Shloka 40
Brahmā’s Boons, Hiraṇyakaśipu’s Cosmic Tyranny, and Prahlāda’s Transcendental Qualities
नदति क्वचिदुत्कण्ठो विलज्जो नृत्यति क्वचित् । क्वचित्तद्भावनायुक्तस्तन्मयोऽनुचकार ह ॥ ४० ॥
nadati kvacid utkaṇṭho vilajjo nṛtyati kvacit kvacit tad-bhāvanā-yuktas tanmayo ’nucakāra ha
কেতিয়াবা উৎকণ্ঠাত ব্যাকুল হৈ তেওঁ জোৰেৰে মাত দিত; কেতিয়াবা আনন্দত লাজ পাহৰি নাচিছিল। আৰু কেতিয়াবা কৃষ্ণভাবনাত সম্পূৰ্ণ তন্ময় হৈ প্ৰভুৰ লীলা অনুকৰণ কৰিছিল।
Prahlāda Mahārāja sometimes felt that the Lord was far away from him and therefore called Him loudly. When he saw that the Lord was before him, he was fully jubilant. Sometimes, thinking himself one with the Supreme, he imitated the Lord’s pastimes, and in separation from the Lord he would sometimes show symptoms of madness. These feelings of a devotee would not be appreciated by impersonalists. One must go further and further into spiritual understanding. The first realization is impersonal Brahman, but one must go still further to realize Paramātmā and eventually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is worshiped by the transcendental feelings of a devotee in a relationship of śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya or mādhurya. Here the feelings of Prahlāda Mahārāja were in the mellow of vātsalya, filial love and affection. As a child cries when left by his mother, when Prahlāda Mahārāja felt that the Lord was away from him he began to cry ( nadati ). Again, a devotee like Prahlāda sometimes sees that the Lord is coming from a long distance to pacify him, like a mother responding to a child, saying, “My dear child, do not cry. I am coming.” Then the devotee, without being ashamed due to his surroundings and circumstances, begins to dance, thinking, “Here is my Lord! My Lord is coming!” Thus the devotee, in full ecstasy, sometimes imitates the pastimes of the Lord, just as the cowherd boys used to imitate the behavior of the jungle animals. However, he does not actually become the Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja achieved the spiritual ecstasies described herein by his advancement in spiritual understanding.
FAQs
This verse describes spontaneous devotional ecstasies—crying out in longing, dancing without shyness, and becoming absorbed in remembrance of the Lord—showing how bhakti naturally transforms a devotee’s behavior.
In the midst of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s oppression, Prahlāda remains fixed in Viṣṇu. His inner absorption (smaraṇa and bhāvanā) overflows outwardly as ecstatic expressions of love for the Lord.
Regularly practice smaraṇa through japa, kīrtana, and hearing Bhāgavatam; over time, heartfelt devotion replaces fear and anxiety, and one’s mind naturally returns to the Divine even amid pressure.