Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.21.47

hiraṇyakaśipuś cāpi

bhagavan-nindayā tamaḥ

vivikṣur atyagāt sūnoḥ

prahlādasyānubhāvataḥ

SYNONYMS

hiraṇyakaśipuḥ — the father of Prahlāda Mahārāja; ca — also; api — again; bhagavat — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nindayā — by blaspheming; tamaḥ — in the darkest region of hellish life; vivikṣuḥ — entered; atyagāt — was delivered; sūnoḥ — of his son; prahlādasya — of Mahārāja Prahlāda; anubhāvataḥ — by the influence of.

TRANSLATION

Similarly, Hiraṇyakaśipu, who by dint of his sinful activities always defied the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, entered into the darkest region of hellish life; but by the grace of his great son, Prahlāda Mahārāja, he also was delivered and went back home, back to Godhead.

PURPORT

When Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered benediction by Nṛsiḿhadeva, due to his great devotion and tolerance he refused to accept any benediction from the Lord, thinking that such acceptance was not befitting a sincere devotee. The rendering of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in expectation of a good reward is deprecated by Prahlāda Mahārāja as mercantile business. Because Prahlāda Mahārāja was a Vaiṣṇava, he did not ask a benediction for his personal self but was very affectionate toward his father. Although his father tortured him and would have killed him had he himself not been killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Prahlāda Mahārāja begged pardon for him from the Lord. This favor was immediately granted by the Lord, and Hiraṇyakaśipu was delivered from the darkest region of hellish life, and he returned back home, back to Godhead, by the grace of his son. Prahlāda Mahārāja is the topmost example of a Vaiṣṇava, who is always compassionate toward sinful persons suffering a hellish life within this material world. Kṛṣṇa is therefore known as para-duḥkha-duḥkhī kṛpāmbudhiḥ, or one who is compassionate toward others' suffering and who is an ocean of mercy. Like Prahlāda Mahārāja, all pure devotees of the Lord come to this material world with full compassion to deliver the sinful. They undergo all kinds of tribulations, suffering them with tolerance, because that is another qualification of a Vaiṣṇava, who tries to deliver all sinful persons from the hellish conditions of material existence. Vaiṣṇavas are therefore offered the following prayer:

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāḿ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

The chief concern of a Vaiṣṇava is to deliver the fallen souls.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness