Shloka 6
Maitreya’s Inquiry into Prahlāda: The Logic of Bhakti’s Invincibility
किंनिमित्तम् असौ शस्त्रैर् विक्षतो दितिजैर् मुने किमर्थं चाब्धिसलिले निक्षिप्तो धर्मतत्परः
kiṃnimittam asau śastrair vikṣato ditijair mune kimarthaṃ cābdhisalile nikṣipto dharmatatparaḥ
O sage, for what cause was this righteous one, devoted to dharma, wounded by the Daityas’ weapons? And why was he cast into the waters of the ocean?
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
Speaker: Maitreya
Topic: Cause of the righteous one’s (Prahlāda’s) wounding by Daityas and his being cast into the ocean
Teaching: Devotional
Quality: inquisitive, truth-seeking
Bhakti Type: Dasya
FAQs
It frames a classic Purāṇic problem: why the righteous suffer. The ocean becomes a narrative stage where hidden causes (karma, cosmic timing, and ultimately Vishnu’s governance of order) are about to be revealed.
This verse is Maitreya’s prompt; Parāśara’s ensuing explanation typically resolves the tension through dharma and causality—showing that events unfold within a moral cosmos upheld by the Supreme (Vishnu), even when the surface appears unjust.
Even without Vishnu named in this line, the question presumes a universe where dharma is meaningful and ultimately protected—an outlook grounded in Vishnu as the supreme regulator of cosmic order who brings narrative and moral resolution.