"Prahlada is taken away, but after a time is sent for again. When requested to recite some poetry, he commenced to sing the praises of Vishnu, which so exasperated the king, that he cried out, 'Kill the wretch! He is not fit to live who is a traitor to his friends, a burning brand to his own race.' Upon this the attendants rushed upon Prahlada with their weapons, and, though hundreds struck him, none could injure him. His father then entreated him to desist from praising Vishnu; but this the son would not do, as he said he bad no fear, as long as his immortal guardian against all dangers was present in his mind.'

"Hiranyakasipu, highly exasperated, commanded the serpents to fall upon his disobedient and insane son, and bite him to death. The serpents did their worst, but Prahlada felt them not. The snakes cried out to the king, 'Our fangs are broken; our jewelled crests are burst; there is fever in our hoods, and fear in our hearts; but the skin of the youth is still unscathed. Have recourse, O king of the daityas? to some other expedient.'

"The young prince" (by his father's orders) "was then assailed by the elephants of the skies, as vast as mountain peaks; cast down upon the earth, and trampled on and gored by their tusks; but he continued to meditate on Govinda, and the tusks of the elephants were blunted against his breast.

"Failing in this, the king said, 'Let fire consume him; and do thou, deity of the winds, blow up the fire, that this wicked wretch may be consumed.' And the danavas piled a mighty heap of wood around the prince, and kindled a fire to burn him, as their master had commanded. But Prahlada cried, 'Father, this fire, though blown by the winds, burneth me not; and all around I behold the face of the skies, cool and fragrant with beds of lotus flowers.'

"The Brahmans now interceded with the king on the prince's behalf, promising either to teach him to recant his errors, or to find some means of accomplishing his death; but instead of profiting by their instructions, he spends his time in speaking to all about him of the glory of Vishnu and the happiness of his worshippers. They informed the king of their failure to bring the prince to a right state of mind; whereupon the cooks are ordered to mix poison with his food. But this expedient was futile, as the others had been. The