Fearless Devotion - The Prayers and Preaching of Prahlāda Mahārāja B

This compiled article presents a thematic survey of the verses spoken by Prahlāda Mahārāja. It organizes the profound teachings found in the comprehensive Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Prahlada Maharaja. Prahlāda is unique among the Mahājanas (great authorities) because he preached in the most hostile environment imaginable—a school for demons run by atheists—and pacified the Supreme Lord in His most ferocious form, Nṛsiṁhadeva, when even the demigods trembled.

School of Materialism (Preaching to Friends)

Taking advantage of his teachers' absence, Prahlāda instructed his demoniac schoolmates on the futility of material life. He urged them not to waste their valuable human form, dismantling the illusion of family attachment with scientific precision.

Waste of Human Life

"One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life - in other words, from the tender age of childhood - to practice the activities of devotional service."
"The human form of life affords one a chance to return home, back to Godhead. Therefore every living entity, especially in the human form of life, must engage in devotional service."
"In the tender age of childhood, when everyone is bewildered, one passes ten years. Similarly, in boyhood, engaged in sporting and playing, one passes another ten years. In this way, twenty years are wasted."
"Every human being has a maximum duration of life of one hundred years, but for one who cannot control his senses, half of those years are completely lost because at night he sleeps twelve hours."
"While in material existence... a person fully competent to distinguish wrong from right must endeavor to achieve the highest goal of life as long as the body is stout and strong."

Trap of Household Life

"The attached householder is like a silkworm, which weaves a cocoon in which it becomes imprisoned, unable to get out."
"Money is so dear that one conceives of money as being sweeter than honey. Therefore, who can give up the desire to accumulate money, especially in household life?"
"One who is too attached cannot understand that he is wasting his valuable life for the maintenance of his family. He also fails to understand that the purpose of human life... is being imperceptibly spoiled."
"How can a person who is most affectionate to his family, the core of his heart being always filled with their pictures, give up their association?"
"My dear Lord... because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace."
"Thus they are always engaged in providing the necessities of life to their families in a limited conception of family life, just like uneducated cats and dogs."

Futility of Economic Development

"A materialistic person, thinking himself very advanced in intelligence, continually acts for economic development. But again and again... he is frustrated by material activities."
"Endeavors merely for sense gratification or material happiness through economic development are not to be performed, for they result only in a loss of time and energy."
"In this material world, every materialist desires to achieve happiness and diminish his distress... Actually, however, one is happy as long as one does not endeavor for happiness."
"Whatever is produced by the materialist with great pain and labor for so-called happiness, the Supreme Personality, as the time factor, destroys."

Science of the Soul

Prahlāda did not just preach morality; he taught the analytical science of the soul (*sāṅkhya*), instructing his friends how to distinguish spirit from matter using logic and analogy.

Analytical Study

"An expert geologist can understand where there is gold and by various processes can extract it from the gold ore. Similarly, a spiritually advanced person can understand how the spiritual particle exists within the body."
"Sober and expert persons should search for the spirit soul with minds purified through analytical study in terms of the soul's connection with and distinction from all things that undergo creation, maintenance and destruction."
"As one can understand the presence of the air by the aromas it carries, so, under the guidance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can understand the living soul by these three divisions of intelligence."
"One must find the soul by analysis, saying, 'This is not it. This is not it.' Thus one must separate spirit from matter."

Temporary Nature of the Body

"As for this body, what is its value? It is merely a source of various diseases. The so-called philosophers, scientists and politicians know this very well, but nonetheless they aspire for temporary happiness."
"A living entity desires comfort for his body and makes many plans for this purpose, but actually the body is the property of others."
"Since the body itself is ultimately meant to become stool or earth, what is the meaning of the paraphernalia related to the body...?"

Pacification (Prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva)

When Lord Nṛsiṁha appeared and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, the entire universe was struck with fear. Only Prahlāda stepped forward. His prayers reveal a devotee who fears material existence more than the wrath of God.

Fearlessness of the Lord's Form

"I do not fear Your sharp, pinching teeth, Your garland of intestines, Your mane soaked with blood, or Your high, wedgelike ears. Nor do I fear Your tumultuous roaring..."
"My Lord, who are never conquered by anyone, I am certainly not afraid of Your ferocious mouth and tongue, Your eyes bright like the sun or Your frowning eyebrows."
"I know that my father, at the time of his death, had already been purified by Your glance upon him, but because of his ignorance of Your power... he was unnecessarily angry at You."
"Therefore, O my Lord, I, who am considered to be the best of the demigods... am bewildered by Your illusory energy and cannot understand what this creation is."

Fear of Material Existence

"O most powerful, insurmountable Lord... I have been put into the association of demons as a result of my activities, and therefore I am very much afraid of my condition of life within this material world."
"My dear Lord... my position is like that of a person who has many wives, all trying to attract him in their own way. For example, the tongue is attracted to palatable dishes, the genitals to sex..."
"When will that moment come when You will call me to the shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the ultimate goal for liberation from conditional life?"
"Please (Lord Nrsimhadeva) appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence."

Compassion for the Fallen

"I (Prahlada Maharaja) see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas..."
"I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools & rascals. I know that without Krsna consciousness... one cannot be happy."
"My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them."

Rejection of "Mercantile" Devotion

"A servant who desires material profits from his master is certainly not a qualified servant or pure devotee."
"One who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service."
"O my Lord, best of the givers of benediction, if You at all want to bestow a desirable benediction upon me, then I pray from Your Lordship that within the core of my heart there be no material desires."

Lineage of Grace (Gratitude to Narada)

Prahlāda concludes by attributing his fearlessness and knowledge not to his own prowess, but to the mercy of his spiritual master, Nārada Muni.

"Narada Muni delivered his instructions both to me, who was within the womb, and to my mother, who was engaged in rendering him service."
"My mother has forgotten all those instructions because of the long duration of time that has passed... but the great sage Narada blessed me, and therefore I could not forget them."
"Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord."
"Your servant Narada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him."

Dive Deeper into Srila Prabhupada's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the direct words of Prahlāda Mahārāja as presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Prahlada Maharaja. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses in their original context.