Prahlāda’s Stotra to Narasiṃha
Prahlāda’s stotra to Bhagavān Narasiṃha is sung by the five-year-old Prahlāda, son of the asura king Hiraṇyakaśipu, in the ninth chapter of the seventh Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. Brahmā sent him to calm Bhagavān Narasiṃha, whose anger had not yet cooled after the slaying of Hiraṇyakaśipu.
The stotra begins with Prahlāda’s own unworthiness. It goes on to defend the grace of Bhagavān Narasiṃha toward the lowly, to teach nishkāma bhakti (devotion without any desire), and ends with a prayer for the protection of all beings, including those who had harmed Prahlāda.
The setting
Bhagavān Narasiṃha slew Hiraṇyakaśipu at the threshold of the palace, on His own lap, at dusk, with His bare nails. The assembled devas, mahārshis, siddhas and others stood at a distance and could not come near. Brahmā, Śiva, Indra and the other devas sang stotras from afar. Even Śrī Lakshmī, brought forward by the devas, hesitated at the sight of this unknown form and could not approach.
Brahmā then sent Prahlāda himself. He called Prahlāda to go near and calm Bhagavān Narasiṃha, whose anger at the pāpa (sin) of tormenting a mahābhāgavata (a great devotee) had not yet cooled. Prahlāda, fearless as always, came forward with folded hands. He fell at Narasiṃha’s feet in sāshṭāṅga-praṇāma (full prostration).
At the sight of His devotee, the heart of Bhagavān Narasiṃha filled at once with karuṇā (compassion). He raised Prahlāda and placed His lotus-like hand on the boy’s head. By that touch every impure vāsanā (tendency) in Prahlāda was cleansed at once. Prahlāda received paramātma-sākshātkāra, the direct experience of Parabrahman. His body was covered with goosebumps, tears of joy filled his eyes, and he fixed his mind on Narasiṃha’s feet.
Then, with a calm antaḥkaraṇa (inner mind) and a voice choked with love, Prahlāda sang his stotra.
The stotra
Prahlāda’s unworthiness and the grace of Bhagavān Narasiṃha toward the lowly
Prahlāda opens with a question. Brahmā and the other devas tried to praise Bhagavān Narasiṃha with the power of speech and did not fully succeed. They are beings of pure sattva-guṇa, yet even they cannot worship Him fully. How then can Prahlāda, a child born in a cruel rākshasa family, be worthy?
He answers his own question at once. The grace of Bhagavān Narasiṃha does not flow by birth, family or fitness for ritual.
- A brāhmaṇa who knows all the Vedas but has no bhakti is like a conch shell. It makes a sound but holds no water. It is beautiful in form and empty of substance.
- A person of low birth who has true bhakti is like a flower full of fragrance. The bees look for the fragrance, not for the birth of the plant.
So birth in a rākshasa family does not shut a person out from the grace of Bhagavān Narasiṃha. That Bhagavān Narasiṃha allowed Prahlāda to reach Him, when Brahmā and Śiva could not come near, is itself the proof of this.
Nishkāma bhakti
A central part of the stotra speaks of what true devotion is. Prahlāda says that a vyāpārī-bhakta (a merchant-devotee) is not a true devotee. Such a person comes to Bhagavān Narasiṃha wanting wealth, children, health, rule or moksha in return for bhakti. He is a trader, and what he brings is a bargain, not love.
True bhakti is nishkāma (without desire). It offers oneself to Bhagavān Narasiṃha and asks nothing back, not even freedom. Prahlāda says that he is such a devotee. He has no desire in his heart, not even for moksha.
Equal vision in all conditions
Prahlāda speaks of seeing praise and insult, heat and cold, joy and sorrow with the same eye. He says this is not a view he holds. It is the natural fruit of bhakti. When the antaḥkaraṇa is fully absorbed in Bhagavān Narasiṃha, outside events lose their power to disturb it. He does not count the methods of Hiraṇyakaśipu as torture. Each was a chance for smaraṇa (remembering Bhagavān Narasiṃha).
The prayer for all beings, including enemies
Bhagavān Narasiṃha was pleased with the stotra and told Prahlāda to ask for any vara (boon) he wished. Prahlāda’s answer was already in the stotra, for he asked nothing for himself. He made one prayer for others: that the protection of Bhagavān Narasiṃha reach all beings, even those who had tormented him. The rākshasas who tried to kill him acted on the orders of Hiraṇyakaśipu and from their own asuratva (asura nature). Prahlāda wished moksha for them too. This love for all is the mark of a true mahābhāgavata.
Narasiṃha’s reply
Bhagavān Narasiṃha was very pleased. He said to Prahlāda: “Ask for a vara, whatever you wish.”
Prahlāda replied that a merchant who brings desire into the presence of Bhagavān Narasiṃha is not a bhakta. He gave his only wish: “May I never come to have the merchant’s mind (vyāpārī-manas) in bhakti. May I stay for ever a nishkāma bhakta.”
Bhagavān Narasiṃha pressed him. Then Prahlāda asked one vara for his father: that the pāpa of Hiraṇyakaśipu be forgiven, because one slain by the hand of Bhagavān Narasiṃha reaches the same gati (destination) as those who meditate on Him.
Bhagavān Narasiṃha assured Prahlāda that not only Hiraṇyakaśipu but twenty-one generations of his family, on both sides, were made pure by having a mahābhāgavata like Prahlāda in the family.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skanda, Chapter 9