Shloka 9
Maitreya’s Inquiry into Prahlāda: The Logic of Bhakti’s Invincibility
कृत्यां च दैत्यगुरवो युयुजुस् ते तु किं मुने शम्बरश् चापि मायानां सहस्रं किं प्रयुक्तवान्
kṛtyāṃ ca daityaguravo yuyujus te tu kiṃ mune śambaraś cāpi māyānāṃ sahasraṃ kiṃ prayuktavān
O sage, did the Daityas’ preceptors also unleash a kṛtyā, a destructive fiend born of rite? And tell me—did Śambara, too, employ a thousand stratagems of māyā?
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
Speaker: Maitreya
Topic: Whether Daitya preceptors unleashed a kṛtyā and whether Śambara employed a thousand māyās
Teaching: Devotional
Quality: investigative, precise
Phase: Persecution
Bhakti Quality: unshaken remembrance amid occult attack
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
In this verse, kṛtyā represents a weaponized ritual-force—an embodiment of hostile, adharma-driven magic—used to challenge dharma, yet ultimately shown as inferior to the divine protection surrounding Vishnu’s lineage.
The question anticipates Parāśara’s account of Śambara’s māyā as deliberate deception and sorcery—dramatic obstacles that highlight how divine sovereignty renders illusory powers ineffective against the Lord’s purpose.
Even when asuras deploy kṛtyā and extensive māyā, the underlying message is that all such powers are subordinate to Vishnu’s supreme order, which safeguards and fulfills the divine narrative.