Prahlada

For the 1941 lm, see Prahlada (lm).

Prahlda was a daitya king, the son of Hiranyakashipu,

Narasimha kills Hiranyakashipu, as Prahlada and his mother

Kayadu bow before Lord Narasimha.

1 History
Prahlda was born to Kayadu and Hiranyakashipu, an
evil daitya king who had been granted a boon that he
could not be killed by man or animal, day or night, inside or outside. After the killing of his father, he took his
fathers kingdom and ruled peacefully. He was known
for his generosity and kindness. He sowed similar seeds
in his son Virochana and grandson Mahabali.

1.1 The story of Prahlada

Main article: Narasiha and Prahlda
Prahlada while being in his mothers womb got to hear
Narada's chants. He was taught by Narada in early childhood. As a result, he was devoted towards Vishnu. His
father didn't like his spiritual inclination. He tried to
warn Prahlada. Despite several warnings from his father
Hiranyakashipu, Prahlda continued to worship Vishnu
instead. His father then decided to commit licide and
poison Prahlda, but he survived. He then trampled the
boy with elephants, but the boy still lived. Then he put
Prahlda in a room with venomous snakes, and they made
a bed for him with their bodies.

Prahlada overcoming the elephant

and the father of Virochana. He is often described as

a saintly boy from the Puranas known for his piety and
bhakti to Vishnu. Despite the abusive nature of his father, Hiranyakashipu, he continued his devotion towards
Vishnu.[1] He is considered to be a mahjana, or great
devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and is of
special importance to devotees of the avatr Narasiha.
A treatise is accredited to him in the Bhgavata Pura in
which Prahlda describes the process of loving worship to
his lord, Vishnu. The majority of stories in the Puranas
are based on the activities of Prahlda as a young boy,
and he is usually depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.

Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed in

that she could not be hurt by re. Hiranyakashipu puts
Prahlda on the lap of Holika as she sits on a pyre.
Prahlda prays to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika then
burns to death as Prahlda is left unscathed. This event is
celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.[2]
After tolerating abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlda is
1

PILGRIMAGE SITES

1.2 Scriptural references

In the Bhagavad Gita (10.30) Krishna makes the following statement in regard to Prahlda, showing his favour
towards him:
Translation: "Among the Daitya demons I
am the devoted Prahlda, among subduers I am
time, among beasts I am the lion, and among
birds I am Garuda."[5]

2 Prahlda in Sikhism
Prahlda is regarded as one of the devotees of God in
Satya Yuga. Sikhism also believes Prahlda was a devotee
of Paramtm, Supreme God or Waheguru.

2.1 Scriptural references

Lord Narasiha kills demon hirayakaipu.(At left)The prahalda bows before lord

eventually saved by Narasiha, who places the king on

his thighs, and kills him with his sharp nails at the entrance to his home at dusk.[3]
There is an underground pillar known as Prahlda
khamba in Dharahra village, in the Purnia District of
Bihar, India. It is said to be the pillar from which
Narasiha manifested to kill Hiranyakashipu. Adjacent to the pillar is a large temple devoted to Lord
Narasiha. Allegedly, attempts to excavate or move the
Prahlda khamba have failed. In Maharashtra, an underground temple near the banks of the river Krishna in
Sangli District hosts a beautiful stone carved sculpture of
Narasimha and Laxmi".
The story of Prahlda teaches that:
Faith in God is paramount.
God will always prevail.

Prahlda is mentioned 27 times in Guru Granth Sahib.

As in Hinduism, Guru Granth Sahib also describes Harnakash as the father of Prahlda who wanted to kill him,
but was stopped by Narasiha.
Prahlaad was placed in a cell, and the door
was locked. The fearless child was not afraid
at all. He said, "Within my being, is the Guru,
the Lord of the World. The created being tried
to compete with his Creator, but he assumed this
name in vain. That which was predestined for
him has come to pass; he started an argument
with the Lords humble servant. ||7|| The father
raised the club to strike down Prahlaad, saying,
Where is your God, the Lord of the Universe,
now? He replied, "The Life of the World, the
Great Giver, is my Help and Support in the end.
Wherever I look, I see Him permeating and prevailing."||8|| Tearing down the pillars, the Lord
Himself appeared. The egotistical demon was
killed and destroyed. The minds of the devotees were lled with bliss, and congratulations
poured in. He blessed His servant with glorious greatness. ||9|| (Guru Granth Sahib, p.
1154) [6]

God saves his devotees.

Devotion can be practiced at any time. Age does not
matter.

3 Pilgrimage sites

Evil will be punished.

The following sites in Andhra Pradesh, India, are associated with Prahlda or Narasiha as places of pilgrimage:

God is omnipresent.
Prahlda eventually becomes king of the daityas and attains a place in the abode of Vishnu (Vaikuntha) after his
death.[4]

Simhachalam
Ahobilam
Kadiri

In popular culture

8 External links

Bhagavata Purana Canto 7 - The Story of Prahlada

The story of Prahlada has been the theme of various
(srimadbhagavatam.com)
lms, including Bhakta Prahlada (1931 lm), which was
rst Telugu talkie movie made in 1931, followed by
Dharma-Nirnayam short story on Prahlada (moralBhaktha Prahlada (1942 lm) (1942). In Kannada, the
stories.wordpress.com)
story has been portrayed in Bhakta Prahlada (1942 lm),
Bhakta Prahlada (1958 lm) and Bhakta Prahlada (1983
Prahlada in the Vishnu Purana (sacred-texts.com)
lm). Tamil lms, Bhaktha Prahlada (1942) and Bhakta
Prahlada (1967) both directed by Chitrapu Narayana
School of Prahlada at Ahobilam
Rao, [7] besides Malayalam lm , Prahlada (1941), Hindi
lm, Bhakta Prahlad (1946) directed by Dhirubhai Desai
Prahlada Pathashala (School) (Flickr.com)
and Bengali lm Prahlad (1952).

See also
Narada
Bhakti Yoga
Jaya-Vijaya
Multan
Raghavendra Swami

References

[1] The story of Prahlada. Ramakrishnavivekananda.info.

Retrieved 2015-03-30.
[2] Varadaraja V. Raman - Variety in Religion And Science:
Daily Reections, iUniverse, 2005, ISBN 0-595-35840-3,
p.259
[3] Dimmitt, Cornelia; Johannes Adrianus Bernardus Buitenen (1978). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puras. translated by J. A. Van Buitenen. Temple University Press. p. 312. ISBN 0-87722-122-7.
[4] P. 452 The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism By Benjamin Walker - Summary
[5]
[6] Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Srigranth.org. Retrieved 201503-30.
[7] G Dhananjayan (3 November 2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931 TO 2013: T. Blue Ocean Publishers. pp. 115
. GGKEY:L1DLZDAEJ47.

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

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Prahlada Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahlada?oldid=663208304 Contributors: TUF-KAT, Gtrmp, Utcursch, Profvk, Rosarino,

Alren, Rramphal, Sfacets, Phi beta, Stemonitis, Shreevatsa, Dangerous-Boy, Pranathi, Crzrussian, Jorunn, Wikirao, TheRingess,
Gsp, Bgwhite, Fwc, Aldux, Zwobot, SmackBot, Rokfaith, Colonies Chris, Karthik.raman, Derek R Bullamore, GourangaUK, Mlpkr,
Duskrider, Shyamsunder, Don't fear the reaper, RandomCritic, Ksri99, Jlrobertson, Saketh.nath, CmdrObot, Cydebot, Mattisse, Pankajwillis, Ekabhishek, Barek, RainbowCrane, Lenny Kaufman, Nposs, Hedwig in Washington, Kingkobra123, Redtigerxyz, VolkovBot,
Bovineboy2008, Raji.srinivas, Buddhipriya, AlleborgoBot, Randomatom001, Arjun024, SieBot, Oldag07, Jacob.jose, Sitush, ClueBot,
HujiBot, Venkatavunnava, Smr521, Goldenhawk 0, VsBot, Nipunshukla, DragonBot, Elizium23, Mikaey, Hindu01, Enimerotita, Ism
schism, Addbot, Opus88888, Yobot, AnomieBOT, Jim1138, Citation bot, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Omnipaedista, DrilBot, XxTimberlakexx, Dazedbythebell, EmausBot, SteveM123, TeleComNasSprVen, Josve05a, LordSuryaofShropshire, Gamblinglol, Ramanathan.k.i,
Serectrus, Booradleyp, 28bot, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, Titodutta, Rijinatwiki, Sbblr0803, Kriteesh, ScrollsofAryavarta, ChrisGualtieri, Comatmebro, BrightStarSky, Dexbot, Drpranavpc, Pphanse, Triphala108, Alexander585, Manavatha, Xfthhxk, Cooper Swenson,
Monkbot, Calcium Cookie, Filedelinkerbot, Exasperation115, AbHiSHARMA143,
, Manish Bhan 95, Nkkenbuer, KasparBot
and Anonymous: 54

9.2

Images

File:Lakshmi_narasimhan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Lakshmi_narasimhan.jpg License: CC-BY-3.0

Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Narasimha_Disemboweling_Hiranyakashipu,_Folio_from_a_Bhagavata_Purana_(Ancient_Stories_of_the_Lord)
_LACMA_M.82.42.8_(1_of_5).jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Narasimha_Disemboweling_
Hiranyakashipu%2C_Folio_from_a_Bhagavata_Purana_%28Ancient_Stories_of_the_Lord%29_LACMA_M.82.42.8_%281_of_5%
29.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
Image: http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-34348536-O3.jpg Original artist: ?
File:Om.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8e/Om.svg License: PD Contributors:
svg created by Rugby471 from a public domain symbol
Original artist:
Rugby471
File:Prahlada_overcoming_the_elephant.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Prahlada_overcoming_
the_elephant.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://archive.org/details/storiesofindiasg00monr Original artist: Monro, W. D
Illustrations by Evelyn Paul

9.3

Content license

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