Prahlāda’s Stotra to Vishṇu

Prahlāda’s stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu is the hymn Prahlāda sang when Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before him in His Nṛsiṃha (Narasiṃha) form on the ocean floor. It is found in the Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Prathamāṃśa, Chapter 20.

The stotra praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the ātmā (inner self) of all beings, as pure caitanya (awareness) that witnesses every experience, as beyond all the guṇas, and as the one refuge of all.

The setting

Prahlāda, son of the daitya king Hiraṇyakaśipu, had gone through every kind of torment: poison, fire, weapons, elephants, drowning and mountains. Nothing touched him. His firm bhakti to Vishṇu held him up.

In the Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa the high point of his tapas (austerity) is Prahlāda’s own free tapas. He sank to the floor of the ocean, piled mountains upon himself, bound himself with serpent chains, and meditated on Vishṇu from beneath the deep.

Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved beyond measure by this complete offering of himself. He appeared in His Nṛsiṃha form in the great ocean. He dissolved the mountains, freed Prahlāda from the serpents, lifted him up and embraced him. Then, in the presence of Bhagavān Vishṇu Himself, Prahlāda sang this stotra.

The stotra

Prahlāda praised Vishṇu in these ways.

The ātmā of all beings

Vishṇu is not only one deva among devas, or one power among powers. He is the ātmā, the inner self, of every being without exception: the deva, the human, the animal, the plant and the stone. All of them have Vishṇu as their innermost reality. So Prahlāda’s bhakti was not turned toward something outside the world. It was turned toward the nearest reality within everything.

Pure caitanya, the witness

Vishṇu is the pure awareness (caitanya) that witnesses all experiences and is changed by none of them. It is the light by which everything is known. It does not grow when pleasant things happen, and it does not shrink when pain is borne. Prahlāda had passed through great suffering and come out unbroken. He had found this witness within himself, and he now praised it as Vishṇu.

Beyond all guṇas

Sattva, rajas and tamas are the three strands from which all existence is woven. Bhagavān Vishṇu is their ground, their source and what lies beyond them. None of them binds Him. Prahlāda praised this freedom of Bhagavān Vishṇu from the very modes through which creation goes forward.

The supreme refuge

“There is no other refuge.” This is the refrain of the stotra. A father had become an enemy, every human support had failed, and even the body could not be trusted to keep him safe. Prahlāda had found one support that never fails: Vishṇu. The stotra gathers this discovery into one thought. Bhagavān Vishṇu never leaves His devotee, and His protection does not depend on circumstances.

The giver of moksha

Prahlāda did not ask for revenge on those who tormented him. He did not ask for power over the daityas, or even for life in any pleasant world. He asked for moksha: the end for ever of the sense of being separate, and the knowing that his own ātmā is Vishṇu Himself. He also asked for bhakti to continue until that moksha is fixed.

The vara given

Bhagavān Vishṇu was deeply moved and gave Prahlāda paramapada, the highest state. He said that Prahlāda was dearer to Him than all others, that his bhakti had no equal, and that he would stay in His direct presence. The vision of Vishṇu that Prahlāda had held through every trial became the lasting truth of his life.

The Bhāgavata account

In the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skanda, Prahlāda’s stotra is sung in other circumstances: after Narasiṃha has slain Hiraṇyakaśipu.

In the Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa the stotra is sung while Hiraṇyakaśipu is still alive. It follows Prahlāda’s own tapas in the ocean, not the breaking of a pillar. Hiraṇyakaśipu is present when Vishṇu appears, and he afterwards makes peace with his son. He is not slain.

Sources

• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Prathamāṃśa, Chapter 20
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 7th Skanda (for the Bhāgavata account of Prahlāda’s stotra)