Shloka 22

प्रह्लादस्य विष्णुमयता, विष्णोः दर्शनं, वरदानं, तथा चरितश्रवण-फलम्

Devanagari script

शस्त्राणि पातितान्य् अङ्गे क्षिप्तो यच् चाग्निसंहतौ दंशितश् चोरगैर् दत्तं यद् विषं मम भोजने

Transliteration

śastrāṇi pātitāny aṅge kṣipto yac cāgnisaṃhatau daṃśitaś coragair dattaṃ yad viṣaṃ mama bhojane

Translation

Weapons have been hurled upon my limbs; I have been cast into a blazing fire; I have been bitten by serpents; and poison has been mixed into my food.

Word by Word

• शस्त्राणि: weapons
• शस्त्राणि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन

• पातितानि: caused to fall/struck down
• पातितानि: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पत् (धातु) → पातित (णिच्+क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कर्मणि/हेतुमति (causative passive sense)

• अङ्गे: on the body/limb
• अङ्गे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण

• क्षिप्तः: (I) having been thrown
• क्षिप्तः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षिप् (धातु) → क्षिप्त (क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि; (अहम्) इति लुप्त-कर्ता

• यत्: which/that which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• अग्निसंहतौ: in a mass/pile of fire
• अग्निसंहतौ: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + संहति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (अग्नेः संहति)

• दंशितः: (I) having been bitten
• दंशितः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दंश् (धातु) → दंशित (क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि

• चोरगैः: by snakes
• चोरगैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चोरग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन; करण/कर्तृ-हेतु

• दत्तम्: given
• दत्तम्: Visheshana (Adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दा (धातु) → दत्त (क्त कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि

• यद्: which/that which
• यद्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक

• विषम्: poison
• विषम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• मम: my
• मम: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध

• भोजने: in food/at the meal
• भोजने: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरण

Speaker

A persecuted royal figure (king/prince) recounting attempts on his life within the dynastic narrative; framed by Sage Parāśara’s narration to Maitreya

Avatara Context

Avatara: Narasimha

Purpose: To protect Prahlāda from repeated lethal persecutions and to end Hiraṇyakaśipu’s tyranny over dharma.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Assurance that the devotee is safeguarded and that adharma cannot overrule divine ordinance.

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: External violence cannot shake the devotee when life and death are ultimately under the Lord’s higher ordinance, not human malice.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: In adversity, anchor the mind in a higher order—respond without hatred, sustaining practice and ethical clarity.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord’s protective governance (śeṣitva) operates within the world, making the devotee’s surrender meaningful amid real dangers.

Prahlada Narrative

Phase: Persecution

Bhakti Quality: Steadfastness (niṣṭhā) and fearlessness grounded in devotion.

Persecution: Weapons

Narasimha: Prahlāda recounts attempted killings—weapons, fire, serpents, poison—underscoring the Lord’s protection preceding/around Narasiṃha’s intervention.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Serpents (nāga/oraga)
• Fire (agni)
• Weapons (śastra)
• Poison (viṣa)

FAQs

What is the significance of repeated dangers (weapons, fire, snakes, poison) in the Vishnu Purana?

They dramatize the Purana’s teaching that individual malice cannot finally govern outcomes; life unfolds within a larger moral-cosmic order shaped by karma and divine sovereignty.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the endurance of a threatened king or prince in this narrative?

By placing the episode inside the dynastic history, Parāśara shows that endurance is not merely luck—royal fate is conditioned by past action (karma) and upheld by the ordering power that ultimately rests in Vishnu.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s frame implies that the Supreme Lord is the inner ruler of time, destiny, and protection—making worldly threats secondary to the divine governance of life and death.