Universal Brotherhood

Dr. V. Ramakantha *

Narasimha killing Hiranyakashipu on his lap, as Prahlada watches at the left
Pix : Wikipedia.org / British Library

I saw my Lord through the eye of my heart,
And I said, "Who you are?"
He said, "You"
– Mansoor- al - Hallaj

Though it has faded from my memory as to where I have read, or who has translated this verse, the beautiful words of Mansoor -al - Hallaj, a Persian sufi saint is etched on my mind. This is akin to the Vedic wisdom that God pervades within the entire creation, but He is also found within 'the cave of our heart' ; and almost an exact replica of one of the Mahavaakyas (Great sayings) of Brahadaranyaka Upanishad 'Aham Brahmasmi - I am the Ultimate'. Yet, we are taught to worship God outside of ourselves. Here is the story of Hiranyakashipu, taken from ancient Indian literature, who not only sought God outside of himself, but also wanted to finish him off, with obvious consequence.

Hirnayakashipu was a Raakshasa, a humanoid being with great mystical powers, but laden evil tendencies. He had a brother by name Hiranyaksha, an equally wicked being. As the latter went far beyond his measure in creating havoc in all the created worlds, and especially troubled the planet earth, Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe assumed the form of a wild boar and killed him. Hiranyakashipu grieved the death of his dear brother, and started abhorring Lord Vishnu.

As he was aware that his powers did not match with that of Lord Vishnu, in order to equip himself to face his foe, Hiranyakashipu left his kingdom, and went to the mountain Mandarakala, where he executed severe austerities. He prayed for the personal appearance of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Such was the force of askesis undertaken by Hiranyakashipu that the Lord Brahma, one of the Trinities was compelled to appear before him. At the same time, being pleased with the one pointed devotion of Hiranyaashipu, Lord Brahma asked Hiranyakashipu to seek a boon from him.

"O Lord," said Hiranyakashipu, "Bestow upon me immortality. I should never die"

"Be wise, my son," said Lord Brahma, "life in an ephemeral thing, a transient phenomenon, whereas existence is eternal. All embodied beings have to face death at one time or the other. Hence, I cannot grant you a boon that makes you live forever in your present form".

Hiranyakashipu thought furiously, and came up with a novel idea for tying the hands of death. "You are my great - grandfather, and you are also the creator of this universe" said Hiranyakashipu, "there is no equal to you in this entire creation. Nothing is impossible for you. Grant me that I should not be killed by any entity created by you. I should not die either during night or during the day. I should not die either on earth or in space.

Grant me that I shall not die within any residence or outside of any residence. No weapon should harm me. Furthermore, give me lordship over all entities including Yakshas, Kinnaras, Gandharvas and all other demigods and gods. Reward me with great mystical powers which should never forsake me". Through this, Hiranyakashipu had sought to live forever; and interestingly, Lord Brahma granted all the wishes of this Raakshasa.

With the boon of invincibility, Hiranyakashipu became the de-facto Lord of all the created worlds. He insisted that he be worshipped by one and all. Having already been subdued, human beings, demi-gods, Rakshasas, and gods obeyed his diktat. For a while, having achieved what was thought unattainable, Hiranyakashipu managed to forget his nemesis. However, as a quirk of destiny, his own son, Prahlada, though a young boy became a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, his arch enemy. Narada, a sage, was responsible for this. While Hiranyakashipu was busy with his austerities, Narada took care of his wife Kayudhu. While Prahlada was still in her womb, the sage had imparted him transcendental knowledge.

Hiranyakashipu tried his best to convince his son that he was the supreme lord of the universe, but failed. He hissed like a snake that got trampled under the foot of a human. He was so enraged that he ordered his followers to put the boy to death. Prahlada was thrown off a cliff, but miraculously the boy remained unhurt. After tying his hands and feet with rope, the boy was thrown into deep waters, but the child survived. He was to be trampled by an elephant, but the elephant refused to carry out such an order. They tried to poison him, but without success. When the boy was put in a room with venomous snakes, the snakes coiled around each other and made a bed of their bodies for the boy to rest upon. Thus, despite several attempts on the part of the servants, the prayers of the child reached Lord Vishnu, and he was saved.

Hiranyakashipu confronted his son. "Where is your Vishnu" he thundered, "he is but a coward. He cannot appear before me as he is mortally afraid of me"

"He was, He is and He shall always be" said Prahlada.

"Where is he" repeated Hiranyakashipu, "is he in this pillar?" saying thus, with his mighty mace he smashed a nearby pillar. Out came Narasimha, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, half lion and half human. It was dusk, and hence neither day, nor night. With intense anger Narasimha picked up the Raakshasa on his lap, sat on the threshold of the courtyard and with his sharp nails disemboweled him and killed the demon, without violating the boon that Lord Brahma had bestowed on the Raakshasa.

The one who has mastered his mind is referred to as a Master. My Master Pujya Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari maintains that as Divinity is present in the heart of all beings, it is best that our mystical search should begin within our heart, through meditation. As He is our eternal companion, when we seek Him within our hearts, we can be sure of His compassion, His mercy, and His benevolence.

Once we experience His presence, we can be sure that as He cannot die, and with this awareness our perception of death also changes. More importantly, we will then recognize His presence in the hearts of our fellow beings. We may still continue to hate the actions of someone else, but we fail to hate any person. When hatred is removed from human heart, love is what that remains. Then alone Universal brotherhood becomes a reality.