Shloka 14
Prahlāda Rejects Demonic Diplomacy and Proclaims Navadhā Bhakti
यथा भ्राम्यत्ययो ब्रह्मन् स्वयमाकर्षसन्निधौ । तथा मे भिद्यते चेतश्चक्रपाणेर्यदृच्छया ॥ १४ ॥
yathā bhrāmyaty ayo brahman svayam ākarṣa-sannidhau tathā me bhidyate cetaś cakra-pāṇer yadṛcchayā
ಓ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ ಗುರುಗಳೇ, ಚುಂಬಕದ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣವು ತಾನೇ ಎಳೆಯಲ್ಪಡುವಂತೆ, ಅವನ ಇಚ್ಛೆಯಿಂದ ನನ್ನ ಚಿತ್ತವು ಚಕ್ರಪಾಣಿಯಾದ ವಿಷ್ಣುವಿನ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಆಕರ್ಷಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ನನಗೆ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ.
For iron to be attracted by a magnet is natural. Similarly, for all living entities to be attracted toward Kṛṣṇa is natural, and therefore the Lord’s real name is Kṛṣṇa, meaning He who attracts everyone and everything. The typical examples of such attraction are found in Vṛndāvana, where everything and everyone is attracted by Kṛṣṇa. The elderly persons like Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodādevī, the friends like Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā and the other cowherd boys, the gopīs like Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Her associates, and even the birds, beasts, cows and calves are attracted. The flowers and fruits in the gardens are attracted, the waves of the Yamunā are attracted, and the land, sky, trees, plants, animals and all other living beings are attracted by Kṛṣṇa. This is the natural situation of everything in Vṛndāvana.
FAQs
This verse says the Lord (Cakra-pāṇi Viṣṇu) draws the devotee’s consciousness naturally—like a magnet draws iron—by His own causeless will.
In Canto 7, Chapter 5, Prahlāda describes his spontaneous devotion and how his mind is irresistibly drawn to Viṣṇu, emphasizing that bhakti arises by the Lord’s grace rather than material force.
Keep close to the Lord through hearing, chanting, and remembrance; as with iron near a magnet, steady proximity to bhakti practices invites the Lord’s grace to reshape the mind.