The Story of Prahlada

What It Can Teach the Modern Child

Source: sagarworld.com

The genius of the Hindu civilization lies in its ability to convey profound concepts through stories. Parents can use ancient Hindu stories and raise children to think about the world around them.

Let's take the well-known story of Prahlada. The story is already interesting with a child protagonist and a riddle, but can we make it even more relevant for the modern Hindu child?

Read this story aloud to your children, or tell it to them in your own words:

Long ago, a boy called Prahlada lived in the land of Bhaarata. His father was the Asura King Hiranyakashipu, one of the most powerful people to ever live on earth. Do you know why he was so powerful? He prayed to Lord Brahma and obtained a boon for himself - that he couldn't be killed by man or animal, day or night, inside or outside, on land, air, water, or any weapon. Once the fear of death was removed, the asura was invincible. He became arrogant and began terrorizing all three worlds (earth, heaven, and the nether-world). Hiranyakashipu declared himself to be the only god of the universe and barred people from worshipping their ancient devi-devathas. He decreed that people should not even utter the name of Narayana (a popular name of Bhagavan Vishnu). They could worship only Hiranyakashipu. As you can guess, nobody liked it, but Hiranyakashipu enforced it through fear. Many sages who worshipped Vishnu were put to death. People had no option but to do as they were told, but Hiranyakashipu's son Prahlada was different.

He was a great devotee of Mahavishnu. Hiranyakashipu could not tolerate his own son worshipping Vishnu, and he decided to have him killed by various means. He had Prahlada thrown from cliffs, trampled by elephants, and poisoned his food. Hiranyakashipu finally asked his sister Holika, who had special protection, to sit in a fire with Prahlad in her lap. But Holika perished, and Prahlada survived by the grace of Sri Vishnu.

In frustration, Hiranyakashipu asked Prahlada where his Vishnu was, and Prahlad said, 'Everywhere!' Hiranyakashipu thundered, 'Is he in this pillar?' and struck an iron pillar in the palace. With a frightening roar, Bhagavan Vishnu emerged from the post in his Narasimha avatar. The avatar had a man's body and a lion's head (neither fully man nor animal).

Hiranyakashipu met his death on the lap of Vishnu, neither in water, land, nor the sky! It was dusk, neither day nor night. The pillar was at the threshold, neither inside nor outside. And he was torn to pieces by the Lord's nails, not by any weapon. Bhagavan Vishnu side-stepped the conditions of Brahmas's boon and ended the tyranny of the mighty Hiranyakashipu. You can watch a video about the story here. There are also old movies about Bhakta Prahlada in many languages. Watch them with your family on movie night.

Hiranyakashipu terrorized the people by killing cows and torturing devotees of the gods. He forbade the worship of anyone except himself. Do you know that a belief in only one god was -and still is- very common in the world around us? Bhaarata was invaded many times by people who forbade our gods' worship and enforced their god's exclusive worship only. This type of belief is called Monotheism. 

Did you think it was only in the ancient days that these things happened? If we want to worship our devi-devathas, we must be as courageous as Prahlada in many parts of the world today. Sad and surprising, isn't it?

You have learned a new word today. Monotheism. Do you think looking down on the worship of many devi-devathas is a good thing? Or is it kinder to let people keep their old ways? Why don't you discuss this interesting topic with friends and family?

Do you like the way Bhagavan Vishnu solved the riddle of Hiranyakashipu's boon and found a way to rid the world of the demon? Could you take inspiration from this story to solve any problem that appears difficult? Do you know what this type of creative thinking and problem-solving is known as today? People call it innovation or thinking out-of-the-box.

What about Prahlada himself? How was he able to display such supreme courage? It is difficult to stand up for the right thing, isn't it? But heroes are heroes for a reason. Sometimes the determination and courage of one person, even a child, can change the world. Even if we cannot do all the things they did, heroes inspire us to model ourselves after them in small ways in our own daily lives.

Finally, do you know where this story is from? It is mentioned in a text called the Bhaagavata Purana, also known as Vishnu Purana. Another common name for it is Srimad-Bhaagavatham, which tells the stories of all the avatars and powers of Vishnu. The Sage Narada narrates the story of Prahlada to Yudhishtira, the eldest of the Pandavas. 

Srimad Bhagavatham has the detailed story of Sri Krishna, including some fascinating stories of his childhood. Maybe you can read or hear these stories in your mother tongue daily at bedtime.