flames they tried to throw at Prahlada. As the magicians came back to life, they bowed to Prahlada and thanked him for his generosity. Hiranyakasipu was wondering how Prahlada was able to counter the magical arts of the sorcerers, "Wherefrom did you attain these magical powers?" "Father," replied Prahlada, "If we think of no evil to others, we have nothing to fear. I see the same God in all beings as in my own soul. One whose heart is filled with the Supreme Being sees the same Lord everywhere. Father, the power I possess is possessed by all whose hearts recognize the God of gods abiding in them." Hiranyakasipu was shaking with fury as he listened to the words of his son, Prahlada. He ordered his palace servants to throw the boy down from the palace tower so that his body will be smashed to pieces on the ground. The goddess earth received Prahlada gently in her lap as the guards of the palace hurled Prahlada down. Hiranyakasipu ordered that the boy be bound and thrown into the ocean. The Daityas who carried our the orders reported failure: "O King, the boy started floating in the waters. The ocean was in fury and threatened to submerge the earth with its waves." Hiranyakasipu ordered that rocks be tied on with Prahlada so that he and the rocks will sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Prahlada started praying: "Glory to thee, O Supreme Being". You as Brahma created this world; as Vishnu, You preserve this world; and as Rudra, You destroy it. Thou art everything, all things are only Your forms. Thou art everywhere, here at the bottom of the ocean as also in the sky high above. I am everlasting, imperishable and unchangeable because I am one with Thee." Thus meditating, Prahlada was lost in prayer and became one with the object of his meditations. At once, the bonds which bound him were burst asunder, the piles of rock crumbled into sand and he came up floating on the waves. As he floated on the tossing waves, Prahlada praised the Lord's glory: "Thou art perceptible and imperceptible; divisible and indivisible; definable and indefinable; mutable and immutable; Thou are both one and many. You are the First Cause of the Universe."
The Supreme Being now appeared before Prahlada, "Child, your trials are over now. I am pleased with your faithful devotion to me. What boon do you demand?"
Prahlada replied prayerfully, "In all my births, my faith in Thee should not decay!" "I know your devotion will be unwavering. Now choose another boon." "O Supreme Being! Pardon my father for punishing me just because I was praising Thee. Free him from ignorance and sin." "I grant the boon you desire. Now choose another boon for yourself." "All my desires are fulfilled by the boon you granted me that my devotion in You will not decay. I need no other boon." "Those shall live in me for ever." So saying, the Supreme Being vanished from Prahlada's sight. The king Hiranyakasipu was now a changed man. He embraced Prahlada, "Are you alive, my dear child? I repent for my cruelty. I now believe in the Supreme Being."
NOTES: This is the ending in story line of the Vishnu Purana. The Bhagavata Purana relates that Hiranyakasipu demanded his son Prahlada to prove that God existed everywhere and asked if He was in the pillar of the hall in the palace. Hiranyakasipu struck the pillar with his fist and God came out in the form of a man with a lion's head and tore the tyrant king into pieces. He was Narasimha who had to adopt this hybrid man-animal form because Hiranyakasipu had obtained a boon that he would be killed neither by man nor animal. The boon did not bar the king being killed by a hybrid form.
