What is the story of Prahlada? Prahlada, the young son of the asura king Hiranyakashipu, stayed devoted to Vishnu through every attempt to kill him. Vishnu came as Narasimha, ended the king in a way his boon couldn’t stop, and Prahlada asked only that his father be forgiven.
The story
Hiranyakashipu, king of the asuras, hated Vishnu for killing his brother. Through fierce penance he won a boon: no man or beast could kill him, by day or by night, inside or outside, on the ground or in the sky, with any weapon. He then ordered the world to worship him alone.
His young son Prahlada would not. From childhood he prayed only to Vishnu. The king had him thrown from a cliff, trampled by elephants and given poison, and each time he came to no harm. The king’s sister Holika, who could not be burned, took the boy into a fire, and it was she who burned. Holika Dahan remembers that night.
At last the king struck a pillar and asked if Vishnu was in there too. Narasimha burst from it, neither man nor beast. At dusk, on the threshold, he laid the king on his lap and ended him with his claws. Every condition of the boon was kept, and Prahlada asked only that his father be forgiven.
What it teaches
Sources
- Bhagavata Purana, Book 7.
The puja families link with this story
Questions devotees ask us
Where does the story of Prahlada come from?
It is told in the Bhagavata Purana, Book 7. Retellings differ in small details from region to region.
What does this story teach?
Devotion doesn’t depend on age or on who your family is.