Prahlada Maharaja
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My dear Lord, I repeatedly pray unto Your lotus feet that I may simply be stronger in devotional service. I simply pray that my Kṛṣṇa consciousness may be more strong and steady, because happiness derived out of Kṛṣṇa c In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that Prahlada Maharaj, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed to Nrsimhadeva (the half-lion half-man incarnation), as follows: "My dear Lord, I repeatedly pray unto Your lotus feet that I may simply be stronger in devotional service. I simply pray that my Krsna consciousness may be more strong and steady, because happiness derived out of Krsna consciousness and devotional service is so powerful that with it one can have all the other perfections of religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and even the attainment of liberation from material existence."
(More...) Prahlāda Mahārāja's heart was always filled with thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja is the ideal devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Who could list the innumerable transcendental qualities of Prahlada Maharaja? He had unflinching faith in Vasudeva, Lord Krsna [the son of Vasudeva], and unalloyed devotion to Him. His attachment to Lord Krsna was natural because of his previous devotional service. Although his good qualities cannot be enumerated, they prove that he was a great soul [mahatma].
(More...) In his prayers to the ten incarnations, Jayadeva Gosvami says, kesava dhrta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagad-isa hare. Prahlada Maharaja was a devotee of Lord Nrsimha, who is Kesava, Krsna Himself. Therefore when this verse says vasudeve bhagavati, one should understand that Prahlada Maharaja's attachment for Nrsimhadeva was attachment for Krsna, Vasudeva, the son of Vasudeva. Prahlada Maharaja, therefore, is described as a great mahatma. As the Lord Himself confirms in Bhagavad-gita (7.19):
(More...) "After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." A great devotee of Krsna, the son of Vasudeva, is a great soul very rarely to be found. Prahlada Maharaja's attachment for Krsna will be explained in the next verse. Krsna-graha-grhitatma. Prahlada Maharaja's heart was always filled with thoughts of Krsna. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja is the ideal devotee in Krsna consciousness.
(More...) The proof of Prahlāda's natural devotion is that even when he was a small child he did not play with his playmates, but was always eager to preach the glories of the Lord. In the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4th Chapter, 27th verse, the great sage Narada informs Maharaj Yudhisthira about Prahlada Maharaj, who was a devotee from the very beginning of his life. The proof of Prahlada's natural devotion is that even when he was a small child he did not play with his playmates, but was always eager to preach the glories of the Lord. Instead of joining in their sportive acrobatic feats, he remained as an inactive child because he was always in trance, meditating on Krsna. As such, there was no possibility of his being touched by the external world.
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