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Prahlada is believed as a mahajana, or great devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and is of special importance to devotees of Narasimha avatar. A philosophical article is attributed to him in the Bhagavata Purana wherein Prahlada is describes the process of loving worship to his lord, Vishnu. The majority of stories in the Puranas are based around the activities of Prahlada as a young boy, and thus he is more commonly depicted as such in paintings and illustrations.  Inspite of several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continues to worship Vishnu. His father tries to toxin him, get him compressed by the elephants, and put him in a room with poisonous snakes, but Prahlada survives each and every time.
The sister of Hiranyakashipu, Holika who had a special shawl prevented fire affecting the person wearing it. One day, Hiranyakashipu orders Prahlada to sit on a pyre on the lap of Holika. Prahlad prayed to Lord Vishnu to keep him safe and protected. When the fire starts, Holika burns to death, while Prahlada remains unharmed. This incident is celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi. After tolerating much abuse from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada is eventually saved by Vishnu in the form of Narasimha, the half-man, half-lion avatar. Prahlada story endow with a number of moral instructions for instance God prevails everywhere, God will always save his devotees, Devotion can be practised at any point of time and age does not matter, Constant faith in God leads to devotion and the people who are practicing evil will be punished. In the Bhagavata Purana, Prahlada ultimately becomes king of the Daityas and achieves a place in the house of Vishnu (Vaikuntha) after his death. This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com (Last Updated on : 24-09-2009) |
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