Srimad Bhagavatam – day 406
Keshavāya namah
Prahlāda continued,
“Devo ’suro manuṣyo vā yakṣo gandharva eva cā
Bhajan mukunda-caraṇaṁ svastimān syād yathā vayam
Be it a Devata, human, yaksha (spirits) or Gandharva (celestial), he who worships the lotus feet of Lord Srihari, the Lord who bestows liberation, attains auspiciousness.
O children belonging to the demon clan, Srihari, the Lord who bestows liberation, cannot be pleased by becoming a good Brahmin, Devata or Maharishi. Neither can He be pleased through good conduct, or through knowledge acquired from diligent learning of Scriptures (shastras), or through charity, penance, Yagna, or through mental purity or physical purity, or through diligent adherence to rituals. Srihari can be pleased only through pure selfless devotion (nishkāma bhakti)! All other methods apart from it are tools to enhance such devotion.
Tato harau bhagavati bhaktiṁ kuruta dānavāḥ
Ātmaupamyena sarvatra sarva-bhūtātmanīśvare
O demon children! Love all living entities considering them to be your own Self. Develop devotion towards the Supreme Lord Srihari who resides within every living entity as the Self.
The descendants of Diti! Know that demons, yakshas (spirits), women, śudras, cowherds, birds, animals and even sinful beings can also merge into the Supreme Lord Srihari through devotion. Such is the greatness of this path of devotion (bhakti)!
The human being should develop unflinching and undeviating focus towards Lord Srihari! Maharishis have declared this to be the ultimate goal of human birth! In all times and in all situations seeing the Lord as pervading everyone and everything is true devotion. This is the real form of bhakti”.
With this the seventh chapter of the Seventh Canto comes to an end.
Seventh Canto Chapter Eight
In this chapter, the Supreme Lord incarnating as Narasimha; the killing of Hiraṇyakaśipu; the prayers sung by Brahma and other Devatas are covered.
Maharishi Nārada continued to explain Prahlāda’s story to emperor Yudhishthira. He continued,
“Due to these lessons taught by Prahlāda, all children belonging to the demon clan, latched on to the faultless and ever pure path of devotion (bhakti yoga). They no longer paid any attention to the worldly materialistic lessons being taught by their teachers in school. Their minds were exclusively focussed upon the lotus feet of Lord Srihari.
The teachers, who were the sons of Śukracharya, noticed this transformation in the demon children. In great alarm and fear, they caught hold of Prahlāda, took him to King Hiraṇyakaśipu and narrated everything in detail to the king.
Upon knowing that his son was behaving in a demeaning disrespectful manner that hurt the sentiments of one and all, Hiraṇyakaśīpu was infuriated. He felt that his son had now become bold and fearless as he was advancing on the wrong path. His son’s wrongful deeds were like an insult to him. His body began to tremble violently due to his uncontrollable wrath, and in that fury, he decided to kill his son then and there.
Demon Hiraṇyakaśipu was inherently violent, cruel and wicked. Therefore, he now heartlessly rebuked his son who, in all humility was standing before him with folded hands. He used demeaning words which should not have been used against Prahlāda the young lad who possessed supreme mind control.
Hiraṇyakaśipu looked at Prahlāda with crooked eyes and like a snake that hisses violently when it has been trampled beneath the feet, screamed, “O dull witted, wretched boy! Traits of humility do not exist in you, who inherently are wicked. Being impudent and inferior, you are out to destroy my clan. As a punishment for your disobedience, I shall forthwith dispatch you to the abode of Yama (Lord of death).
O foolish boy! Do you realize that the three worlds, together with their Guardian-deities, tremble frightfully seeing my wrath? What gives you the courage to impudently override my dictates?”
Prahlāda replied, “O King, not only for me but even for you and for all the powerful kings in the world, Srihari is the only powerful master. He is the source of all power. Beginning from Brahma and right up to the tiniest micro-organisms, all moving and non-moving entities in this creation are under His control alone!
This Supreme Lord is the form of time. His prowess can be understood from the fact that this Lord has, in the past, measured the three worlds with just his two feet. The Self (atma) is the supreme controller of the sensory energy (indriya shakti), bodily energy, mental energy and courage. This Self is none other than the Supreme Lord. Using His illusory energy composed of three attributes (trigunas) He alone creates, sustains and annihilates the universe.
O father! Discard your demonic tendencies and feelings of hatred. Give up feelings of likes and dislikes. Treat everyone equally. This is the best worship that we can offer to the Supreme Lord.
An uncontrolled mind treads the wrong path. Barring such uncontrolled mind, we have no enemies in this world. The six inner enemies are lust and other desires (kāma), anger (kridha), greed (lobha), infautuation (moha), envy (matsarya) and arrogance (mada). The five senses and mind also can be addressed as the six inner enemies. Without obtaining victory over them, some people foolishly dwell in the pride that they have conquered the 10 directions”.
Govindaya namah