thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
he replied, O emperor of demons, for the corporeal souls who are always perplexed due to the acceptance of perishable things and contact with non-eternal relations, I think it to be saintly to renounce the home which is like a dark well[1], the place of downfall, and to go to the forest to take refuge of and worship the lotus feet of Sri Hari. Hearing his sons view on the worship of Vishnu, Hiranyakasipu smiled and thought that others must have spoiled the vulnerable intelligence of the child. He sternly ordered the demons to be careful in dealing with Prahlada and to take care lest any Vaishnava come in disguise and spoil his intelligence. After hearing about this order from Hiranyakasipu, Nanda and Amarka became worried. They knew that they had never taught Prahlada about Vishnu-worship, so he must have heard such things from some Vaishnava and spoken about it. If they tried to find out the name of that Vaishnava and tactfully inform the king about it, the king would not doubt them. With this intention, Nanda and Amarka addressed Prahlada in a very pleasing manner and said, O joy of the demon dynasty, we bless you for the sake of your welfare. You should not tell a lie before your teachers. Speak the truth. We have not taught you about devotion to Vishnu. We have taught you with other demon children but their minds are not spoiled like yours. Did you speak for yourself in that manner, or has somebody spoiled your intelligence? Prahlada understood the intentions of his teachers. So he first offered pranamas to the Supreme Lord who controls the maya potency that covers the intelligence of the living beings and creates the mentality of mine and thine. Then he said, As iron is naturally attracted towards a magnet, my heart is similarly attracted towards the lotus feet of Cakrapani Sri Hari (Sri Hari, the holder of the disc weapon). Sri Hari has spoiled my intelligence. Prahladas reply was not what Nanda and Amarka wished to hear. They thought that Prahlada would mention someones name whom they could catch hold of, so they became angry and condemned Prahlada, O ruiner of the family, defamer of the demon dynasty, you are like a thorn tree in the sandalwood forest which is the asura dynasty. Using you as an axe, Vishnu will destroy the sandal forest of the demons. Your intelligence is lost. There are four methods of politics, namely sama (conciliation), dana (monetary gratification), bheda (causing dissension) and danda (punishment), and your conscience will not be awakened without using the last method. Someone bring a cane immediately to flog this boy! Thus, they tried to frighten Prahlada by striking a cane on the table; because Prahlada was the son of the emperor, they lacked the courage to actually beat him. They reproached him hastily but Prahlada remained silent. Again, they began to teach him the scriptures related to dharma, artha and kama (piety, wealth and the fulfilment of desires), and tried to educate him in politics. After some time,
Prahladas teachers saw that Prahlada had become expert in the four pillars of politics. He properly replied to every question. This time, they themselves would take him to the king. Thinking in this way, they first took Prahlada to see his mother. Prahlada made obeisances to his mother and she bathed him very affectionately and decorated him with various jewels. Then, Prahladas teachers took him to the royal assembly of King Hiranyakasipu, whereupon Prahlada made prostrated obeisances before his father. Seeing Prahlada, Hiranyakasipu felt great affection for him. He took him on his lap, embraced him, kissed him, and bathed him with tears of happiness. After this, Hiranyakasipu happily inquired, O son Prahlada, you have taken instruction from your gurus for so long. Now, please tell me something excellent from their teachings. Hiranyakasipus intention was that Prahlada should speak on what was best from the teachings of Nanda and Amarka, considering them as gurus. But Prahlada was worried; he thought that if he replied according to his fathers wishes, the others present in the court would get the wrong impression about the teachings of a real guru. Nanda and Amarka were not real gurus (sad-gurus) even though they were family gurus. A guru[2] should be srotriya[3] (well-versed in the sruti or Vedas) and have brahmanishtha (firm devotion to Brahman or God). Prahladas teachers were learned in sruti but lacked firm devotion to Brahman. They were only devoted to their specific mundane subjects or worldly knowledge, so their teaching was not the instruction of proper gurus. Prahlada decided to speak about the essence of all the lessons he had received from his real guru, Narada, who possessed the two qualities of srotriya and brahmanishtha, and replied: Dedicating oneself to Vishnu and following the nine forms of devotion, with the only object being the propitiation of Vishnu, is the highest form of genuine knowledge. The nine forms of devotion are, respectively: sravanam (hearing), kirtanam (chanting), smaranam (remembrance of the name, form, attributes, personal associates and pastimes of the Lord), pada-sevanam (service of the lotus feet of the Lord. This also indicates service of the devotees of the Lord), arcanam (worship of the Deity), vandanam (offering prayers and obeisances), dasyam (service of God in the relationship of master and servant), sakhyam (service of God in friendship), and atma-nivedanam (total self-dedication to God). Upon hearing Prahlada again speak about the worship of Vishnu, Hiranyakasipu thought that he must have learned this from Nanda and Amarka, the sons of his guru, Sukracarya. Thus, he became very angry and condemned them in a rude manner, O lowest of brahmanas! O evil minded ones! What did you do? You disobeyed me; you adopted the favour of my enemy and taught my son Prahlada about worthless Vishnu-bhakti. A sinful person commits sin secretly but his sin manifests in the form of disease; similarly, a deceptive and wicked-minded person, although living in the form of a friend, ultimately discloses his real form through his deeds. At this, the gurus sons said, O King, you have conquered Indra, and all the Lokapalas
are afraid of you. We are but poor brahmanas. We would not dare to act against you. We have not taught Prahlada about devotion to Vishnu and neither has anyone else. Prahladas devotion to Vishnu is natural and inborn, so please restrain your anger. In Satya-yuga, everyone spoke truthfully, so Hiranyakasipu believed his gurus sons. He asked Prahlada, O impolite one, O destroyer of the family, how have you become Krishna conscious if your gurus did not teach you in this manner? Prahlada replied, Without the favour of a nishkincana maha-bhagavata (a perfect pure devotee, completely emancipated from worldly concerns), a grihavrata (a person engaged in household affairs) cannot become devoted to Sri Krishna either by himself or by the help of other grihavratas[4]. In other words, Prahladas devotion to Sri Krishna was not due to his own efforts or the help of the family gurus sons. Rather, his devotion to Sri Krishna was due to the favour of nishkincana maha-bhagavata Sri Narada, the devotee of Sri Krishna. Upon hearing this undesirable statement from Prahlada, Hiranyakasipu became blind with rage and threw Prahlada from the throne with such force that any five-year-old child would have died at once, but the Lord saved him. Prahlada remained patient, steady and peaceful. He did not raise a even finger against his father or use any harsh words. Hiranyakasipu ordered the demons to kill Prahlada. At first, the demons did not wish to kill the kings son, but when Hiranyakasipu repeatedly persuaded them to kill Prahlada by quoting different reasons and maxims, they began to attack the vital parts of Prahladas body with spears. As Prahladas mind was fully absorbed in and devoted to the indescribable Supreme Lord of the universe, all the efforts of the demons proved futile. Seeing this, Hiranyakasipu became even more suspicious and tried to kill Prahlada by various methods such as the celestial powerful elephant of the quarters, by serpents and by evil incantations. He tried to kill Prahlada by hurling him from a mountain, by burying him in a deep ditch, by poisoning him, by starvation, by exposure to severe cold and atmospheric pressure, by burning him in a fire and by stoning him. But when all efforts proved to be in vain, he began to think that the power of the child was immeasurable. Prahlada was not afraid of anything! Hiranyakasipu began to think that Prahlada was immortal, and worried that he himself might die if he opposed him. Thus, Hiranyakasipu sat down with his head hung low. Seeing Hiranyakasipu dejected, Nanda and Amarka tried to console him by saying, O King, you have conquered the three worlds single-handedly and all the Lokapalas are afraid of you. Therefore, you need not worry. Besides, one should not pay attention to the virtues and defects of a mere child. They suggested to him, Until guru Sukracarya returns, Prahlada should be kept on an island so that he might not run away out of fear. Growing up with the acarya, serving the acarya and learning from the acarya will purify his intelligence.
Hiranyakasipu accepted the proposal of both the gurus sons and told them to instruct the boy in the piety and charity suitable for a king. They carefully took Prahlada and the other demon children to an island. There, they began to teach him about dharma, artha and kama-material religiosity, economic development and sense gratification. One day, the teachers went to their homes to do some work. When the children came to know about their teachers departure, they thought it a good chance to play. Prahladas school friends called him out to play, but the highly learned Prahlada told them that he wished to say something to them, so they all changed their play-dress and gathered around Prahlada. Though all the children were of the same age as Prahlada, they had great respect and affection for him. Prahlada told the children about the duties of human beings: The human birth is very rare and valuable because in such a birth one can realise the Supreme Lord. After realising Him, no material desires will remain. But this golden chance is not permanent because life is momentary. So, wise persons will follow bhagavata-dharma from their childhood and worship the Lord by hearing and chanting His glories. The thought that I will perform devotional practices later on is not good. If the mind becomes attached to money, wife, son and relatives, then devotion will be difficult. If you do not devote yourself to the Lords worship now, many difficulties and problems will interfere with prayer later on. Prahlada discussed all these things in detail, enabling the children to understand. In order to gain their confidence, he related to them everything about how he had received the message of Krishna-bhajana from Narada while in his mothers womb. The demon children heard Prahladas teachings, and thinking them to be superior ideas, accepted them, thereby rejecting the teachings of their materialistic gurus. Due to Prahladas influence, the minds of the demon children became fixed on the Supreme Lord. The anxious brahmanas Nanda and Amarka immediately went to the demon king to explain the situation. Hearing this implacable message, Hiranyakasipu became extremely angry. With harsh words, he condemned the young Prahlada who was standing politely with folded hands: O impolite, dull-headed one! You are disobeying my rule. I shall send you to the abode of Yama right now. Even the Lokapalas are afraid of my anger. Why are you not afraid of me? Who has given you this strength? Prahlada replied, Strength only comes from the one Supreme Lord, Sri Hari. Everyone gets their strength from Him. No one is our enemy except the uncontrolled mind. You should give up these demoniac thoughts of friend and foe. In ancient times, foolish persons like you had the false pride that they had conquered the earth, but they could not even conquer the six passions residing in their own bodies. Those who have conquered the mind see no one as their enemy. Only the ignorant believe others to be their enemy. By these words of Prahlada, Hiranyakasipu became more and more enraged
and shouted, O unintelligent fool! You condemn me and boast about conquering the six inherent cardinal passions of man. Certainly you want to die! You rascal, there is no Lord in the world other than me. If there is, then where is He? Father, He is everywhere, said Prahlada. Then why do I not see Him in this pillar? retorted Hiranyakasipu. I see Him even in this pillar, replied Prahlada. The very powerful Hiranyakasipu condemned Prahlada with extreme anger and harsh words. May your Lord save you! Saying these words, he picked up his sword, rose from his throne and violently struck the pillar with his fist. As the pillar was struck, it emitted a terrible sound as if the whole universe was being shattered. Brahma and the other demigods were afraid of this unique, terrifying sound and Hiranyakasipu himself began to search out its source. Then, in order to prove correct the words of both his devotee Prahlada and Lord Brahma, the Supreme Lord appeared in a wonderful half-human and half-lion form called Nrisimha. Even though the Lord appeared before his very eyes, Hiranyakasipu still could not understand Him as the Lord; he saw Him as a strange creature. Without pure devotional eyes, one cannot see the Lord. The terrible form of Lord Nrisimha is described in the Bhagavatam as follows: Both His eyes were full of anger and shining like molten gold, and His angry face was full of matted hairs and mane. He had terrible teeth, a sharp tongue like a razors edge, stretched eyebrows and raised ears, with a mouth and nose like the caves of a mountain. He had terrible divided jaws, His body was touching the sky, His neck was thick and short, His thighs and chest were broad and His stomach was thin. His body was covered with white hair and He had hundreds of arms and nails. Even though Hiranyakasipu understood this unique Nrisimha Deity to be the cause of his death, he became ready to fight and struck the body of the Lord with his mace. Lord Nrisimhadeva play-acted the battle for some time and then, neither in the daytime nor at night but at dusk, neither inside the house nor outside but on the threshold, neither in the sky nor on the ground but on His lap, and without any weapon but His nails, He tore open Hiranyakasipus chest and wore his intestines as a garland. The Lord also killed thousands of other demons with just His nails. After this, Lord Nrisimhadeva exhibited the triumphant behaviour of a conqueror. He left Hiranyakasipu and sat on the throne in the middle of the royal assembly in His angry form. Witnessing this terrible form of the Lord, no one could gather the courage to approach and serve Him, even though they were all ecstatic due to the demise of the cruel king. Brahma, Rudra, Indra, the Rshis, Vidyadharas, Nagas, Manus, Prajapatis, Gandharvas, Caranas, Yakshas, Kimpurushas, Vaitalikas, Kinnaras, Vishnu-parshadas and others, all prayed to Lord Nrisimha from a distance. Although Brahma prayed to Lakshmi to
go to Sri Nrisimhadeva to allay His anger, She could not go before this terrible never-before-seen Deity. Then Brahma asked Prahlada to go and pacify the anger of Nrisimhadeva. The reason for this was that this terrible and angry form of the Lord had appeared only due to the torture of bhakta Prahlada. Prahlada made obeisances to Sri Lakshmi, Brahma and the other demigods. Then he went to Nrisimhadeva and fell down at His lotus feet. Nrisimhadeva, being in the mood of parental affection, put his lotus hand on Prahladas forehead so that all of Prahladas defects, which were due to having been born in a demon dynasty, were removed. Transcendental knowledge was revealed in his heart and, overwhelmed with ecstatic devotion, he began to offer prayers to Sri Nrisimhadeva. Satiated by the prayers of Prahlada, Nrisimhadeva wished to grant a boon to him, but Prahlada had no desire of taking any boon. The reason is that the person who serves the Lord with the desire for worldly pleasures or for the Lords blessings to get worldly benefit is not an actual servitor but a trader. Then Nrisimhadeva said that if He did not give Prahlada a boon, His designation as Varadarshabha, the Supreme Conferrer of boons, would be defamed. So Prahlada replied, O Lord, if You wish to grant me a boon, please grant me the boon that there may not be any desire in my heart to ask a boon from You. Nrisimhadeva replied, This cannot be accepted as your prayer for a boon because you have deceived Me. Prahlada then submitted this prayer to Nrisimhadeva: My father struck Your holy body with his mace and he behaved maliciously with me because I worship You. Kindly purify him. Nrisimhadeva said to Prahlada, Your father has seen Me and received My touch. Did this not purify him? O Prahlada, do you think the dynasty in which you have taken birth is still impure? Along with you, twenty-one of your ancestral generations have become purified. trih-saptabhih pita putah pitribhih saha te naghayat sadho sya kule jato bhavan vai kula-pavanah(Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.10.18) O sinless one, O sadhu, Your father has become pure along with twenty-one forefathers. The reason for this is that having taken birth in their dynasty, you have become the purifier of that dynasty.Sri Nrisimhadeva has two dispositions. He is terrible with non-devotees, but with devotees, He is very affectionate and caring. The following verse from the agamas is quoted as evidence by Sridhara Svami in his commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.1: ugro py anugra evayam sva-bhaktanam nri-kesarikesariva sva-potanam anyesham ugra-vikramah(Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 8.6) Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non-devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrisimhadeva is very affectionate and kind to devotees like Prahlada Maharaja.(Bhaktivinoda Thakura)This expresses thoroughly the glories of Sri Nrisimhadevas unique mercy. Devotion to Nrisimhadeva enhances bhakti and destroys uncongenial adverse motivations. The meaning of the word Hiranyakasipu is --- hiranya: gold or money, kasipu: bed, i.e. desire for money and women. The desire for name and fame also goes together
He would kill Hiranyakasipu and went off to the Himalayas. At last, He decided that He would assume the form of Nrisimha who would terrify all the demons (Daityas, Danavas and Rakshasas). He then assumed the form of half-man and half-lion. His luster began to rob the sun of its radiance. In this form, Lord Vishnu gradually approached the place where the demon king, Hiranyakasipu, was sitting in an excellent assembly accompanied by the demigods, Gandharvas and Apsaras (celestial nymphs) who were playing music with perfect rhythm. Being present in that assembly, the Lord looked at Hiranyakasipu again and again. At that time, Hiranyakasipus son Prahlada saw that Divine Form for a moment with spiritual vision, and addressed the demon king as follows: O King, you are the chief of the demons. On seeing this Divine Form, it appears as though this is an inexpressible, divine influencing personality. Our demoniac dynasty will be destroyed by it. All immovable and moveable objects seem to exist in the body of this great person. He is some special personality. Hearing Prahladas statement, the demon king ordered his demon followers, Kill this Lion immediately! The demons attacked the Lion with all their might but they were soon destroyed along with their retinue. Nrisimhadeva then opened His mouth. His terrible roaring appeared like the sound of annihilation, and He easily destroyed the entire demon assembly. Then Hiranyakasipu himself began to shower dreadful weapons on Him. Both began a terrible fight. The demons attacked Lord Vishnu, but they themselves were killed by Him. Ablaze with anger, Hiranyakasipu appeared to burn everything with his bloodshot eyes. The earth began to shiver, the oceans became perturbed and all the forests and mountains became restless. There was darkness everywhere; nothing was visible. Terrible disturbances took place and fearful winds began to blow. The symptoms of universal annihilation began to appear. Being lusterless and dark, the sun began to emit terrible smoke. Even the seven suns assumed forms of darkness and rose in the sky. Meteors fell in quick succession from the heavens. Greatly enraged, Hiranyakasipu bit his lips with his teeth and ran to fight, taking his mace in hand. Upon seeing this, all the demigods became frightened. They went to Nrisimhadeva and said, O Lord, destroy this wicked Hiranyakasipu with his followers. There is no one in this world who can kill him. Therefore, O Lord, kindly kill him for the benefit of the world and establish peace in all the three worlds. Hearing the prayer of the demigods, Nrisimhadeva began to make grave sounds. He leapt up and tore out the heart of the demon with his sharp nails and knocked him down on the battleground. When the horrible enemy-the demon king, fell down dead on the ground, all the people of the earth, moon, sun, planets, stars, rivers and mountains-one and all, were pleased. The demigods unitedly began to recite hymns to propitiate Nrisimhadeva. Celestial nymphs began to dance and sing. After the dancing and singing had ended, the Supreme Lord Narayana, who wears the symbol of Garuda
engaged in sense enjoyment, is like a dark well. There is no possibility of rescue for the residents of such a house. Therefore, such a place of downfall of the corporeal soul (like falling into a dark well) is to be abandoned. [2] The qualities of a guru: tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchetsamit-panih shrotriyam brahma-nishoham(Munoaka Upanishad 1.2.12) To learn transcendental subject matter, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh shreya uttamamshabde pare ca nishnatam brahmany upashamashrayam(Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.3.21)Therefore, anyone who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realised the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities who have taken shelter of the Supreme Lord, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.[3] Srotriya has two interpretations: (1) well-versed in the Vedas, and (2) ontological divine knowledge received through the preceptorial channel. [4] Grihavrata: One who moves around the house or property, i.e., one who engages his sense organs and energy for the sake of material property and consequently becomes attached to it. However, saints also remain in a house, so it is said that the house also signifies the wife and material life. One who moves around the wife or family, or engages the senses and energy for them, is considered a grihavrata. The real self is the atma (soul), so the gross and subtle bodies are also like houses. One who devotes his energy for the gross and subtle bodies is also a grihavrata. Since all grihavratas are embodied souls, by the unrestricted use of the sense organs they will all enter into nescience and into the inferno of material life. Six billion such enslaved corporeal souls of the world cannot rescue even a single person from the shackles of worldly bondage. A perfect emancipated realised soul can rescue the whole world or universe --- but such realised souls are very rare. If one wants quality, one must sacrifice quantity. It is impossible to get both at the same time. ---from "Dasavatara - The Ten Manifestations of God" fonte - >http://www.bvml.org/SBBTM/sna.htmlSrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja Ki Jay!!!!