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Beyond compare

CHENNAI: : Of all the incarnations of the Supreme Being, the one as Narasimha is extolled as extraordinary and unique. In this manifestation, the Lord had to incarnate in such a way that there was no violation of the boon that Brahma had granted Hiranyakasipu, while also taking care to substantiate the utterances of His devotee Prahlada. This manifestation establishes the omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience of the Lord beyond any doubt, said Sri Vidya Sagara Madhava Teertha Swamiji in a discourse, while it also demonstrates the unparalleled manner of the Lord's response to the sincere calls of His devotees.

Pleased with the severity of the penance undertaken by Hiranyakasipu, Brahma granted all the conditions of the boon of deathlessness that he had asked for. It was a comprehensive list that seemed to fend him off all possible ways of death from all quarters. Riding on the wave of confidence born of this boon that seemed to confer on him absolute invincibility, Hiranyakasipu perpetrated atrocities with impunity. He considered Lord Vishnu as his archenemy ever since He, manifesting as wild boar, killed his brother Hiranyaksha.

One may wonder how such a staunch enemy of Lord Vishnu could have such a devout and wise son whose implicit faith in the Lord was such that nothing — persuasion, coercion, threats to life, or severe torture — could make any impact on him. Prahlada possessed the knowledge of the ultimate truth and believed in it totally. This knowledge was derived from the instruction of Sage Narada to Prahlada's mother (with the child in the womb). The sage had imparted the essence of religion in the shape of devotion to the Lord, and pure wisdom in the shape of discrimination between the ultimate truth and apparent truths of worldly existence. Hiranyakasipu failed to recognise the truth that death is inescapable for all those who are born, and that the Lord is the One who created Brahma, though the latter had granted the boon.

Prahlada's resolute devotion is exemplary. When the Lord entreated him to ask any boon he wished, the child was not in the least tempted, since he did not hanker after anything. He only longed to remain an ardent devotee. Asking for anything else dilutes the intensity of devotion.

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