Kayādhu

Kayādhu was the daughter of Jambha the daitya and the wife of Hiraṇyakaśipu. She was the mother of the great bhakta (devotee) Prahlāda. Her account comes from the seventh Skandha of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa.

While she was carrying Prahlāda, Indra seized her during Hiraṇyakaśipu’s absence. Nārada Maharṣi freed her and kept her safe in his āśrama (hermitage). There he taught her the truth about Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Prahlāda heard this teaching in the womb through his mother’s mind. He was born with bhakti (devotion) already in him, as a memory and not as new learning.

Lineage and family

Kayādhu was the daughter of Jambha, one of the leading daityas. She was given in marriage to Hiraṇyakaśipu, the elder brother of Hiraṇyākṣa and the most powerful of the daitya kings of that time. She bore him four sons: Anuhlāda, Hlāda, Prahlāda and Saṃhrāda. Prahlāda was the most renowned of them. Her name appears in Nārada’s account of how Prahlāda received his bhakti.

The capture by Indra

Hiraṇyakaśipu went to Mandara Parvata to perform harsh tapas (austerity). Through it he sought from Brahmā a vara (boon) of five parts. The devas saw their chance, and Indra led an attack on the rākṣasas. The rākṣasa leaders were afraid of the combined attack of Indra and the devas. They ran in all directions. They left behind their wives, children, friends, property and homes, and thought only of saving their lives.

In this attack Indra captured the queen Kayādhu, who was pregnant with Hiraṇyakaśipu’s child. He seized her and began to carry her away. She wept and cried out like a kurarī bird, a bird known for its sad cry. Indra’s plan was this. The child in her womb would grow up as Hiraṇyakaśipu’s heir and might become stronger than his father. He meant to keep her prisoner until the birth and then kill the child.

Nārada’s intervention

At that moment, by Īśvarecchā (the will of Bhagavān Hari), Nārada Maharṣi came upon the scene. He saw Indra carrying away the weeping pregnant woman and spoke to him:

“O Mahānubhāva! This woman is a pativratā and has no fault. She is the wife of another, and it is not right for you to carry her away. Release her, release her.”

Indra gave his reason: “This child in the womb is the seed of Hiraṇyakaśipu, the enemy of the devas. When he grows up, the devas will not be able to bear his power. So let her stay with me until the birth. When my purpose is done, I will release her.”

Nārada answered firmly: “The child in this womb has no fault. He will be a great bhakta of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, a great soul and a true servant of Śrī Hari. Even now you cannot kill this powerful child who is yet to be born.” He told Indra to let Kayādhu go, because the child carried none of his father’s aims. Indra respected Nārada’s authority and his word, and he released Kayādhu.

Life in Nārada’s āśrama

Nārada took Kayādhu under his care and brought her to his āśrama. Hiraṇyakaśipu’s tapas lasted a long time, and all that time Kayādhu lived in Nārada’s āśrama under his care.

During this time Nārada taught Kayādhu the tattva (truth) of the Bhāgavata. He taught about the nature of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the principles of bhakti, the path of mokṣa (liberation), and the difference between what perishes and what is eternal. This teaching was given in the presence of the child in the womb.

Prahlāda, still an embryo, received Nārada’s teaching through his mother’s antaḥkaraṇa (inner mind). What the mother hears, feels and thinks about reaches the child she carries in a subtle form. So Nārada’s teaching, meant for Kayādhu, reached Prahlāda in the womb.

Prahlāda’s words to his classmates

Prahlāda himself tells this account. His classmates heard his remarkable teaching on bhakti and were puzzled. He had been taught only by Śaṇḍa and Amarka, the sons of Śukrācārya. Had Nārada taught him directly? Prahlāda answered that it could not have come from the gurukula (teacher’s school). All worldly students there have an antaḥkaraṇa spoiled by the words and conduct of worldly people. He then told the whole account: his mother’s capture, Nārada’s rescue, their stay in the āśrama, and the teaching before his birth.

He said: “Nārada’s teaching came to me while I was still in the womb, through my mother’s antaḥkaraṇa. That is why I already knew when I was born. It was not new learning but memory of what I had heard before birth.”

This is how the Bhāgavata explains elsewhere what it calls Prahlāda’s sahajasiddha-prema, his naturally arising and unlearned love for Vāsudeva. It was with him before birth and did not begin in childhood. His bhakti was never absent. It only showed itself at birth.

Her part in Prahlāda’s story

Kayādhu was not herself a great jñānī (knower) or bhakta like Nārada. She was a pativratā who loved her husband and was devoted to her household. Yet the teaching reached Prahlāda through her. She lived under Nārada’s guidance, she was open to his teaching, and she stayed calm in her capture. Through these, the greatest bhakta of the daitya line received his formation.

Indra’s capture of Kayādhu was an act of self-interest. By Nārada’s intervention and the will of Bhagavān Hari, it became the means by which Prahlāda was formed in bhakti.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skandha, Chapter 7