Prahalad Stuti

Part 3: Prahlada’s Stuti To Lord Narasimha.    (Shrimad Bhagavatam: Canto 7 - Chapter 9 - Verse 11)

 

Verse11 (Offerings To The Supreme Lord):

"Naivatmanah Prabhur Ayam Nija Labha Purno

Manam Janaad Avidusah Karuno Vrinite

Yad Yaj Jano Bhagavate Vidadhita maanam

Tachatmane Prati Mukhasya Yatha Mukha Shrih"

Prahlada continued: The Supreme Lord (Lord Vishnu as Narasimha), is always fully satisfied in Himself. Therefore when something is offered to Him, the offering, by the Lord’s mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee, for the Lord does not need service from anyone. To give an example, if one’s face is decorated, the reflection of one’s face in a mirror is also seen to be decorated.

Significance:

 

In this shloka, Prahladaji says that the Lord is fully satisfied in Himself and therefore whatever we offer to Him, be it flowers, fruits etc. He doesn’t really need anything. It is out of His compassion that He accepts our offerings, and the offerings are for the benefit of the devotee. The truth is that whatever we offer to the Lord, in essence belongs to Him only, and nothing belongs to us.

 

What is really offered is the ‘bhaav’ (emotion of inner depth) and not the actual object. It is the bhaav that acts as the vehicle for the object. Prahlada says that the Lord is much bigger and much more of a greater dimension than we can ever feel or express. We are incapable of praising Him because whatever we say would always be too less in front of Him. There are millions of stotras (glories) in our scriptures and even if one sings them continuously, all the qualities of the Lord cannot be described.

 

Whatever a person offers to the Lord, in reality, he is giving it to himself. When we offer flowers to the God outside , we are actually offering it to the Lord within, ‘the Atma (soul) Murti’. This is said by Prahlada with the example of a mirror - when someone sees his face in a mirror, then it is him because of whom the mirror would appear beautiful. From the outside it may appear that a devotee is offering an object to the Lord, but internally he is offering a thought, and this is the reason why pure devotees like Prahlada are naturally happy in all circumstances.

 

The devotee himself gets the bhaav that he expresses for the Lord. This is so because every offering involves formation of a thought or "Vritti" and that thought remains in the devotee’s mind. It is said that any goodness done towards someone remains with the person doing the good more than the person to whom the good has been done. The thought of goodness remains with the person even after the incident has passed long ago. Similarly, the thought that someone was hurt because of us does not leave us easily and therefore it is said that no one cheats others, but one cheats oneself. Externally one may pretend to be hard but internally no one can run away from his thoughts.

In the current era, there is more rush and race to get better educated, better riches and become famous, but there is no desire to become a better devotee and human. There should be an urge from within to have devotion for the Lord (universal consciousness) and to have a place in the Lord’s heart. Then alone we experience life with grace, divinity, humility and love.

Narsingh Jayanti - Friday, 20th May 2016.

Jai Narasimha Dev.