Slokam 5 - 1

Hiranyakshipu does not realize that Narada has imparted the knowledge of the supreme to Prahalada.   So when Prahalada grows up with a strong spiritual foundation,  Hiranyakashipu is perplexed as to where from the child learnt devotion to the Paramathma.  He engages teachers to “realign” the bhakthi of Prahalada.   In the days of yore,  education was first and foremost oriented towards the spiritual,  and then to the acquisition of worldly professional skills.  There is no place for spiritual knowledge in the modern world.  Prahalada acquires spiritual knowledge even as a baby.

Hiranyakshipu, like a modern head of state, needs adulation,  complete loyalty and a continuous affirmation of his superiority. He, being a demon, expects complete subservience from all his subjects and family.  Anyone that does not toe the line of subservience is severely punished or destroyed.

The attempts to convince Prahalada to toe the line of Hrianyakashipu proves fruitless.  Prahalada ignores the lessons and rejects the pressures applied on him to accept the supremacy of Hiranyakshipu.

A child can usually be persuaded by temptation, coaxing, rewards or if all else fails,  by threats and pressures. Prahalada is no ordinary child. He does not budge an inch. Prahalada refuses to budge even a centimeter.

Many of us may know the truth about the Paramathma’s infinite nature, but when put into corner, under threats or temptation, we may pretend to agree that the demonic way of life is supreme,  just to escape the pain of confrontation. 

Some of us may even pretend to agree, with the demonic way,  to enjoy the pleasure of any temptation that may be offered or even to avoid unpleasantness.

Very few of us will be able to withstand the pressure at the level of intensity that Hiranyakshipu applies on his son. 

How was Prahalada able to withstand the extensive pain that was applied on him as a child?

Children as a whole will not budge from truth.  Once they are convinced that they are right,  it is very diiicult, if not impossible to make them say or to do what they think is not the truth.  It is even more painful or them to agree with untruth, than it is to experience physical pain.  For children, because rationality and reasoning are still developing,  truth represents that which they learn first, particularly from their parents.   There is no substitute for parental teaching in the first few years because of the huge element of unshakeable trust.

In Prahalada’s case, because he was born into an asura family,  the knowledge of the Paramathma could not have been gained from his parents.  So the Paramathma, administers it directly through Narada,  when Prahalada is in the trusted surrounding of the womb of his mother. The feeling of immense protective security provided by the mother’s womb and the very early formative stages of the mind and senses (during which it is very receptive) contribute to the development of great acceptance and conviction.

A lot of the inter-religious conversions in modern times occur because of the use of the dual pronged weapons of temptation (money, marriage) and threat (physical harm). 

Conviction in the Paramathma’s supremacy is the highest bestowment of this life that can be attained.  Our conviction will be severely tested at various stages of our life. This is exactly what Prahalada experiences. Like Prahalada,  our tests will  originate from within the family and beyond its boundaries.

There are really no rules as to how an individual may becomes totally convinced of a conclusion. However,  we can form general guidelines on how this could happen;

A conviction of the magnitude that Prahalada experiences, can be established within us only when the  learning of the truth is sourced from all the three paths – Gnanam,  Bhakthi and Karma. 

From Karma;

The knowledge should ideally be acquired from our own life experience.

It could be reinforced by the experience of others.

It could be reinforced by sense perceptiions. So if we hear,or feel ,  or, see or smell, then the experience strengthens the conviction.  

From Gnanam - In spiritual practice, knowledge has a great significance. On the path of liberation, knowledge is the true guru. Right knowledge (Vidya) is the foundation of all the  yogas.

The “knowing”  could emerge from “reasoning”.  The reasoning process usually works by relating all observed or experienced “effects” to the corresponding “cause”. 

Split the whole into parts. The true nature of our identity could be narrowed by the process of elimination of component parts till we narrow down to a few, or ideally, one. 

Combine the parts into the whole.  We could identify the connecting link between the component parts  and their interdependencies, to gain knowledge of how it all comes together as “one-whole”.