SB 5.18.8–9 – Nrsimha-caturdasi

Giriraj Swami: We shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Five, Chapter Eighteen: “The Residents of Jambūdvīpa Offer Prayers,” from the series of prayers recited by Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. Text Eight is a very important prayer, or mantra, and in it many words are repeated twice. When something is repeated twice, it gives great emphasis. For example, one might say, “It is a terrible, terrible thing.” The repetition of “terrible” is for emphasis.

TEXT 8

oṁ namo bhagavate narasiṁhāya namas tejas-tejase āvir-āvirbhava vajra-nakha vajra-daṁṣṭra karmāśayān randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svāhā; abhayam abhayam ātmani bhūyiṣṭhā oṁ kṣraum.

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possess nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.

TEXT 9

svasty astu viśvasya khalaḥ prasīdatāṁ
dhyāyantu bhūtāni śivaṁ mitho dhiyā
manaś ca bhadraṁ bhajatād adhokṣaje
āveśyatāṁ no matir apy ahaitukī

TRANSLATION

May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other’s welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The following verse describes a Vaiṣṇava:

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Just like a desire tree, a Vaiṣṇava can fulfill all the desires of anyone who takes shelter of his lotus feet. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a typical Vaiṣṇava. He prays not for himself but for all living entities — the gentle, the envious and the mischievous. He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiraṇyakaśipu. Prahlāda Mahārāja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father. This is the attitude of a Vaiṣṇava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and bhāgavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsarāṇām). Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays in this verse, khalaḥ prasīdatām: “May all the envious persons be pacified.” The material world is full of envious persons, but if one frees himself of envy, he becomes liberal in his social dealings and can think of others’ welfare. Anyone who takes up Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engages himself completely in the service of the Lord cleanses his mind of all envy (manaś ca bhadraṁ bhajatād adhokṣaje). Therefore we should pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to sit in our hearts. We should pray, bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁhaḥ: “Let Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities. Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has given us a very fine purport in this regard. Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one always requests some benediction from Him. Even pure (niṣkāma) devotees pray for some benediction, as instructed by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikṣāṣṭaka:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

“O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick Me up from the ocean of death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” In another prayer Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi: “Life after life, kindly let Me have unalloyed love and devotion at Your Lordship’s lotus feet.” When Prahlāda Mahārāja chants oṁ namo bhagavate narasiṁhāya, he prays for a benediction from the Lord, but because he is also an exalted Vaiṣṇava, he wants nothing for his personal sense gratification. The first desire expressed in his prayer is svasty astu viśvasya: “Let there be good fortune throughout the entire universe.” Prahlāda Mahārāja thus requested the Lord to be merciful to everyone, including his father, a most envious person. According to Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, there are two kinds of envious living entities: one is a snake, and the other is the man like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who is by nature envious of everyone, even of his father or son. Hiraṇyakaśipu was envious of his little son Prahlāda, but Prahlāda Mahārāja asked a benediction for the benefit of his father. Hiraṇyakaśipu was very envious of devotees, but Prahlāda wished that his father and other demons like him would give up their envious nature by the grace of the Lord and stop harassing the devotees (khalaḥ prasīdatām). The difficulty is that the khala (envious living entity) is rarely pacified. One kind of khala, the snake, can be pacified simply by mantras or by the action of a particular herb (mantrauṣadhi-vaśaḥ sarpaḥ khalakena nivāryate). An envious person, however, cannot be pacified by any means. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays that all envious persons may undergo a change of heart and think of the welfare of others.

If the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Kṛṣṇa everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays, śivaṁ mitho dhiyā. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa (bhajatād adhokṣaje). As indicated elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ) and as advised by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (18.65), man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam). Materialists always think of sense gratification, but Prahlāda Mahārāja prays that the Lord’s mercy will change their minds and they will stop thinking of sense gratification. If they think of Kṛṣṇa always, everything will be all right. Some people argue that if everyone thought of Kṛṣṇa in that way, the whole universe would be vacated because everyone would go back home, back to Godhead. However, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says that this is impossible because the living entities are innumerable. If one set of living entities is actually delivered by the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, another set will fill the entire universe.

COMMENT

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse in the purport because it describes a Vaishnava and because Prahlada Maharaja, who recited the prayers that we are reading and discussing, is an excellent example of a Vaishnava. 

Hiraṇyakaśipu, the father of Prahlada, was a great demon, and he performed such severe austerities that the entire universe became disturbed. Eventually, Lord Brahma went to Hiraṇyakaśipu personally to ask him what benediction he wanted, so that he would cease his austerities and stop the disturbance within the universe. Hiraṇyakaśipu asked for the benediction to become immortal, but Lord Brahma replied, “I myself am not immortal.” So Hiraṇyakaśipu asked for various boons that he thought would indirectly make him immortal. He asked that he not be killed inside a building or outside; that he not be killed in the day or at night; that he not be killed on the land or in the sky; that he not be killed by any human being or animal, demigod or demon, or any other creature; that he not be killed by any weapon. He asked for such benedictions that he thought would make him immortal and give him absolute supremacy in the universe. And Lord Brahma agreed to all of the requests: “So be it.”

In due course, Hiraṇyakaśipu had a son named Prahlada, and Prahlada was a devotee. Earlier, the Lord in the form of Varahadeva had killed Hiraṇyakaśipu’s brother Hiraṇyakṣa, and Hiraṇyakaśipu was determined to avenge his brother’s death—he actually thought that he could kill Vishnu. He knew that Vishnu had appeared as Varaha and killed Hiraṇyakṣa. Later, Diti, the mother of Hiraṇyakṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, desired a son who would kill Indra, because she thought that Indra, with the help of Vishnu, was responsible for the death of her sons. 

We know from scripture—sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya—that Vishnu is God. So we might consider, “How could anyone imagine that they could kill God?” But if God came into this room and we didn’t recognize Him by the features that are described in the scriptures, we wouldn’t know that He was God, because God looks like a human being. As the Bible says, “God created man in His own image.” God has arms and legs and hands and feet and eyes and ears and a nose and mouth and all the different bodily features we have. His body looks like ours. What distinguishes Him from us is that He has immeasurable potencies. For example, the president of the United States looks like a human being like the rest of us, but he has immense powers (more than some might like). If he wants, he can order the army to invade a country or send the police to arrest a citizen. He looks like us, but we don’t have that power. We might want to do certain things, but we don’t have the power. He has the power. Still, he looks like one of us. 

When someone performs great austerities, he can get great powers. Even demons, if they perform the required austerities, can become very powerful and attain various mystic perfections. So although Lord Vishnu has all power and mystic potency, demons can also get powers. And Hiraṇyakaśipu thought that by his austerities and the powers he derived from them and the benedictions he got from Lord Brahma, he could become immortal and conquer the universe. He had created a great disturbance in the universe by performing severe austerities; now he did so by waging war against the demigods and conquering their territories.

Although he was a demon, Hiraṇyakaśipu had natural affection for his son, and he wanted him to be like his father, a great materialist, and had him educated accordingly. He engaged teachers to instruct the boy to be expert in politics and diplomacy. And as parents sometimes ask their children, “What did you learn in school today? What is your favorite subject?” Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlada, “What is the best thing you have learned?” He thought Prahlada would say something cute, something sweet. But Prahlada gave the worst answer imaginable to Hiraṇyakaśipu. He said, “The best thing I have learned is śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam”—to hear about and glorify Vishnu. Vishnu, whom Hiraṇyakaśipu considered to be his worst enemy. So Hiraṇyakaśipu became furious, and when nothing else worked, he decided to kill Prahlada. He applied the logic that if a part of your body becomes infected, the disease may spread throughout the body and kill you, so even though it is part of your body, you have to amputate it, for the sake of the rest of the body. He thought, “Although Prahlada is my son, he has been infected by the disease of Vaishnavism and we have to cut him out before the disease spreads and finishes us.”

Hiraṇyakaśipu tried to kill Prahlada in so many ways. He had conquered the demigods, and he occupied the throne of King Indra and ruled over the inhabitants of all the other planets. Except for Brahma and Shiva, all the demigods were engaged in his service, offering him obeisances and praise. He was so powerful. But he could not kill Prahlada. He had horrible demons try to pierce Prahlada’s body with tridents. He threw Prahlada beneath the feet of elephants and in the midst of venomous snakes. But no matter what he did, he could not kill him. He hurled him from a mountain top, gave him poison, starved him, and threw heavy stones on him to crush him. Nothing worked—nothing affected Prahlada in the least. Hiraṇyakaśipu was astonished. He had triumphed over the armies of the demigods, but he could not subdue his five-year-old son.

Finally, after all his efforts had failed, Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlada, “From where do you get your power? You know that when I am angry all the planets of the three worlds, along with their rulers, tremble. But you have no fear, and you have exceeded my power to control you. From where do you get your strength?” And Prahlada replied, “I get my strength from the same source as you, from the source of all strength—from God.” Now, that really infuriated Hiraṇyakaśipu, because he thought that he was the source of his own power. That is the demoniac mentality. We think we are the doers—kartāham iti manyate. We think, īśvaro ‘ham ahaṁ bhogī siddho ‘haṁ balavān sukhī: “I am the controller. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect and powerful and happy.” That is the demoniac tendency. Hiraṇyakaśipu didn’t want to hear that he got his power from someone else—least of all from the person to whom Prahlada referred: the unlimited Supreme Lord.

Thus Hiraṇyakaśipu became even more infuriated and more defiant. He said to Prahlada, “If this God of yours is everywhere, why is He not present before me in this pillar? I am going to kill you now, and let us see this God of yours protect you!” Filled with rage, Hiraṇyakaśipu rose from his throne, took up his sword, and with great anger struck his fist against the column. And out of the pillar emerged the wonderful form of Nṛsiṁhadeva. Nṛsiṁha Bhagavān ki jaya!

Nṛsiṁhadeva is unique. He is neither a man nor an animal but has a form that is half lion and half man. And His appearance fulfilled all the conditions of Lord Brahma. He isn’t a demigod or human being or animal—He isn’t any creature. Ultimately He picked up Hiraṇyakaśipu and placed him on His lap and with His long, sharp nails ripped apart his chest. Hiraṇyakaśipu was extraordinarily powerful, and his chest could withstand the thunderbolt of Indra. No one could pierce his body. He was so powerful. One could throw arrows and all types of weapons at him, and they would bounce off him like nothing. So it was no mean feat to tear open his chest. Yet Nṛsiṁhadeva ripped open his chest with His nails, tore out his heart, and thus killed this great demon.

We glorify Lord Nṛsiṁha daily with the prayer (a line of which Srila Prabhupada quoted in his purport): 

ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho
yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ
bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁho
nṛsiṁham ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye

Ito nṛsiṁhaḥ means “Nṛsiṁha is here”; parato nṛsiṁho means “Nṛsiṁha is also there.” Yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ: “Wherever I go, there is Nṛsiṁha.” Bahir nṛsiṁho: “Nṛsiṁha is outside,” hṛdaye nṛsiṁho: “Nṛsiṁha is in my heart.” Nṛsiṁham ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye: “I surrender to Lord Nṛsiṁha, the origin of all and the supreme shelter.” He is everywhere. 

We also sing: 

namas te nara-siṁhāya
prahlādāhlāda-dāyine
hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ-
śilā-ṭaṅka-nakhālaye

Śilā-ṭaṅka-nakhālaye—śilā means “stone,” as in śālagrāma-śilā; nakhā means “fingernails”; and ṭaṅka means “chisel.” If you want to break a hard stone, you have to chisel it. And Lord Nṛsiṁha’s nails were like chisels that cut the chest of Hiraṇyakaśipu—his stonelike heart and chest.

Hiraṇyakaśipu thought that he could become immortal by his own power and intelligence. But his intelligence was not as great as that of Lord Nṛsiṁha, who kept all of Brahma’s boons intact and still was able to kill the demon. Nrsimhadeva assumed this wonderful form—adbhuta means “wonderful”—that was half man and half lion. He sat at the threshold of the palace, which wasn’t inside or outside. He appeared at twilight, which was neither day nor night. And He killed Hiraṇyakaśipu on His lap—not in the sky or on the land. And not with any weapon but with His nails. He kept all the benedictions intact and still killed him.

Srila Prabhupada explains that however intelligent we are, Krishna is always more intelligent. Mother Yasoda tried to bind Krishna with ropes, but no matter how many ropes she tied together, He was always two fingers bigger; she was always just a little short. In the same way, if we try to compete with God—try to outwit God, try to cheat God—we will always fall short. Srila Prabhupada says, “Hiraṇyakaśipu was thinking only of the atomic bomb, how to protect himself from the bomb, but he forgot about the nails.” He made so many arrangements to protect himself, but he neglected to consider the nails. So the conclusion should be “If you can’t fight Him, join Him.” Nṛsiṁham ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye. Just surrender to Nṛsiṁhadeva. Don’t try to compete with Him or fight with Him. That is the background of Prahlada’s prayers.

After Nṛsiṁhadeva killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, He asked Prahlada to accept some benediction, but Prahlada was a pure devotee—he didn’t want any material benediction. In today’s verse we find the word ahaitukī: without any motive. Prahlada had no material motive, so when Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva asked him to accept some benediction, he refused. He said, “Why are You trying to tempt me with material allurements? If I were to desire material benefit in exchange for devotional service, I wouldn’t be a servant. I would be like a businessman who wants profit in exchange for service. Lord, I am Your eternal servant, and You are my eternal master. We have no other relationship.” Prahlada asked only that there be no material desires within his heart. 

But Nṛsiṁhadeva insisted that Prahlada accept some benediction, and in the end Prahlada agreed: “If You really want me to ask something of You, then I ask that You purify my father.” This shows the exemplary character of Prahlada, who, as Srila Prabhupada said, is a typical Vaishnava. A Vaishnava is the friend of everyone, of all living entities (suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām). He never becomes the enemy of his enemy. He remains ever the friend of everyone—even his enemies. So even though Hiraṇyakaśipu was so envious—even of his own son—that he tried in so many ways to kill him, Prahlada remained true to his character as a Vaishnava. He thought of his father’s welfare, and he wished his father well. 

In this prayer to Lord Nṛsiṁha, Prahlada is praying for his father and for all envious people, that they may be pacified. Khalaḥ prasīdatāṁ: “May all envious persons be pacified.” As Srila Prabhupada notes, almost everyone is envious. In fact, we come into this material world because we are envious of Krishna. That is why we are here. Thus Srila Prabhupada says, “Almost everyone.” The only exceptions are pure devotees. Everyone else has some envy. It is like saying, “Almost everyone in the prison is a criminal.” Yes, in principle, all the prisoners are criminals. There may be some staff members who are not, who are there to minister to the inmates, but the prisoners themselves are criminals. So, other than the devotees who are working for the welfare of the fallen souls, everyone is envious. And no one is spared their envy. Hiraṇyakaśipu was envious of his five-year-old son, a pure devotee. Diti was envious of her nephew Indra. She wanted to kill him, or get him killed. No one is spared.

If we want to get out of the bondage of material existence, we have to become free from envy. And how do we become free from envy? By the process of Krishna consciousness. And that is Prahlada’s prayer: bhajatād adhokṣaje. Bhaja means to worship and serve. The word bhakti comes from the verbal root bhaj: to serve with devotion. Serve whom? Adhokṣaja: Krishna, who is beyond material sense perception. Hiraṇyakaśipu couldn’t see Vishnu; the Lord was beyond his sense perception. It was only when He chose to appear to him by emerging from the pillar as Nṛsiṁhadeva that Hiraṇyakaśipu could see Him. Otherwise, only pure devotees can see Krishna—no one else. He is beyond the perception of the materially contaminated senses, mind, and intelligence of the conditioned souls. 

The process is Krishna consciousness (bhajatād adhokṣaje), and as Prahlada has explained, we engage in devotional service in Krishna consciousness by śravanaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ: hearing and chanting about Vishnu and remembering Him. As Srila Prabhupada quoted from the Śikṣāṣṭakam, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam: saṅkīrtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, cleanses the heart. That is the process. And when the heart is cleansed we become peaceful and calm (bhadram). 

This process is described in two important verses from the Second Chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (SB 1.2.17)

Śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. When we hear kṛṣṇa-kathā, all the abhadrāṇi—all the material desires, all the disturbances within the heart—are cleansed by the Lord Himself, who is sitting within the heart as the well-wishing friend of the truthful devotee (vidhunoti suhṛt satām).

And the transcendental sound itself is Krishna. Krishna enters the ear in the form of transcendental sound, and when we are hearing properly, the sound will enter the heart and cleanse it. Krishna in the form of transcendental sound will cleanse the dirty things in the heart (ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam). 

The next verse explains further:

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu
nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke
bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” (SB 1.2.18)

Bhāgavata-sevayā: by serving the person bhāgavata or by serving the book Bhāgavata, all that is troublesome to the heart—the same word, abhadrāṇi (abhadra, naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu)—all that is troublesome, all that is disturbing to the heart, becomes destroyed almost to nil at this stage. So when Prahlada prays that envious persons be pacified (bhadram), he is praying that all the abhadra, the disturbing things, the material desires within the heart, be removed. And the way they can be removed is by Krishna consciousness, by absorbing the mind in Krishna. That process is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā (man-manā bhava mad-bhakto) and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ)—to absorb the mind in Krishna. That is Krishna consciousness, and that will cleanse the heart and make us calm and peaceful. Then, instead of being envious of others and wanting to exploit and dominate them, we will think of their welfare. We want to help them and encourage them in Krishna consciousness.

Our main process, specially given to us in Kali-yuga by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is saṅkīrtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. But we have to do it in such a way that our minds are absorbed. That is Prahlada’s prayer, that our minds be absorbed in Krishna. So when we chant, we want to hear—we want our minds to be absorbed in the sound of Lord Krishna’s holy name. But when we try practically, what do we find? Is our mind peaceful? Is it absorbed in Krishna’s holy name? Or is it wandering here and there, thinking of different things to control and enjoy, which suggests the mentality described in the Bhagavad-gītā and ascribed to demons: īśvaro ‘ham ahaṁ bhogī—“I am the controller; I am the enjoyer”? When we analyze the thoughts we have even while we are chanting—while we are supposed to be chanting and hearing—we find that the underlying principles are “I am the enjoyer; I am the controller.” We are chanting, but we are distracted, thinking, “Oh, I have to do this. I have to do that.” What does that imply? That I think I am the controller. “I have to control all these things. I can’t hear Krishna’s name. I have to control all these things.” And why do we want to control them? Though we may also want to control for Krishna’s service, the tendency is to control for sense gratification. We want to control people and events in certain ways as to make our lives more pleasurable. We want to make arrangements to make our lives more pleasant.

This demoniac tendency that we discussed in relation to Hiraṇyakaśipu is there in us too. As our godbrother Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu often quotes, “We have seen the enemy, and he is us.” We are the enemy. It is not out there. We are the enemy—our own bad propensities, our own uncontrolled minds and senses. The problem is not out there. It is right here inside us. 

So we have to work hard. We have to endeavor to chant and hear with attention, with feeling. Whenever the mind wanders, we have to bring it back to the sound of Lord Krishna’s holy name. And that is a difficult job. In fact, it is futile exercise on our own strength alone. We need help. We need mercy. We need mercy from Krishna. And Prahlada is helping us. We should be praying, but he is leading us in the prayer. In Text Eight he prayed to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva in the heart, “Kindly vanquish my demonlike desires. Just as You destroyed Hiraṇyakaśipu, kindly destroy my demonlike desires, kill my bad propensities, and sit on the throne of my heart.” 

So, we do both: we make our own effort, and we pray for mercy. And when the Lord sees that we are making an honest effort, He is inclined to give His mercy. We don’t just sit back and do nothing and pray for mercy. We have to make an effort. But at the same time, we understand that by our effort alone we cannot be successful; we need the Lord’s help. And when the Lord sees our genuine, sincere, tireless effort, He will be merciful. We mentioned Mother Yasoda. She couldn’t bind Krishna with all the ropes in Vraja, but when Krishna saw her tireless effort to bind Him, He felt compassion for her and allowed her to bind Him. Our acharyas explain that that gap of two fingers by which the ropes were always too short can be covered (1) by our endeavor, our hard labor (pariśrama), and (2) by Krishna’s mercy (kṛṣṇa-kṛpā). These two elements can cover that distance and make our efforts successful—by Krishna’s grace.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, as quoted by Prabhupada in the purport, explains that whenever a devotee offers a prayer to the Lord, he asks for some benediction. Oṁ namo bhagavate narasiṁhāya is a prayer, and implicit in the prayer is a request for a benediction. But a devotee will not ask for a material benediction like Hiraṇyakaśipu’s: “Let me become immortal so I can conquer the universe and make everyone my servant.” He will ask for a benediction related to devotional service. And that is not wrong. He just won’t ask for something for his sense gratification; he will ask for something for Krishna consciousness—for his own Krishna consciousness and for the Krishna consciousness of others. 

We find the example in the Śikṣāṣṭakam (5): 

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāṁbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

“O son of MahārājaNanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servant, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms of Your lotus feet.”

This is a very significant verse. Ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ: “I am Your eternal servant.” We are Krishna’s servants—specifically Krishna’s, the son of Nanda. Nanda-tanuja is an intimate term. Tanu means “body” and ja means “born.” Although the Lord is Aja, unborn, for the sake of His pastimes in Vrindavan, He appears as nanda-tanuja, He who was “born from the body of Nanda.” It is very intimate. “Yet although I am Your servant [kiṅkaraṁ], somehow or the other I have fallen into this terrible ocean of birth and death [patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau].” Bhava means “to exist” or “to come into being and then to cease to exist.” And viṣame Prabhupada translates as “horrible.” Literally, visa means “poison.” This material existence is like an ocean of poison. And within this ocean are ferocious aquatics like sharks, who are ready to devour us. These deadly creatures are compared to lust, anger, and greed—always ready to devour us, to finish us. And there are waves in the ocean, terrible waves that are compared to false hopes and anxieties. They are always tossing us around. And there are strong winds—gales and storms—which are compared to bad association. The ocean is bad enough, but it becomes even worse when we are subjected to bad association. Such association acts like strong winds that push us in the wrong direction and may cause us to fall over. And while we are floundering in the ocean, drowning in the sea, we may come across some small pieces of wood and think, “Oh, here is a little piece of wood. Let me grab onto it.” Those insignificant pieces of wood are compared to the processes of karma, jnana, yoga, and so on. They can’t save us.

The only thing that can save us is mercy (tava kṛpā). Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who uttered these verses called the Śikṣāṣṭakam, prays, “By Your mercy, please pick Me up from this horrible ocean of birth and death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” It is divine mercy that can save us. And He prays to be an atom at the lotus feet of Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura remarks that this indicates that we are all originally part and parcel of Krishna. Dhūli means “dust.” Pada-dhūli: “dust of the lotus feet.” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prays, “Please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me, Your eternal servant, a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.”

Someone might question, “Is it proper for a devotee who has taken shelter of the holy name of Krishna to discuss the miseries of material existence?” Well, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does. So it is not wrong to discuss the miseries of material existence, and it is not wrong to pray for mercy to be reestablished in one’s constitutional relationship with Krishna. Those are things devotees do. And that should be our mood when we chant: that the holy name is Krishna and that we want to reestablish our lost relationship with Him. Thus we want to reestablish our relationship with the holy name—Krishna as the holy name. And our chanting is personal reciprocation with the holy name. When our mind wanders and all these anarthas come up, as they are prone to do, we pray for mercy: “Please save me. I think I am God, the controller, the enjoyer. Please save me from these anarthas.” That is one side of the prayer. The other side is, “Please engage me in Your service. Please accept me as Your eternal servant. Please consider me an atom at Your lotus feet, a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.” 

And we have another example from Sri Śikṣāṣṭakam (4):

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

“O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.”

Ahaitukī. Again the word ahaitukī: “causeless, without any motive for personal gain of any sort.” Pure devotional service is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ: without any ulterior motive. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam: not covered by karma, jnana, or any other process. In His Śikṣāṣṭakam, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prays in the mood of pure devotion: na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam. Dhanam means “wealth.” Janam means “followers.” Sundarim means “beautiful women, beautiful wife.” And kavitam means “poetry” or “the flowery words of the Vedas.” Sometimes sundarim is placed with kavitam to mean “beautiful poetry.” Some people think they can realize God through poetry, music, or art, and they are attached to such subtle, almost heavenly pleasures. They say they can experience God through hearing a symphony, for instance. So sundarim kavitam: beautiful poetry. And when sundarim is considered with janam, then beautiful women, beautiful wife, children, relatives, and friends are included in janam. And all of these gains are achieved by pious material activities—in other words, karma. So, when He says na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ, He means that He doesn’t want anything that can be achieved by karma. And when He says mama janmani janmanīśvare, that birth after birth He wants to be engaged in pure devotional service, He tells us that He does not want even liberation, which is the goal of jnana. In other words, He is not praying for the results of karma or jnana but is asking only for pure devotional service. Such is a pure devotee. And that is what we should be praying for.

But Prahlada is asking not just for himself. He is praying for all living entities. And the same principle applies: we pray, but we also have to work. It is not enough to sit back and pray, “Please deliver all the living entities in the universe” while we keep busy in eating and sleeping, or even chanting for our own personal benefit. We also have to work for the deliverance of the fallen souls. And that combination of endeavor and prayer will be effective. We find later, in Prahlada’s prayers to Nṛsiṁhadeva in the Seventh Canto (SB 7.9.44):

prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā
maunaṁ caranti vijane na parārtha-niṣṭhāḥ
naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumukṣa eko
nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato ‘nupaśye

“O my Lord, I see that most saintly persons are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they roam in solitary places with vows of silence. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Krsna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet.”

Prahlada does not have to be concerned about his own liberation, because, as a pure devotee, he is already liberated. Wherever he is, he can always immerse himself in the nectarean ocean of the Lord’s holy names and glories, and feel transcendental bliss. He explains, “For myself I have no anxiety, but I do have one concern. My lamentation (śoce) is that people are suffering without Krishna consciousness, and so I am always making plans how to engage them in devotional service.”

aivodvije para duratyaya-vaitaraṇyās
tvad-vīrya-gāyana-mahāmṛta-magna-cittaḥ
śoce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyārtha-
māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān

“O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. I am quite satisfied to chant Your holy name, because whenever I chant I immediately merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies, and countries. I am simply lamenting for them and devising various plans to deliver them from the clutches of maya.” (SB 7.9.43)

Prahlada Maharaja is one of our acharyas—one of the twelve mahājanas—and he is teaching us by his example. He is thinking how he can deliver the fallen souls, how he can induce the fallen souls to take to Krishna consciousness. At the same time, he is praying to his worshipable Deity, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, to be merciful to them and deliver them, because he knows that on his own he can’t deliver them—and that on their own they can’t deliver themselves. So, to preach we need the Lord’s mercy. And to practice Krishna consciousness we also need the Lord’s mercy. At every stage, we need the Lord’s mercy. And at the same time, we have to make our own efforts. 

In conclusion, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura raises the question, “What if Prahlada Maharaja’s prayer is accepted and everyone becomes Krishna conscious? They all will leave the material universe and go back to Godhead, so what will happen to the universe?” 

At the Ardha-kumbha-melā in 1971, I had a rare opportunity to be with Srila Prabhupada in his tent when he was giving darshan, meeting visitors in the afternoon. A man asked him, “What if everyone becomes a devotee—how will the world go on?” And Prabhupada asked me to answer. I don’t remember exactly what I said, maybe something about how will the prison go on if all the prisoners are reformed and released, but I was very attentive to what Prabhupada said after I made my attempt. He replied, “It is like asking, ‘What if everyone becomes rich? Who will be the chauffeur?’ Everyone wants to be rich. You can’t argue, ‘What if everyone becomes rich?’ to say that people not try to become rich.” And he continued, “The problem is not that too many people will become Krishna conscious; the problem is that not enough will become Krishna conscious. Do you think that is a problem—that too many people will become Krishna conscious? That is not the problem. The problem is that not enough will become Krishna conscious.”

One of our godsisters, Jahnava devi dasi, in this mood of thinking of the welfare of every living entity, once asked Srila Prabhupada, “When we chant, should we think of the welfare of all living entities?” And Prabhupada replied, “Oh, you can think of all living entities? You just think of Lord Chaitanya, and He will think of all living entities.” We may desire the welfare of all living entities, but it is not in our capacity to think of all living entities. Even in a family of four, it is hard to think of the welfare of all four at once. So, we can’t think of all living entities. But we can think of Lord Chaitanya, and He will think of all living entities. We can pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, and He will think of all living entities. And we can pray to be a little particle of dust in Their service—a small instrument in Their mission—by Their divine grace. 

Hare Krishna. 

Nṛsiṁha Bhagavān ki jaya!
Prahlada Maharaja ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari-Haribol!