Thus spoken to by the youth, the priests of the Daitya sovereign were incensed, and instantly had recourse to magic incantations, by which a female form, enwreathed with fiery flame, was engendered: she was of fearful aspect, and the earth was parched beneath her tread, as she approached Prahláda, and smote him with a fiery trident on the breast. In vain! for the weapon fell, broken into a hundred pieces, upon the ground. Against the breast in which the imperishable Hari resides the thunderbolt would be shivered, much more should such a weapon be split in pieces. The magic being, then directed against the virtuous prince by the wicked priest, turned upon them, and, having quickly destroyed them, disappeared. But Prahláda, beholding them perish, hastily appealed to Krishńa, the eternal, for succour, and said, "Oh Janárddana! who art every where, the creator and substance of the world, preserve these Brahmans from this magical and insupportable fire. As thou art Vishńu, present in all creatures, and the protector of the world, so let these priests be restored to life. If, whilst devoted to the omnipresent Vishńu, I think no sinful resentment against my foes, let these priests be restored to life. If those who have come to slay me, those by whom poison was given me, the fire that would have burned, the elephants that would have crushed, and snakes that would have stung me, have been regarded by me as friends; if I have been unshaken in soul, and am without fault in thy sight; then, I implore thee, let these, the priests of the Asuras, be now restored to life." Thus having prayed, the Brahmans immediately rose up, uninjured and rejoicing; and bowing respectfully to Prahláda, they blessed him, and said, "Excellent prince, may thy days be many; irresistible be thy prowess; and power and wealth and posterity be thine." Having thus spoken, they withdrew, and went and told the king of the Daityas all that had passed.

Footnotes

135:1 This is not the doctrine of the impassibility of soul, taught in the Vedas: 'We do not recognise either the doctrine that supposes the slayer to slay, or the slain to be killed; this (spiritual existence) neither kills nor is killed.' The same is inculcated at great length, and with great beauty, in the Bhagavat Gítá: 'Weapons wound it not; fire doth not p. 136 consume it; water cannot drown it; nor doth it wither before the winds:' or, as rendered by Schlegel, 'Non ilium penetrant tela; non ilium comburit flamma; neque illum perfundunt aquæ; nec ventus exsiccat.' P. 17. new edition. But in the passage of our text, all that the Hindus understand of Fate, is referred to. Death or immunity, prosperity or adversity, are in this life the inevitable consequences of conduct in a prior existence: no man can suffer a penalty which his vices in a preceding state of being have not incurred, nor can he avoid it if they have.

Next: Chapter XIX

Hinduism