Srimad Bhagavatam — Saptama Skandha, Shloka 21
Prahlāda’s Prayers Pacify Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva
Prahlāda-stuti and the Lord’s Benediction Offer
माया मन: सृजति कर्ममयं बलीय: कालेन चोदितगुणानुमतेन पुंस: । छन्दोमयं यदजयार्पितषोडशारं संसारचक्रमज कोऽतितरेत् त्वदन्य: ॥ २१ ॥
māyā manaḥ sṛjati karmamayaṁ balīyaḥ kālena codita-guṇānumatena puṁsaḥ chandomayaṁ yad ajayārpita-ṣoḍaśāraṁ saṁsāra-cakram aja ko ’titaret tvad-anyaḥ
噢主啊，永恒的阿阇（不生者）！你以被时间搅动的外在玛雅，为众生造作充满业力的心识；在三性许可下，心识依循吠陀业行部（karma-kāṇḍa）与十六要素，令众生陷入无尽欲望。若不投靠你莲花足下，除你之外谁能超越这由韵律构成、十六辐的轮回之轮？
If the hand of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present in everything, where is the question of being liberated from material encagement to spiritual, blissful life? Indeed, it is a fact that Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything, as we understand from Kṛṣṇa Himself in Bhagavad-gītā ( ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ ). All the activities in both the spiritual and material world are certainly conducted by the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the agency of either the material or spiritual nature. As further confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (9.10) , mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram: without the direction of the Supreme Lord, material nature cannot do anything; it cannot act independently. Therefore, in the beginning the living entity wanted to enjoy the material energy, and to give the living entity all facility, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, created this material world and gave the living entity the facility to concoct different ideas and plans through the mind. These facilities offered by the Lord to the living entity constitute the sixteen kinds of perverted support in terms of the knowledge-gathering senses, the working senses, the mind and the five material elements. The wheel of repeated birth and death is created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but to direct the bewildered living entity in progress toward liberation according to varied stages of advancement, different directions are given in the Vedas ( chandomayam ). If one wants to be elevated to the higher planetary systems, he may follow the Vedic directions. As the Lord states in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25) :
FAQs
This verse says the wheel of saṁsāra is driven by Māyā through the mind, time, and the guṇas, and that only the Unborn Lord (Hari/Nṛsiṁha) can truly enable one to cross beyond it.
After Nṛsiṁhadeva protected him and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda offers prayers acknowledging that bondage is extremely powerful and that liberation is possible only by the Lord’s grace—not by one’s own strength.
Notice how the mind pushes you into habitual “karma-loops” shaped by time and moods; then deliberately anchor the mind in bhakti—hearing, chanting, and remembering the Lord—seeking divine help rather than relying solely on willpower.