Shloka 17
Prahlāda’s Prayers Pacify Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva
Prahlāda-stuti and the Lord’s Benediction Offer
यस्मात् प्रियाप्रियवियोगसंयोगजन्म- शोकाग्निना सकलयोनिषु दह्यमान: । दु:खौषधं तदपि दु:खमतद्धियाहं भूमन्भ्रमामि वद मे तव दास्ययोगम् ॥ १७ ॥
yasmāt priyāpriya-viyoga-saṁyoga-janma- śokāgninā sakala-yoniṣu dahyamānaḥ duḥkhauṣadhaṁ tad api duḥkham atad-dhiyāhaṁ bhūman bhramāmi vada me tava dāsya-yogam
হে ভূমন, পৰম প্ৰভু! প্ৰিয়-অপ্ৰিয় অৱস্থাৰ সংযোগ-বিয়োগৰ পৰা জন্মা শোকাগ্নিত জীৱ সকলো যোনিত দহি দহি ভ্ৰমে। ইয়াত দুঃখৰ ঔষধ বুলি যি উপায়, সেয়াও দুঃখেই—দুঃখতকৈ অধিক ক্লেশদায়ক। সেয়ে মই ভাবোঁ একমাত্ৰ প্ৰতিকাৰ আপোনাৰ দাস্যসেৱা। দয়া কৰি মোক সেই দাস্যযোগ উপদেশ দিয়ক।
Prahlāda Mahārāja aspired to engage in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord. After the death of his father, who was materially very opulent, Prahlāda would have inherited his father’s property, which extended throughout the world, but Prahlāda Mahārāja was not inclined to accept such material opulence, for whether one is in the heavenly or hellish planets or is a rich or a poor man’s son, material conditions are everywhere. Therefore no condition of life is at all pleasing. If one wants the uncontaminated pleasure of blissful life, he must engage himself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Material opulence may be somewhat pleasing for the time being, but to come to that temporary pleasing condition one must work extremely hard. When a poor man is rich he may be better situated, but to come to that position he had to accept many miseries. The fact is that in material life, whether one is miserable or happy, both conditions are miserable. If one actually wants happy, blissful life, one must become Kṛṣṇa conscious and constantly engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is the real remedy. The entire world is under the illusion that people will be happy by advancing in materialistic measures to counteract the miseries of conditional life, but this attempt will never be successful. Humanity must be trained to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. There can be no happiness in changing one’s material conditions, for everywhere there is trouble and misery.
FAQs
This verse explains that grief arises from repeated union and separation with what we like and dislike, burning the soul across all species; the remedy is to take shelter in devotional servitorship to the Lord.
After witnessing the Lord’s mercy, Prahlada identifies material solutions as insufficient and asks for the direct path of steady service to the Lord, which ends wandering in samsara.
Reduce the cycle of chasing pleasures and avoiding discomfort by cultivating daily service-minded devotion—hearing, chanting, and offering one’s work to the Lord—as the true remedy for repeated anxiety.