Prahlada
Prahlada is an asura prince in Hindu scriptures. He is known for his staunch devotion to the preserver deity Vishnu. He was rescued from his evil father, the asura king Hiranyakashipu by Narasimha, the lion avatar of god Vishnu.
Prahlada is described as a saintly boy, known for his innocence and bhakti towards god Vishnu. Despite the abusive nature of his father, Hiranyakashipu, and his uncle and aunt, Hiranyaksha and Holika, he continued to worship Vishnu. Thus, in order to protect Prahlada, Vishnu took the form of Varaha to kill his paternal uncle Hiranyaksha by piercing and crushing him. Thereafter, Vishnu saved Prahlad from his paternal aunt Holika, by burning her to ashes alive. Following this, Vishnu took the form of Narasimha and disembowelled Hiranyakashipu to save Prahlada and the universe from destruction and chaos.
He is considered a Mahajanas, or great devotee, in the Vaishnava tradition. A treatise is attributed to him in the Bhagavata Purana, in which Prahlada describes the process of his loving worship towards Vishnu.
The majority of stories in the Puranas regarding Prahlada are based on his activities as a young boy; he is usually depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.
Legend
Prahlada was born to Kayadhu and Hiranyakashipu, the ruler of the asuras, who had been granted a boon from Brahma that he could not be slain by anything born from a living womb, neither by a man nor an animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on land nor in the air nor in water, and with no man-made weapon. However, after repeated attempts from Hiranyakashipu to slay Prahlada, he was finally saved by Narasimha, the fourth avatara of Vishnu. He had descended to demonstrate the quality of divine rage and redemption and killed Hiranyakashipu. The word "Narasimha" is derived from the Sanskrit words "Nara", meaning man, and "Simha", meaning lion. Thus, Vishnu took the form of a part-human, part-lion and killed Hiranyakashipu.After the death of his father, Prahlada ascended the asura throne and ruled peacefully and virtuously. He was known for his generosity and kindness, virtues that were inherited by his son, Virochana, and grandson, Mahabali.
Early life
When Hiraṇyakashipu was performing penance in the forest to gain a boon to destroy Vishnu, the devas attacked the asura realm. A great battle ensued, in which the devas were defeated. While fleeing, Indra abducted Kayadhu, the wife of Hiranyakashipu, who was pregnant at the time. Narada heard the wails of the poor asuri and decided to release her from Indra’s captivity. Thereafter, she stayed in the ashrama of the divine sage in gratitude. Prahlada, while inside his mother's womb, listened to Narada's chants of devotion towards Vishnu. He was taught by Narada during his early childhood. As a result, he grew up devoted to Vishnu.However, his father despised Prahlada's spiritual inclination and tried to warn him against offending him, as he had a vendetta against Vishnu in particular. Despite several warnings from his father, Prahlada continued to worship Vishnu instead of the former. The child was successful in converting other students of the asura clan into Vaishnavism by teaching them the Narayana mantra.
His father then decided to poison Prahlada, but he survived. Thereafter, when the daitya soldiers attacked their prince with weapons, Prahlada informed them that their efforts were futile since Vishnu resided within them. Hiranyakashipu then had the Prahlada trampled by the aṣṭadiggajas, the eight elephants who bear the weight of the earth, but their tusks were broken to bits upon contact with him and so, they retreated. Following this, Prahlada was placed in a room with venomous, dark snakes, but, they made a bed for him with their bodies.
Prahalada was then thrown from a valley into a river but was saved by Bhumi, the companion of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed with a boon of being invulnerable to fire. Hiranyakashipu put Prahlada on the lap of Holika as she sat on a pyre. Prahlada prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika was burned to ashes and killed, whilst Prahlada remained untouched. This event is celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.
The asuras Shambara and Vayu were then tasked with slaying the prince, but both of them were driven away and were killed by Vishnu. The boy was entrusted to Shukra, who educated him regarding his duties, the sciences, and justice, and was returned to his father after he was deemed to have become humble. The asura king once again broached the topic of deities with his son, only to discover that the latter had never wavered in his faith. Finally, the wicked daitya commanded all the daityas and the danavas to collect all the mountains of the earth to construct a barrier over the boy in the ocean, so that his son would be submerged for a year. Even though they spread over him for a thousand kilometres, Prahlada, with bound hands and feet, prayed to Vishnu. Thus, Vishnu granted him a number of boons and moved all the mountains of the earth to their places from the seas. He then moved the asuras away and had Prahlada returned to prostrate before his father, who was left bewildered.
After tolerating repeated abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada was eventually saved by Narasimha, who emerged from within a stone pillar in the palace. He then caught and placed Hiranyakashipu on his thighs, to then disembowel and kill him with his sharp nails. Notably, the death scene unfolded at the threshold to his home at dusk, where Hiranyakashipu was slain by the nails of a half man, half animal thus, nullifying all of Hiranyakashipu's boons of virtual immortality.
Prahlada then became the king of the asuras and attains a place in the abode of Vishnu and Lakshmi after his death.
Literature
In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna makes the following statement in regard to Prahlada, showing his favour towards him:In Book 7 of the Bhagavata Purana, Prahlada describes bhakti as the only way to please God.
Translation: "Among the Daityas, I am the great devotee Prahlada and of calculators, I am Time; among quadrupeds, I am the lion; and among birds, I am Garuda."
In the Vishnu Purana, the sage Parasara ends narrating the tale of Prahlada to Maitreya with the following proclamation:
Later life
Conquest of the three worlds
As the king of the asuras and asuris, Prahlada was even more powerful than his father Hiranyakashipu, because of his steadfast devotion to Vishnu, as well as the teachings of Shukra. He also enjoyed the love and respect of his subjects. Without lifting a single weapon and by virtue of his good behaviour, Prahlada conquered the three worlds easily, and Indra ran away from Svarga. In the disguise of a brahmin, Indra sought an audience with Prahlada and asked him to teach him his shila as a boon. Pleased with this, Prahalada offered Indra this boon but this meant that Prahlada was then robbed of his dharma.Duel against Nara-Narayana
Prahlada once commanded the asuras to accompany him to the holy tirtha of Naimiṣa, where he hoped to see a vision of Vishnu. They went hunting along the banks of the Sarasvati River. Prahlada observed two ascetics with matted hair, bearing the bows of Sharanga and Ajagava. The asura king asked them why they held weapons while performing a penance, and the two ascetics responded that all those who held power were righteous in their conduct. One of the rishis assured the king that none of the three worlds could conquer them in a duel. Prahlada rose to the challenge. Nara fired arrows at the king with his Ajagava, but the latter was able to defeat him with his own gold-plated arrows. Prahlada employed the divine Brahmastra against Nara's Narayanastra. Seeing them neutralised in a mid-air collision, Prahlada wielded his mace against Narayana. His mace broke, and Prahlada found himself growing helpless and sought Vishnu's assistance. Vishnu told his devotee that the Nara-Narayana brothers were invincible as they were the sons of Yama and could only be conquered in devotion rather than combat. The king left the regency to Andhaka and erected an ashrama to propitiate Nara-Narayana and apologise for his folly.War against Vishnu
According to the Kurma Purana, Prahlada always served thousands of Brahmanas daily. One day, Prahlada accidentally forgot to serve one Brahmanas. The latter cursed the asura, saying that he would forget Vishnu and become unrighteous. The curse soon came into fruition, with Prahlada ignoring the Vedas and the Brahmanas and soon deviating from the path of dharma. Determined to avenge his father's death, he waged war against Vishnu. When he was defeated, he realised his folly and ruled on the throne, making Andhaka also to reign as king.Other conflicts
According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Prahlada was compelled to wage war against Indra and the devas by the daityas. In the fierce devasura war that ensued, Prahlada emerged as the victor. Fearing that the asura king would destroy the devas, Indra prayed to Parvati, and Prahlada responded in kind. Pleased, the goddess pacified both of them, and they returned to their abodes.Prahlada, Virochana, Bali, and Banasura fought against Shiva and Parvati with the devas and devis when Andhaka attacked Kailasha. Prahlada had strongly advised Andhaka against the invasion of Kailasha, but Andhaka refused. Andhaka was eventually killed by Shiva and Parvati, and Prahlada once more became the King of the Asuras.
Prahlada's son was Virochana, who was the father of Bali. The devas had Virochana killed by taking advantage of his generosity. Prahlada raised his grandson, Bali. Later on, Prahlada and Mahabali lived on Sutala Loka under the instructions of Lord Vishnu.
After a long life, Prahlada attained Vaikuntha. Prahlada's great-grandson was the thousand-armed Banasura, who was defeated in battle by Krishna in Mahabharata.