Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 63
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
ब्रह्मस्त्रे तु प्रशमिते प्रह्लादः क्रोधमूर्छितः गदां प्रगृह्य तरसा प्रचस्कन्द रथोत्तमात्
brahmastre tu praśamite prahlādaḥ krodhamūrchitaḥ gadāṃ pragṛhya tarasā pracaskanda rathottamāt
When the Brahmāstra had been quelled, Prahlāda, overcome by anger, seized his mace and, with force, leapt down from his excellent chariot.
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FAQs
Even a revered devotee-figure like Prahlāda can be portrayed as momentarily seized by krodha; the Purāṇic lesson is that anger clouds discernment and escalates conflict from regulated missile-war to blunt-force confrontation.
Vamśānucarita/Carita (deeds of notable beings). The verse also functions as upadeśa by illustrating an inner vice (krodha) surfacing in outer action.
The pacification of Brahmāstra marks the exhaustion of ‘cosmic’ instruments; Prahlāda’s descent with a gadā symbolizes the descent from subtle, mantra-governed power to embodied, passion-driven struggle—an allegory for how unresolved ego/anger persists after external threats are neutralized.