As instructed by the Lord, Prahlāda duly completed all the death ceremonies for his father. Thereafter Brahmin Vedic scholars crowned Prahlāda as the king of the empire. Lord Narasimha had instructed Prahlada: Rule this empire. Be righteous. Be truthful. Think only about Me. Make Me the goal of your birth. See Me pervading everything. Make everyone tread the path of devotion. Soak them in devotion. Uplift the downtrodden.

Lord Brahma noticed that Lord Narasimha had discarded his anger and was now pleasant. He who was emitting fire was now calm and composed. Together with Devatas, Maharishis and others Lord Brahma now glorified Lord Narasimha with pure words:

“O Lord of all Lords! O Lord of everyone! You have created all living entities in this universe. O father, by killing this demon who was tormenting all the worlds You have secured the well-being of the universe. This demon had obtained such boons from me that it was impossible for any living entity to kill him. He prided in the yogic supernatural powers obtained through penance. He completely destroyed all Vedic rituals.

It was his fortune that his son, this little Prahlāda, is supremely noble and is devoted towards You. You have rescued him from the jaws of death. He is fortunate to have surrendered totally to You.

O Lord, Your auspicious form eternally protects the devotee who meditates upon You with absolute mind-control. You are their protector! Even though death awaits to strike such person, meditating upon Your form protects them”.

Mediating upon the form of Lord Narasimha with absolute mind-control protects the devotees from every danger.

Lord Narasimha replied, “O Lord who is born from the lotus! It is incorrect to bestow such boons upon demons, is it not? Showering boons upon wicked, cruel-hearted persons is equivalent of feeding milk to poisonous snakes”. Having said this, Lord Narasimha accepted the worship offered by Lord Brahma and vanished.

Swamiji explains: What is the use of feeding milk to snakes? Someday it will bite the person who has nourished it. What will be the fate of the person who rears a lion at home? One day it will gobble him. Hence great caution should be exercised when granting boons to the wicked. “Because of your boons I had to take on an undecipherable form to kill this demon. You made it difficult for me to kill him due to the limitless boons bestowed. Did you think of my plight when granting boons? Did you think- ‘no problem God will manifest from a pillar. He will take on a form that is neither that of a human nor that of an animal and will kill this demon using his nails’.

Without any fore-thought pleased with his penance you showered plentiful boons upon him. Prahlāda had to suffer enormously in this process. He narrowly escaped from the jaws of death. As this form was the only one missing in the long list of boons you had granted I had to take on this form.

As if this was inadequate you agreed that the demon will not be killed during morning or night. So I had to select this twilight time which was not included in the list. Why should you grant him the boon that he will not be killed indoors or outdoors? So I had to sit on the doorway to kill him. You promised him that he will not die because of wounds in his neck, thighs, heart etc. So I had to tear his abdomen as that was missing in the list. Why didn’t you lack consideration for me? Since he had asked that his destroyer should be birthless I had to emerge from a pillar. Henceforth please do not give such boons.

Why do you forget that we both are one and the same? We are non-dual. Who has bestowed you with energy to grant boons? Was it not me? I am the energy who enables you to shower boons”. This is the essence of the message given by Lord Narasimha.

Maharishi Narada continued, “Thereafter Prahlāda worshipped Lords Brahma, Rudra, all the Devatas and Prajāpatis who were all partial incarnations of the Supreme and bowed before them in reverence.

Then along with Sukracharya and others, Lord Brahma who sits on a lotus, crowned Prahlāda as the king of all the demons belonging to the Diti and Danu clans. They then greatly praised Prahlāda and showered blessings upon him. Accepting his worship all the Gods returned to their respective abodes.

This is the way in which Vishnu’s primary attendants Jaya and Vijaya were born as demons in the womb of Diti. Due to absolute aversion towards the Lord, they had rigidly installed Him in their hearts. When they were constantly thinking about Srihari, they were killed.

Due to the curse of the Sanaka and other supreme saints, these two were thereafter reborn as demons Ravana and Kumbhakarṇa. Lord Srirama, who is of limitless might, killed them both. When Srirama tore apart their hearts using his arrows, they fell to the ground. Just as in their previous birth, they both left their bodies when their minds were filled with thoughts of Lord Vishnu” said Maharishi Nārada to Yudhishthira.

Govindaya namah