṇyakaśipu was born, and then follows the whole course of Prahlāda’s life.

Prahlāda’s natural qualities (Chapter 4). He had mastery of the senses (indriyajaya), truthfulness (satya) and non-violence (ahiṃsā). He stayed calm in hardship. He knew that all pleasures are mithyā (unreal), and his desires were completely still. He bowed to great souls as he would to Īśvara. He loved the poor as a father, was a friend to his equals as a brother, and regarded his gurus as he would Īśvara. Above all he had sahajasiddha-prema, a natural love for Vāsudeva that could not be taught because it was never absent.

The nine forms of bhakti (Chapter 5). Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlāda what was the best lesson he had learned. Prahlāda answered with the nine forms of devotion (navavidhā bhakti):

śravaṇa (hearing)
kīrtana (singing praise)
smaraṇa (remembering)
pādasevanam (serving the feet)
arcana (offering pūjā)
vandana (bowing)
dāsya (service)
sakhya (friendship)
ātmanivedana (offering the self)

They are done with the feeling of offering everything (samarpaṇa-bhāva) directly to Śrī Hari. This, he said, is the highest learning.

Teaching before birth (Chapter 7). Prahlāda did not get his bhakti from any gurukula. He got it from Nārada’s teaching to his mother Kayādhu while she lived in Nārada’s āśrama and he was still in the womb. So his birth with bhakti already formed was the fruit of hearing (śravaṇa) before birth.

The killing of Hiraṇyakaśipu (Chapter 8). Hiraṇyakaśipu struck the pillar and asked whether Prahlāda’s Bhagavān Viṣṇu was in it too. Prahlāda answered that Śrī Hari is everywhere, including the pillar. Narasiṃha came out. He placed Hiraṇyakaśipu on his lap at the threshold, at dusk, and tore him open with his bare nails. In this way he met every part of the five-part boon.

Calming Narasiṃha (Chapter 9). Brahmā, Śiva, Indra and even Devī Lakṣmī could not come near Bhagavān Narasiṃha. Prahlāda alone calmed him, by bowing before him and singing his stotra. He asked for no boon except the refusal of all boons. On behalf of his father, he asked that Hiraṇyakaśipu’s pāpa (sin) be forgiven.

Teaching of desireless bhakti (Chapter 10). Bhagavān Narasiṃha pressed him to accept boons. Prahlāda refused them all with a smile and said, “Desires are the very roots of saṃsāra, the knots in the heart. I will not accept them, not even in a dream.” He asked only, “May I never develop the merchant’s mind in bhakti.”

Dialogue with Dattātreya (Chapter 13). Prahlāda was travelling through the worlds. He met Dattātreya Maharṣi lying on the bank of the Kāverī river at the foot of the Sahya Parvata, living in ajagara-vṛtti (the python’s way of life). Prahlāda asked him three questions about the source of his contentment. Dattātreya’s teaching covers tṛṣṇā (craving), the two gurus (the bee and the python), and the ending of the sense of many separate things.

(Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skanda, Chapters 1–15)

Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa account

The sons of Hiraṇyakaśipu and the battle (Chapter 16)

The Kūrma Purāṇa names the four sons of Hiraṇyakaśipu as Prahlāda, Anuhlāda, Saṃhrāda and Hlāda. Bhagavān Viṣṇu sent a great Vaiṣṇava Puruṣa (a form from the pūrvāṃśa) to fight the daityas. Hiraṇyakaśipu sent all four sons into battle against that Puruṣa.

Prahlāda used the Brahmāstra, Anuhlāda the Nārāyaṇāstra, Saṃhrāda the Kaumārāstra and Hlāda the Āgneyāstra. All these weapons had no effect on the Vaiṣṇava form. Prahlāda was struck back and beaten. Only he understood who stood before him. He withdrew his weapons, bowed with a sattvic (pure) mind, and praised Nārāyaṇa with ṛk, yajus and sāman mantras. He then urged his father, his brothers and his uncle Hiraṇyākṣa to stop fighting and accept the supremacy of this eternal, unborn Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.

Hiraṇyakaśipu kept up his enmity. Bhagavān Viṣṇu then took the Narasiṃha form, half man and half lion. He appeared without warning in Hiraṇyakaśipu’s city and killed him at midday. The daityas were greatly bewildered by his appearance. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 16)

Prahlāda as grandfather of Bali (Chapter 17)

Chapter 17 tells of the Trivikrama (Vāmana) avatāra. It names Prahlāda as the pitāmaha (grandfather) of Bali Cakravartī. The line is Hiraṇyakaśipu, then Prahlāda, then Virocana, then Bali.

After Bali had conquered the three worlds, he saw terrible omens. He went to Prahlāda, his grandfather and the elder of the daityas, to ask what they meant. Prahlāda, meditating on Viṣṇu in his heart, told Bali: “Bhagavān Viṣṇu, whose śakti (power) takes the form of Lakṣmī and who himself enters as a partial avatāra, has been conceived by Aditi from Kaśyapa to destroy the daityas. All this creation is not separate from him. Surrender to Vāsudeva and gain lasting mokṣa (liberation).”

Prahlāda then taught Bali the path of devotion. Bali followed his grandfather’s advice and gave himself to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He then accepted Bhagavān Vāmana’s three strides over the worlds. He was sent to Pātāla with the promise that he would reach liberation at the end of the kalpa. (Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 17)

Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa account

The Vāmana Purāṇa shows Prahlāda at a later time in his life. He is the grown king of the daityas, who has long ruled Pātāla and the three worlds after receiving the grace of Bhagavān Viṣṇu.

Battle with Nara (Chapters 7 and 8)

In Chapters 7 and 8, Prahlāda fights the ṛṣi Nara. Nara is one of the pair Nara and Nārāyaṇa, who do endless tapas (austerity) at Badarī. Nara is a part (aṃśa) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself. He shows the warrior power of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, and all of Prahlāda’s army cannot overcome him.

As the battle turned fully against him, Prahlāda awoke. He saw that Nara was not only a human ascetic but a form of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, whom he had always worshipped. His natural bhakti rose up. He put down his weapons, folded his hands and surrendered with full humility. Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared in his own divine form and blessed Prahlāda. He confirmed that Prahlāda’s devotion was true and that, despite his asura birth, he was a pure-hearted Vaiṣṇava.

After this, Prahlāda gave up rule over the three worlds. He made his able grandson Andhaka king of the asuras and withdrew into bhakti and contemplation. The Vāmana Purāṇa thus shows the high point of Prahlāda’s journey, from a devotee who kept his bhakti while ruling to one who saw no further reason to hold on to worldly power. (Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 7, 8)

Teaching of rājadharma to Bali (Chapters 47 and 48)

Later in the Vāmana Purāṇa, Bali Cakravartī had conquered the three worlds and sat on Indra’s throne. He called his grandfather Prahlāda from Pātāla. When Prahlāda came to Svarga, Bali bowed at his feet and offered him the three worlds. He said, “Pitāmaha! By your blessing I won all this. Accept it and let me serve you.”

Prahlāda refused, with loving firmness. He had long ago given up the pleasures of kingship and now lived in yoga. He placed his right hand on Bali’s hand and gave the throne back to him. He then gave Bali and Śukrācārya a full teaching (upadeśa) on rājadharma (the duty of a king) in line with dharma:

The king must earn wealth (artha) only by lawful means.
He must act so that his fame (yaśas) spreads in all directions.
He must make sure the brāhmaṇas can perform yajñas and tapas without disturbance.
He must help every varṇa follow its own svadharma.
He must remember that the loss of dharma is the loss of the kingdom itself.

(Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 47–48)

Pilgrimage (Chapter 57)

Chapter 57 of the Vāmana Purāṇa records a long tīrtha yātrā (pilgrimage) of Prahlāda. It came after his teaching to Bali and before the Trivikrama episode. He began at Kurukṣetra and visited nearly every great tīrtha in Bhārata. These included Gayā, Naimiṣāraṇya, Prayāga, Vārāṇasī, Prabhāsa, Saptagodāvarī, Mahendra, Sahyādri, Pāriyātra, Avantī (Mahākālī), Puṣkara, Saptasārasvata, Narmadā, Kāliñjara, Daṇḍakāraṇya, Śālagrāma and many others.

At each tīrtha he bathed (snāna), offered śrāddha, did pūjā to Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Viṣṇu together, and offered pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water to the ancestors). At Trikūṭa mountain he recited the Gajendra-mokṣaṇa stotra with devotion before the form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu who holds the cakra. At Daṇḍakāraṇya he rested beneath the Vanaspati form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, who is Nārāyaṇa as a divine tree, and he recited the Sārasvata stotra through the night. (Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 57)

Visit to Sutala (Chapter 67)

The Sudarśana cakra came down to Sutala, drained the daityas of their tejas (radiance) and left. Bali was shaken and longed for the guidance of Prahlāda. He called his grandfather to mind, and Prahlāda at once appeared in Sutala. Bali’s face was now shining from the grace of Bhagavān Vāmana and the cleansing of the cakra. Prahlāda was moved when he saw it. He gave Bali a long teaching on devotion to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. It covered:

the nature of desireless devotion
the marks of a true bhakta
the greatness of the grace of Bhagavān Viṣṇu above all tapas and yajña
the way by which the daitya line could rise above its birth by surrender

This is the last teaching Prahlāda gives in the Vāmana Purāṇa. It runs from the teaching on rājadharma to the highest teaching on bhakti. (Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 67)

Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa account

The trials and the tapas in the ocean

The Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa says Prahlāda’s bhakti was natural and firm from birth. It came to him through his mother’s listening to Nārada’s teaching during her pregnancy. Hiraṇyakaśipu tortured him in every way, with poison, elephants, mountains, drowning and serpents. None of these harmed him. The presence of Bhagavān Viṣṇu kept him safe in each trial.

In this account the high point comes differently. Prahlāda himself goes to the floor of the ocean. He sinks into the depths, piles mountains on himself, binds himself in chains of serpents, and meditates on Viṣṇu from beneath that weight. This free offering of his body and his whole condition to Bhagavān Viṣṇu is the peak of his bhakti in this account. (Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pradhamāmsa, Chapters 17–19)

Nṛsiṃha and liberation

Moved by this complete surrender, Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared in his Nṛsiṃha form in the great ocean. He dissolved the mountains, freed Prahlāda from the serpent bonds and embraced him. He gave him paramapada, the highest state of liberation. Prahlāda then made a great stotra that praises Bhagavān Viṣṇu as the ātman of all, pure caitanya (consciousness) beyond all guṇas, and the highest refuge. (Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pradhamāmsa, Chapter 20)

Hiraṇyakaśipu makes peace

After Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared and Prahlāda was freed, Hiraṇyakaśipu saw this great grace and made peace with his son. In this account he is not killed. The account ends with Prahlāda’s liberation and the peace in the family. (Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pradhamāmsa, Chapter 21)

Hari Vamśa account

The Hari Vamśa Purāṇa (Hari Vamśa Parva, Chapters 3 and 4) mentions Prahlāda in two places. One is the family line of Kaśyapa. The other is Brahmā’s arrangement of creation.

Lineage

The Hari Vamśa places Prahlāda in the daitya family. Kaśyapa and Diti had Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa, and a daughter Siṃhikā, who was the wife of Vipracitti. Hiraṇyakaśipu had four sons of great valour: Anuhlāda, Hlāda, Prahlāda and Saṃhlāda. Prahlāda had one son, Virocana. Virocana’s son was Bali Cakravartī. Bali had many sons, beginning with Bāṇa, who was the eldest and most loved by Bhagavān Śiva. (Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Hari Vamśa Parva, Chapter 3)

King of the rākṣasas

In the Hari Vamśa’s account of the age of Pṛthu’s coronation, Brahmā set up all of creation by giving a ruler to each domain. In this arrangement Prahlāda was named king (adhipati) of the rākṣasas. His rule over the daitya and rākṣasa world was thus recognised and approved by Brahmā himself. (Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Hari Vamśa Parva, Chapter 4)

The Narasiṃha avatāra

The Hari Vamśa gives a short account of the Narasiṃha avatāra among a series of avatāras of Bhagavān Viṣṇu (Chapter 41). Hiraṇyakaśipu won great boons from Brahmā. They included becoming one with Candra, Vāyu, Agni, water, ākāśa, Indra, Yama, Kubera and the lords of the ten directions. He then drove the devas from svarga, took the shares of the yajña, and ruled the three worlds. The devas fled to Bhagavān Viṣṇu, who gave them abhaya (freedom from fear). Bhagavān Viṣṇu then took the Narasiṃha form, half man and half lion, entered the assembly hall (sabhā) of Hiraṇyakaśipu, and killed him and his companions with his bare hands. (Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Hari Vamśa Parva, Chapter 41)

Hari Vamśa, Bhaviṣya Parva

The Bhaviṣya Parva of the Hari Vamśa shows Prahlāda in two places.

First, in the Narasiṃha episode (Chapters 41–47), stress is laid on Prahlāda’s own vision of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He received this darśana while living in his father’s hostile house, and it made his certainty firm. In this account his bhakti rests on direct vision and not only on the teaching passed on by Nārada. After Narasiṃha appeared and Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed, Prahlāda calmed the great anger of Narasiṃha and was made king of the daityas.

Second, in the great wars of the devas and daityas under Bali Cakravartī (Chapters 48–65), Prahlāda speaks for dharma in Bali’s own court. Bali’s armies were about to begin their greatest campaigns, and the king was drunk with conquest. Prahlāda urged him to hold back and be wise. He reminded Bali that those set against them included Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself, whose śakti no force in creation could overcome. He said that rule gained by defying the order of dharma is always short-lived. He spoke as one who had already received the grace of Bhagavān Viṣṇu and knew from his own experience what no conquest can replace. His advice looks ahead to the Vāmana episode that follows, in which the whole rule of the three worlds, built by Bali’s great military strength, was given up to one brāhmaṇa boy. (Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Bhaviṣya Parva, Chapters 41–65)

Narasiṃha Purāṇa account

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa (Chapters 40–44) gives a full account of Prahlāda’s story. Its special points are these:

Prahlāda had divya-dṛṣṭi (divine sight). He was brought before Hiraṇyakaśipu after yet another failed attempt to kill him. From far off he saw that his father was already near death. He saw the king on a high throne, covered in dark jewelled ornaments, surrounded by rākṣasas like the servants of Yama, like fire wrapped in smoke.
Hiraṇyakaśipu challenged Prahlāda, “If your Viṣṇu is everywhere, show me him in this pillar!” The king struck the pillar with his sword. Narasiṃha burst out in a form many yojanas (a yojana is a measure of distance) wide.
After Narasiṃha laughed following the killing, Brahmā came down and crowned Prahlāda king of the rākṣasas. All people turned to dharma. Indra was restored to his place together with all the devas.
Throughout the Purāṇa, Prahlāda is held up as the highest devotee of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, and his story as the model of bhakti that overcomes all obstacles.

(Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapters 40–44)

Ajagara–Prahlāda saṃvāda, Mahābhārata

In the Mokṣadharma Parva (Śānti Parva, Chapter 179), Prahlāda has lost his kingdom and is wandering. He meets an ajagara (python) lying still in a forest. The python moves nowhere and waits for whatever food comes to it by chance. In this way it shows a life without effort and without desire. Prahlāda sees this as a teaching and talks with the python.

The python teaches ajagara-vṛtti. The yogin moves only when moved. He accepts what comes without seeking it. He does not chase the pleasures of the senses and does not plan for the future. He lies in peace (śānti) even through hunger and want. Such a yogin alone is free. The python says it has lived this way through many seasons, sometimes receiving food and often none, and yet it stays undisturbed. Its stillness is not dullness. It comes from the clear knowledge (viveka) that everything that arises comes from kāla (time), and that personal effort cannot go beyond what kāla has ordained.

Prahlāda takes this teaching deeply to heart. It gives him the ground for the teaching he later gives to Indra himself, in Chapter 222. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokṣadharma Parva, Chapter 179)

Śakra–Prahlāda saṃvāda, Mahābhārata

In the Mokṣadharma Parva (Chapter 222), Indra (Śakra) finds Prahlāda sitting in complete śānti even though he has lost everything: his rule, his wealth and his armies. Indra mocks him: “How is it that you sit at peace? You who once ruled the three worlds now sit without kingdom, without honour, without anything. How do you not grieve?”

Prahlāda’s answer is among the most compact teachings of the Mokṣadharma Parva.

The ātman does not act (akartā). What seems to act is svabhāva (one’s own nature) moving through the body and mind, as directed by kāla. Prahlāda teaches that a person who thinks of himself as the doer (kartā) of his acts, both his wins and his losses, has mistaken the tool for the witness. Prahlāda has let go of this error. So he has no grief for losing what was never his own doing to win.

Svabhāva as the ground. Everything that arises, whether power, wealth or decline, has svabhāva as its ground. Svabhāva works without personal cause and without personal agency. To resist it is useless, and to identify with its results is delusion. Prahlāda rests in the awareness that comes before and outlasts both the rise and the fall of his kingdom.

Paramabrahman as the source. The jīva receives and loses everything from the one Paramabrahman that lies under all things. One who knows this source directly has no attachment to any one form of it. Prahlāda’s peace is not giving up. It is recognition. He sees the source moving through all forms and is not fooled by any single form.

Indra was deeply moved by this teaching. The account is one of three in the Mokṣadharma Parva in which Indra is taught by dānavas. The other two are Bali teaching Indra (Chapters 223–225) and Namuci teaching Indra (Chapter 226). In each case a dānava who has been defeated, imprisoned or shamed by Indra knows more about the nature of rule and calm than Indra himself. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokṣadharma Parva, Chapter 222)

The Śīla episode, Śānti Parva

In the Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 124), Bhīṣma tells Yudhiṣṭhira about śīla (good character) as a force that holds up all else. Indra could not defeat Prahlāda by ordinary means. He came to Prahlāda disguised as a brāhmaṇa and asked to be taught, as a boon. Prahlāda was always generous and agreed. Indra asked for śīla itself as his boon. Bound by his word, Prahlāda let śīla leave his body.

As śīla left, Prahlāda saw a chain of departures. Dharma left next, then satya (truth), then vṛtta (right conduct), then bala (strength), and last of all Devī Lakṣmī herself. Prahlāda saw Lakṣmī settle in Indra because śīla had left himself.

The teaching is that śīla is the root on which all other virtues and wealth rest. Śīla means non-violence in thought, word and deed, together with kindness (anugraha) and giving (dāna). The way to grow it is service (sevā) of brāhmaṇas who follow dharma, by staying near those who already live the knowledge of Brahman and serving them with a true heart. (Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 124)

Sources

Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 4 and 19
Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skanda, Chapters 1–15
Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 16–17
Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 7, 8, 47–48, 57, 67
Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pradhamāmsa, Chapters 17–21
Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Hari Vamśa Parva, Chapters 3, 4 and 41
Hari Vamśa Purāṇa, Bhaviṣya Parva, Chapters 41–65
Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapters 40–44
Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 124
Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokṣadharma Parva, Chapters 179 and 222