Prahlad Maharaj's Ideal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Mahadvadasi
Noon class, 25 March 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

The Lord appeared in this world owing to Sri Prahlad Maharaj's deep meditation and exceptional strength of intelligence. When we read in the scriptures about Sri Prahlad Maharaj, we read about sakam-bhakta and niskam-bhakta. There are devotees who want something from the Lord, such devotion is called karma-misra-bhakti (devotion mixed with material pursuits) and such devotees are called sakam-bhaktas; and the niskam-bhaktas are those who pray,

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want beautiful women, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

So, Prahlad Maharaj prayed, "Prabhu, I am Your niskam-sevak, and You are my eternal Master. I do not want anything except to be Your servant." Our Master is one, and we do not want anything except to be His servants—if we can become His menial servants, that is sufficient for us, there is nothing else we need in our life. So, Prahlad Maharaj said, "I do not aspire for anything besides that. The servants who wish to get something in return for their service to the Lord—who want some worldly gain—are neither proper servants, nor pure devotees."

asasano na vai bhrtyah
svaminy asisa atmanah
na svami bhrtyatah svamyam
ichchhan yo rati chasisah

"A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee. Similarly, a master who bestows benedictions upon his servant because of a desire to maintain a prestigious position as master is also not a pure master."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.5)

Prahlad Maharaj, who is a pure devotee, describes here the difference between a pure Master and a bogus master.

ma mam pralobhayotpattya
saktamkamesu tair varaih
tat-sanga-bhito nirvitto
mumuksus tvam upasritah

"My dear Lord, because I was born in an atheistic family I am naturally attached to material enjoyment. Therefore, kindly do not tempt me with these illusions. I am very much afraid of material conditions, and I desire to be liberated from materialistic life. It is for this reason that I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.2)

Prahlad Maharaj spoke with much humility saying, "I am already very greedy, so please do not entice me with anything. I want to be released from this conditioned state I am in, that is why I have taken shelter at your holy lotus feet." These are very beautiful words.

Narad Muni also said, "Prahlad Maharaj is the highest person among demons. Demons always have many material desires, they always want to enjoy. By the mercy of the Lord, material desires for enjoyment, etc. can be removed, but as a result of becoming a pure devotee, Prahlad Maharaj refused to accept anything for the enjoyment of his senses, he said, "Prabhu, You have taken me on Your lap, You have shown so much love and affection to me—You did not show this kind of affection to even Brahma, Siva or even Your dear energy Laksmi Devi; and You are telling me not to take some boon. My greatest fortune is that You have shown me so much affection, there is no boon greater than that." Mahaprabhu said, "He Jagadiswara (Lord of the Universe), I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet. My only desire is to have causeless devotion to You birth after birth."

Lord Nrisinghadev told Prahlad Maharaj, "Nobody can know Me without pleasing Me. If one cannot please Me, if one cannot make Me happy, they can never attain any happiness or peace in this world. Those who have pleased Me and satisfied Me with their service, can never be affected by happiness or grief in this world." But we are unfortunate—we have not been able to do that, we only think about our own happiness. If we think about the happiness of the Lord, then the Lord will take care of me. I tell you this time and time again.

Narad Muni said also that Prahlad Maharaj saw the boon that Lord Nrisinghadev was offering as something unfavourable, or obstructive, to devotion. There are things that are favourable and and there are things that are unfavourable to devotion, if you do what is favourable and also what is unfavourable, then all the good result of favourable actions will go through the holes. We keep saying, "I want devotion," when we see or call Gurudev, we keep asking him, "Gurudev, please bestow your mercy," but if Gurudev gives us some service, we do not do it. "Gurudev, please bestow your mercy" means "Gurudev, please engage me in some service," but we do not want to do anything. I have told you about the nine kinds of devotion (sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam: hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission), but we do all these and at the same time we also sometimes do what is unfavourable to devotion. If you pour milk into a pot with holes, all the milk will go out—no matter how much milk you pour, it will all go out if there are holes. We sing every morning,

ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"[Surrender means] engaging only in the activities that are favourable to devotion and rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

We must give up what is unfavourable to devotion.

Prahlad Maharaj said (SB, 7.10.9), "O my Lord, when a human being is able to give up all the material desires in his mind, he becomes eligible to possess wealth and opulence like Yours." Have you ever heard the pranam-mantra that Prahlad Maharaj offered to Lord Nrisinghadev?

om namo bhagavate tubhyam
purusaya mahatmane
haraye 'dbhuta-simhaya
brahmane paramatmane

"O my Lord, full of six opulences, O Supreme Person! O Supreme Soul, killer of all miseries! O Supreme Person in the form of a wonderful lion and man, let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.10)

In reply to that, the Lord said (SB, 7.10.11-12), "My dear Prahlad, a devotee like you never desires any kind of material opulences, either in this life or in the next. Nonetheless, I order you to enjoy the opulences of the demons in this material world, acting as their king until the end of the duration of time occupied by Manu. It does not matter that you are in the material world. You should always, continuously, hear the instructions and messages given by Me and always be absorbed in thought of Me, for I am the Supersoul existing in the core of everyone's heart. Therefore, give up fruitive activities and worship Me. One who always remembers your activities and My activities also, and who chants the prayers you have offered, becomes free, in due course of time, from the reactions of material activities."

Prahlad Maharaj is so merciful—he does not see anyone's faults (adosa-darasi). Although he had got so much austerity and suffering from his father, he did not even think it was suffering. When you call out to the Lord, you do not feel any pain. When we suffer, we must think that we are in illusion, that we have not been able yet to get free from illusion because otherwise when we suffer or experience some pain, we would not even think it is suffering or pain. When you go through some hardship but feel there is no suffering, then you can understand that you have got something. Devotees of the Lord never feel any suffering—even when they undergo some hardships they do not feel any pain; for them, all unhappiness and hardships are a source of joy.

Prahlad Maharaj then said, "I know my father, the best of demons, has killed many brahmans, cows and has done many atrocities in this life, he has been harassing the demigods and other living beings, he has even hit Your holy body! Please rescue him from this position." Hearing these words, the Lord replied, "Those who chant My glories automatically attain the divine abode, and your father has actually touched My body, so he has already gone to the spiritual world. So, he is no longer in that position." Then, Prahlad Maharaj told Lord Nrisinghadev, "If You want to give me some boon, then please may there never be any desires within me—so that I may never ever want anything from You."

We too pray to Prahlad Maharaj that the teaching Prahlad Maharaj taught would come to our hearts, especially within my own heart. This is what I pray for to you all, to Prahlad Maharaj, and to the Lord. We pray to learn and remember this teaching, and we are sitting and discussing this here at Sri Nrisingha Palli.

Jay bhakta-raj Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Jay Sri Madhavendra Puripad ki jay
His disappearance day ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

[His Divine Grace then concludes the class chanting "Manasa deho geho" and Hare Krishna maha-mantra.]

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Listen to the audio or download (11.6 Mb, 27 min)