Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Victory through Bhakti, Shloka 40
Prahlada’s Defeat in Battle and Victory through Bhakti (Nara-Narayana Episode)
असौ यद्यजयो देव त्रैलोक्येनापि सुव्रतः न स्थातुं त्वत्प्रसादेव शक्यं किमु करोम्यज
asau yadyajayo deva trailokyenāpi suvrataḥ na sthātuṃ tvatprasādeva śakyaṃ kimu karomyaja
وإن كان لا يُقهَر، أيها الإله—بل وإن عجزت العوالم الثلاثة عن قهره، يا صاحب النذر السامي—فمن غير نعمتك لا يمكن حتى الثبات قائمًا؛ فماذا عساي أن أفعل، يا غير المولود (أجا)؟
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FAQs
The verse expresses radical dependence: even basic stability (‘to stand’) is attributed to divine grace. Ethically, it undermines pride and reframes agency as cooperative with dharma and the divine will.
Vamśānucarita/Carita with a strong didactic overlay—devotional theology embedded in the historical-mythic account of deva–asura power shifts.
‘Unconquerable even by the three worlds’ highlights the limits of collective worldly power; ‘without grace one cannot even stand’ symbolizes ontological dependence. In the Vamana–Bali arc, it prefigures surrender as the true ‘victory-condition’.