Shloka 8
प्रह्लादस्य अव्यभिचारिणी भक्ति, मायाविनाशः, तथा विष्णोः विश्वरूप-स्तुतिः
शारीरं मानसं दुःखं दैवं भूतभवं तथा सर्वत्र शुभचित्तस्य तस्य मे जायते कुतः
śārīraṃ mānasaṃ duḥkhaṃ daivaṃ bhūtabhavaṃ tathā sarvatra śubhacittasya tasya me jāyate kutaḥ
Bodily suffering, mental anguish, and even afflictions attributed to fate or to beings—how could any of these arise for me, whose mind is auspicious everywhere and in all conditions?
Prahlada (as a paradigmatic devotee, expressing fearlessness through auspicious devotion)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Nature of true devotion and its fruits—how seeing Hari in all beings transforms conduct and suffering.
Teaching: Devotional
Quality: authoritative
Concept: For one whose mind is universally auspicious and steady in devotion, sufferings—bodily, mental, fated, or caused by beings—lose their power to arise as torment.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: When distress appears, reframe it through a disciplined ‘śubha-citta’ practice: gratitude, non-harm, and remembrance; reduce reactive narratives that intensify pain.
Vishishtadvaita: The sādhaka’s peace is grounded not in negating the world but in a transformed relation to it through devotion within embodied life.
Phase: Teaching (Prahlada's schools)
Bhakti Quality: Sarvatra-śubha-citta—equanimity and auspiciousness in all conditions, dissolving fear of daiva and bhūta afflictions.
Vishnu Form: Hari
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
The verse classifies suffering into physical, psychological, and supra-human/elemental causes, then denies their power over one established in an auspicious, devoted consciousness.
It is a mind aligned with dharma and devotion—steady in all situations—so that common sources of fear and distress lose their hold.
Vishnu is implied as the supreme refuge whose grace makes the devotee inwardly sovereign, transcending what is attributed to fate (daiva) or hostile forces (bhūta).