Contents
By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Yudha Kandam 1 (Padalam 3)
3. Hiranyan Vadhai Padalam
The chapter of killing of Hiranya .
(This is the story of Hiranya Kasipu and Prahladha related in very great detail. Some people call this an epic within another epic. This is not there in Valmiki Ramayanam) 6189. “Hiranya was taught all the Vedas and their meaning by Lord Brahma himself,And he due to great wisdom , got all the boons that he wanted, and he became ,Strong like Lord Shiva with eye in the forehead who can destroy all beings ,And like Lord Brahma sitting on a lotus and the five great elements.
6190. He lived not only in this single world created by Lord VishnuWho is the God who always lives without destruction,Lord Brahma the lord of creation and Lord Shiva who had pretty matted hair,But also in all other innumerable worlds , where only his name was praised.
6191. He would take two of those very powerful elephants of directions,Which had big and thick trunks with a internal hole , in which they carried the earth And dash them against each other and making the very deep and broad seven oceans ,Shallow , and walk inside them wetting only his two feet.
6192. He will go near the waters in the river with clear water and sand ,Thinking that it is too small .He will not take bath in the rain water,From the clouds saying that it is not cold enough,He will not take bath in sea water with clear tides saying it is salty,But he would dig a hole in the universe and take a bath in the sea there.
6193. After taking bath in the divine sea in the morning , he would eat ,Sweet food with damsels in serpent world , spend entire day time ,In the world of Indra who is praised by all and he will,Sit ceremoniously in the land of Brahma at night.
6194. He would sit on the plane of lord moon and rule like him,He would sit on the chariot of Sun God and carry out rule like Sun,He would do the job of the guardians of eight directions ,Who do not move about sitting in one place and ,He would sit as a great king on the top of Meru mountain.
6195. He would become as earth, water , hot fire and wind , which are ,Spread all over in this globe and would change the leaders of those elements,And along with the wind become other Gods himself and become the world,Carry out its jobs and change the jobs of these guardians as well as job of Varuna.
6196. He made all the beings in all the worlds chant his own name ,And not that of Lord Vishnu who has broad eyes like the lotus flower,And would eat away all the offerings meant for Devas .Offered in the Yagna fire offered by Brahmins as well as sages.
6197. Lord Brahma, Shiva and Lord Vishnu who were doing creation,Destruction and protection were made not able to those jobs .And imagine about the fate of other Devas entrusted with different jobs,Even Yogis lost their roles and even devas would not worship any thing but his feet.
6198. Lord Brahma who sits on the scented lotus flower , the five headed Lord Shiva ,Along with Bruhaspathi the teacher of Devas were only learning his victorious exploits,And said that God who was remaining in the unabridged four Vedas ,From the earliest times was only Hiranya himself.
6199. After examining the Mandhara mountain which was used by,Devas and Asuras to churn the ocean of milk which had huge tides ,And which was huge and strong he thought that it would be,The suitable Vajrayudha to his victorious shoulders , he left it, considering it as silly.
6200. The twin mountains used by Sun god who protects the beings of heaven by his rays ,For rising and setting and which cannot be even thought about by mind to touch ,Became the ear globes of Hiranya who had gold like eyes ,And what else need to be told about the extreme valour of that Asura.
6201. If that Hiranya who never gets tired by anything , keeps his steps,On the earth , Adhi sesha with thousand hoods would get shocked ,Due to the great weight and if that Hiranya stands up ,The roof of the universe would hit his head and if he moves ,From his place , he would uproot all the five big elements.
6202. Due the power of the boons received by him, he could not be killed either by ,Females, or males or by eunuchs or beings of other world ,Which have soul and which do not have soul , by those which can be seen,And hich can be thought about and he will not die on earth ,nor in the sky.
6203. That Hiranya would not lose his life by all the devas ,All the Yakshas and the trinity who can be meditated and prayed by others,Like Lord Vishnu , Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva with Parvathi on his left side .
6204. He will not die in water nor in fire not in the erect wind ,Nor in anything which is available on earth and the curses,Given by sages and the knowledgeable Devas would not affect him.
6205. He will not die inside the house nor outside , none of the divine weapons ,Which can never be destroyed , can destroy him. He will not die at nihght,Nor in day time,He will not die because of Yama stealing his soul ,And who was there who was capable of killing him?
6206. He would not die by anything containing the five elements,Nor with materials having the five tastes nor by materials ,Mentioned in Vedas and if his own father tries to kill him , He would not die and this being the state of Hiranya,He became God for all the three worlds.
6207. That Hiranya had a very great son , who is the wisest among the wise ,Who is purest among the pure , purer than the Vedas , lord of all beings.Matchless wise person , Lord of all good Dharma and he had love,To all beings which is greater than the love of mother and he was greatly suitable.
6208. That Hiranya who had life span extending beyond the final deluge ,And who was ruling all the fourteen worlds in such way that they joined,And came together at his feet , became very happy seeing his son Prahladha,Who had the good fortune of good life and with a melting mind said,“You who are going to take up the kingship after me, learn the Vedas.”
6209. After saying this Hiranya deputed a Vedic Pundit of matchless knowledge ,And told him, “You please teach him Vedas.and Prahladha went along with him ,And reaching his place that Brahmin started teaching him all knowledge including Vedas.
6210. That Guru who was teaching Prahladha looked at him and told ,“Chant Hiranyaya nama” and he closed both his ears and told,“Oh elder one , blessed with great wisdom , This is not good penance”,And requested him to teach him Upanishads which are the end of Vedas,And started chanting the name of the great God who is ultimate truth.
6211-12. That Prahladha who was the leader of wisdom chanted , “Om Namo Narayanaya”,With emotions melting his mind ,sitting quietly and saluting with hands held over his head,And started shedding tears from his lotus like eyes and sat there with hairs standing erect.And seeing that Brahmin started shivering and said “Oh bad brained one, by your words , You have spoiled myself and yourself .Oh sinner you have made us both hug the death.How come your brain thought of that name which even Devas are scared to tell .How dare you do such an act?”
6213. ”I saved myself , I saved my father and also saved you and I am going ,To save the world and for that purpose I told the divine name of Lord Vishnu,Which has been praised by all the Vedas and what is wrong it, please tell.”
6214. That Vedic Pundit told , “ Your father is greater than the trinity as well as,All the great Devas .and only because I am here as a Brahmin for chanting your father’s name,Do you think that you know more than me? Do not tell the name,That you just now told and spoil my future.”
6215. When that teacher who was knowledgeable in Vedas told like this,That pure one told him, “Except the name of the first leader of all the world,I do not know any other name and also I need not learn any other name,And there is nothing in this world that is beyond my understanding .
6216. “That divine one who has realized the end of all that is told,In the old four Vedas has liked and entered my mind ,And so I do not need any other greater life and if you happen,To know anything which I do not know , please teach me according to rules.”
6217. ”The name of that one who is praised by the great Vedas of Brahmins,That which is repeated by very wise elders who have learnt everything ,.Is the meaning of all Upanishads and is there a need,To tell any other name which is apart from that name?”
6218. ”Learning Vedas and understanding them , by performance ,Of Yagnas which do good to the world , by realizing the truth ,And understanding the true wisdom and by using the knowledge beyond it,And attaining the state of salvation attained by great people , Were all realized by me just by chanting that divine name of God.Can there be anything greater that can be taught me which is greater than this.”
6219. ”I have already achieved the great wealth which is greater than,The achievement of those who live in the forest, who sit on a big mountain,Who cover themselves with hide of deer , who shave off their hair ,Who grow long matted hair and attained heaven by proper behavior .What else need I achieve by punishing my body?”
6220. ”Those who became slaves to that Lord Vishnu who by his feet made the worlds his own,Though they have not gained wisdom by hearing several great books by their ears,Would be capable of understanding the outer meanings of all the four Vedas ,Which tell about chants which help us to make offerings to the Devas,And also would have the ability to find out the true meaning of objects.”
6221. ”Oh Vedic Pundit , to me and to Lord Brahma with four faces , Lord Vishnu,Who appears greater than everybody and who is the matchless single leader ,Has our mind as his temple and because of that wisdom came easily to me ,And without that there is no other way for every one .
6222. That Brahmin who was a teacher , hearing all that was told by Prahladha ,Did not reply him and with a very disturbed mind and thinking “What progress ,Is going to come to me now? The time of destruction for me has arrived?” And he who did not have strength of mind ran and reached Hiranya ,And started talking like one who has seen the future happenings like a dream.
6223. He saluted Hiranya and said “Oh Lord who is like my father , your son,Has said something undesirable to tell in this birth and in the next birth ,And told “ Even from the very beginning I know about Vedas ,And also told “He did not recite the Vedas that I had taught him”,
6224. After hearing all that was told by that Brahmin Hiranya asked him,“Oh Brahmin , What is that which cannot be heard by Brahmins ,And which has not been told by any body earlier ,Which was told by him and which came out of his inner mind, Please tell.”
6225. When the king Hiranya told like that , the Brahmin got scared,Saluted Hiranya with folded hands and said, “If I tell those words ,Which would make you feel as if a snake has entered your ears ,Oh very strong one , I would reach hell and my toungue will rot.”
6226. That cruel one ordered that his son should be brought there quickly ,And the assistants of that Hiranya who did not have any good feeling in his heart,Speedily went and within a second reached Prahladha,And told him that it is the order of the king , and that Prahladha ,Who considered that matchless Lord Vishnu as his only help,Came near his father and saluted him.
6227. Hiranya hugged with great love , the son who saluted him on his lustrous chest ,So that the scented powder applied there touches the body of Prahladha ,Examined him from head to feet and asked “Oh son ,What was told by you,That made your teacher angry ?Please tell me that.”
6228. Prahladha told , “ The name of Lord Vishnu , who talked at the time of starting of Vedas ,Who is matchless , who is lord of all beings Should be realized , meditated and heard,AS well repeated without break through out the day and this would help ,A person to get up from the ocean of sorrow and there is no other thing which does good to us.”
6229. When that Prahladha who had good conduct like the Devas told like that,That Hiranya who was cruel by nature decided that that faultless Brahmin teacher ,Is suitable to teach only what is proper and what ever is fated , let that happen,And thought “ WE know The word that he tells would not do us good “Asked his son, “What is the word that you have in your mind?”
6230. ”Please hear the name of that matchless one , “Om namo Narayana”Which fulfills all our desires and after crossing this life gives us the salvation,Which is the state that never gets over and which leads us,To the great positions got out of performing yagna in burning red flames.”
6231. ”Starting from this earth up to the world of Lord Brahma , in all the innumerable beings ,Who live there which comprise of moving and not moving beings , the sensation of life And the sense of truth completely fills their heart and what they all ,Meditate and praise is this eight lettered chant and there is nothing else.”
6232. ”The Lord Shiva with three eyes , The four headed Lord Brahma and all others,To the people who live on this earth , if they happened to forget the eight lettered chant,Can easily forget the things they want to achieve and to understand it properly ,And to tell its deep inner meaning is some thing which can not be done ,And except all those great ones who see everything generally always and ,Those realized and greatly wise people who follow them , others cannot understand its greatness.”
6233. ” It is a ship that takes souls to the banks from the whirlpools of old Karma,In the huge deep ocean of the birth cycle , It is an ornament which can be worn by all,It is the auspicious word which gives pleasure to every body ,It is the truth which is the bank of Vedas for great sages,And for making people live a reformed life there is nothing greater than this.”
6234. Prahladha the purest among the wise further said, “I have told after research,In my mind that his name is the only thing that provides stability to my soul , your soul ,And all other souls “ and hearing that Hiranya who held ,A shining lustrous spear , due to great anger , spit out fire through his eyes.
6235. ”Till today from the day I assumed the kingship , my order used,To burn the mind that told this name . Who told you this name?.From whom did you learn it ?Reply quickly” Said he with great anger.
6236. ”The three chiefs of Devas , the devas and others and all the beings,That live in this world always meditate and praise only my two feet.They daily chant only my name and even those three as well as Devas,Would get scared to tell this name to you. Oh son, from where did you learn it?”
6237. ”The Vishnu whom you told about came to offer a valorous fight ,With me several times and he speedily vanished after getting defeated ,On the white Garuda which rolls and flies and after entering the milky ocean,With greatly ebbing tides , without moving from there he would sleep.And who told you that the name of that sleeping Vishnu would give stability?”
6238. ”Oh bad brained one , Our ancestors who are of more innumerable than the sands of the beach,Were killed by that Lord Vishnu and their number got very much reduced and if a rat,Peacefully chants the name of the serpent who is its enemy ,What benefit would that rat get, “Telling this Hiranya seethed with anger,
6239. ”My brother Hiranyaksha who could keep all the fourteen worlds in his stomach,And who had doubtless strength , was killed by him as a boar ,By piercing him with his tusks and was it for chanting his name,That I begot you as my son “Said he with great anger.
6240. ”Oh boy without auspicious look , I who am matchless am the first one ,To all the beings in this world and I am the one who is most suitable ,To do the creation , upkeep and destruction of beings of this world,This is what you see directly and based on what aspect of the Vedas ,Did you conclude that this which can be understood by wisdom is false ?”
6241. “In this very big world , what has been told from the beginning to end , In the Vedas , is nothing but this, and those who do faultless good deeds,Following the procedures laid out in Vedas would rise up in life,And those who do not do it would go down in life,If we examine it properly this is the only truth .”
6242. “Due to my great penance remaining , when after penance ,I became the Lord of this earth , Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma ,Lost the high positions that they were holding and thinking that ,That it is impossible for them to do penance for regaining their positions,AS it would get destroyed in my rule , they all submitted to my rule .”
6243. , “I prevented people from doing divine Yagnas prevented them from doing blessed acts ,And I also prevented people from learning from great books and because ,Acts like Yagnas reducing the ebbing enmity among people ,I saw to it that acts like penance are not carried out and so,What type of good like was being led by Brahma and others ,And in what way can they get support from others and live?”
6244. ”You are an innocent boy who has not become wise and So I pardon your mistake,And once more do not tell those words which praise my enemy and thinking that,What your teacher teaches are words which will do you good, go along with him,And start learning “Said Hiranya who was the Lord of all the worlds.
6245. Prahladha the son told , “Oh Lord who wears scented flower garland , I have to tell,You something .If you are prepared to understand it , I will tell it to you and started ,Telling about that which is the end of knowledge of Vedas and result of Yagnas ,And which is like the starter curd , to the milk of education and other things.
6246. ”Oh king , There is nothing which yields without a seed and if you ,Are prepared to understand without illusion I would tell in more great detail,How to understand the ultimate truth ,If You concentrated your mind ,On that ultimate truth without any break , they,Would be able to see it like a gooseberry on the palm.”
6247. ”That matchless God making it appear that all the world is within himself,Exists keeping them within him but would also be within every being ,He is one who does not have any one after him , he never movesaway from principles,And Is is it possible for any one to tell how ancient he is?”
6248. ”The wisdom coming out of search and that state which makes wisdom as experience ,Are two different paths and would make it appear that all the things in the world are different,And except for those who knows this , would it be possible to know the greatness of that primeval one?”
6249. ”He exists as the divine principle, to those who realize the ultimate truth,Which is in the end of all Vedas and this is known only to wise people who know themselves,And those lunatic people who see everything as existing differently,Are those who do not attain salvation attained by Yogis and very wise ones.”
6250. ”Those rules which can help us measure everything cannot help us ,IN measuring the divine one and the Upanishads help us in knowing ,That knowledge of Vedas which cannot be understood by using great thought,And he cannot be described by words and other materials,And who are there who know illusion because no one has seen the true state.
6251’. He alone pervades all the three worlds , becomes each and every thing,Of this world and also appears in innumerably different looking forms,Though he is only one with a stable state and would the acts of his,Become small so that the sages and Devas know about it?”
6252. ”Karma and the results happening because of that and that primeval being,Which gives those results which we like , the soul which is the doer of the Karma .Are all only that God and those who can tell clearly about his greatness,Would be able to cross the ocean of life here and in heaven?”
6253. ,” Those chants which help us meditate on that great god and ,The great penance done using those chants and the acts emerging out of that,And the results emerging out of those acts are all systematized by that faultlees God,And he also is the faultless offering that we offer to the Devas in Yagnas told by the four Vedas.”
6254. ‘That divine one would make one undergo the result of the karmas before hand,And to those devotees who depend on him he would modify those results of Karmas,After their depending on him and there are no Karmas where he appears ,To stand afterwards and helps those to undergo the results , which he does not know ,Most of the people are not able to realize this due to his wonderful illusion.”
6255. ”Those bad and good Karmas which are done by people are due to their actions ,And among them one Karma can without giving one result , can give what is wanted,By the devotees and is there a need for a proof that ultimate God can give everything?”
6256. “Those who perform Yagnas at the end of it , if they offer the sacrificial ,Offering to that pure one who does his wisdom sleep on the snake bed,Then that offering would reach all the moving and not moving beings of the world ,”Is the teaching of the Vedas and so that offering is the use of the Yagna.”
6257. ”The causal word was created from the primeval nature by that divine God,And the principles which emanated from the world due to sensations ,Are not limited within what has been taught to us by very wise people ,And the birth which takes place to the activities of that divine principle,Is not something that could be understood by those who have innate intelligence.”
6258. ”From the lotus flower which had a stalk which looks like a picture ,Several great petals and great perfume which appeared on the belly of Lord Vishnu ,Gave rise to the four headed Brahma and innumerable variety of beings ,And they all exist in one side of this universe which should be praised.”
6259. ”That God hides within our eyes also in the heart those wise people ,Who can understand philosophical truths and teach them to others , AS the feeling of true knowledge it spreads all over the earth ,Is as tall as the sky and is filled as properties of wind , fire and water ,Proving to us that the God who is taller than our thought exists in innumerable forms.”
6260. ”That good is in the words that we speak and in the acts that we perform,And if we think about his nature of spreading everywhere , we can see ,That he originated as one letter with three joints (om),And also the chant got by joining four words. (OM Namo Narayanan aya )
6261. ”The name of that divine God which removes bad possessions like passion and anger,And all the bad thoughts that enter in to our mind and has the greatness ,Of safely guarding souls with stability and can his grace be described by others?”
6262. ,”Like a big banyan tree and its seed he has the great masculinity ,Of keeping all the world within himself and he would enjoy the results,Got by properly arranging the time , equipment and arena of action ,And he is also the good conduct and the wealth that is attained by that good conduct.”
6263. ”Though he is like the sweet musical sound that is recognized by the musical feelings ,Which are in the minds those who are experts in music, similar to the notes ,Coming out of Yaazh which gives out very clear music , is within,The inside and outside of all beings , he is one in whom the nature of the beings do not merge ,And eves the Vedas which cannot be neglected would be perplexed to tell about his nature.”
6264. ,”That Lord who is the soul which is inside the letter “Om”,Is wisdom of wisdom and he is completely occupying ,All the three worlds, he is of a form like the smoke and the flame of fire.”
6265. ”Due to the trouble in the mind of religious zealots who are like the different flowers ,Of a garland tied densely with flowers which open as soon as they are produced,And who keep on arguing about the differences , those wise men who know him well,He is not different like the sea and the tides which rise up and folds back,.”
6266. ” I have been praising the name of the divine one about whom I was telling,Scared that you after abusing this god , with such great properties ,Would lose the wealth and other great benefits that you attained due to penance ,AS well lose your good name and soon lose the soul which is stable in you.”
6267. When Prahladha told about all this in detail standing before him,All the world were scared about what is going to happen , the cruel matured anger,Built up in the mind of Hiranya similar to the poison rising out of the ocean ,And the sun and the sky started rotating , the entire broad earth started shivering The eyes of Hiranya started spitting out blood , there was fire and smoke in his angry eyes.
6268. He ordered “Except him I do not need any more enemies which give me sorrow,For he came out from within me getting soaked and burned in my bad fate .There is nothing more that need to be known about him now , for ,He has told that he is the dear slave of Lord Vishnu , who has endless enmity with me,And so kill him now “ and immediately those who were greater experts,In killing more than the God of death went and caught Prahladha.
6269. Among those valorous heroes , some were shouting, we will eat him alive,With a sound equal to that of thunder and they all were like a pride of lions ,Which have come and caught an angry elephant calf and were all boiling with anger.And they took him outside that mountain like pretty palace and threw at Prahladha,Axes and spears in thousands like a torrential shower of rain.
6270. When Those valorous heroes who did not have the strength of penance ,Threw with in a second on Prahladha , who loved all beings like their mother ,The arrows , spears and axes and other weapons several times ,They did not do any harm to Prahladha , whose only support was the purest Lord VishnuLike the bad words and names which were told by the enemies.
6271. Those spears which were thrown at him , the arrows sent from their bows,The cutting swords and the piercing spears and the sharp axes were all,Destroyed and became like powder and they could not do any harm,To the divine body of that Prahladha who had won over anger ,Who was standing completely immersed in God and never forgot,The soft red feet of lord Vishnu and neither he forgot his name.
6272. ”Oh very strong one all our measureless and best weapons have become in to powder And no harm has come to the body of your son and what shall we do now”,Like this those valorous ones asked Hiranya , he said, “ speedily set up a fire ,And push him in it “ and those valorous ones started doing it .
6273. In a big pit they went on stacking fire wood like a mountain and poured on it,Pots and pots of oil and ghee and set fire to it and flame from that fire .Rose up very high almost touching the sky and making many of those ,Who were watching it cry they put that extremely wise Prahladha in to it ,And he meditating on the divine feet of lord Vishnu , said “Hari” ,And stood up and that fire which was hot was cold to Prahladha.
6274. That pretty gem like body of Prahladha , as soon as the fire started ,Burning like the fire at deluge , similar to the fire becoming cool,Due to the words of chaste lady Sita becoming cool to the fire ,Lit on the tail of Hanuman by the Rakshasa warriors Which was covered with cloth and ghee was cool till his bones to Prahladha.
6275. ”Your son was pushed in to the pit of raging fire which had huge flames ,But he was not burnt by it and so please tell us what we should do “,Said those valorous ones who had very great enmity and the Hiranya,With eyes burning like fire after hearing that said, “Tie that Prahladha ,Who did not obey my orders and put him in to a prison and bring ,Eight serpents and put them along with him so that they will eat him,.”
6276. Anantha and other great serpents came immediately there and asking ,“Why have you summoned us here?” and as per the orders of Hiranya ,With their fire spitting mouth with great speed started biting ,With their sharp teeth in to the pretty body of Prahladha ,Again and again with great anger but that boy ,Who never forgot the name of Lord Vishnu did not suffer or shiver.
6277. Those serpents stood near Prahladha and being scared to go against Hiranya ,With fresh blood which was black like the cloud dripping from their mouth ,Making even Garuda with differing type of feathers scared bit Prahladha and ,Similar to the small crescent of a moon entering the red coloured clouds .They lost their power and all their teeth fell down and ,From the big holes of their teeth , Nectar started flowing.
6278. Those valorous heroes who saw the serpents , which were surrounding Prahladha,Getting tired and also losing all their teeth and also noticing their inability ,To harm the body of Prahladha told about it to their lord Hiranya,Who ordered them to put the boy before an elephant in rut and without senses.
6279. Many of those soldiers who did not have any mercy in their mind,Went towards the east to bring the elephant from Indra and brought it,And that elephant Airavatha had big tusks and was greatly angry.”
6280. ”They tied the hands , legs and chest of Prahladha with divine rope,And kept him before that angry elephant not in proper senses and.Then Prahladha who does not have falsehood started telling.”
6281. ”My father who is the primeval lord who once upon a time ,Came and saved an elephant king when a crocodile caught it And the lord who belongs to your lineage is in my heart.”
6282. Even before Prahladha completed saying these words ,That big elephant Iravatha saluted Prahladha , with ite face mask,Touching the ground and becoming scared withdrew from there,And those enemy soldiers went and informed about this to Hiranya.
6283. With a boiling mind after hearing the news told by the soldiers ,“Respecting that one who sleeps without doing anything on the sea ,This elephant has destroyed my valour , and oh powerful ones,Go and search for that lonely elephant and kill him, told Hiranya.
6284. As soon as the soldiers approached to kill him , that elephant,With its lustrous tusks which was eating sunlight , which could win the lightning,It came to kill the famous prince without falsehood ,Who was shining much more than the Gold .
6285. When that elephant pressed its white tusks on the powerful chest,Of the truly valorous Prahladha , just like the banana plant,Whose bunches have come out with wet pseudo stem ,All the tusks of the elephant broke in to pieces.
6286. Those enemy soldiers who saw the breaking in to pieces ,Of the tusks of the great elephant , within a time of batting of an eye,Speedily approached Hiranya and told him, “It is not easy ,To take the life of Prahladha “ and hearing that Hiranya ,Became extremely angry and resemble the hot sun of mid summer .
6287. Hiranya who got very angry looked at those soldiers and told,“Tie him to a big mountain making other laugh teasingly at him,And push him along with the mountain in a bank less ocean.
6288. Then taking an oath to kill Prahladha , and realizing that he was escaping ,And that Hiranya got up with anger without leaving the idea of killing his son, His soldiers speedily went and tied Prahladha to a big stone ,And travelling with speed of wind put him in the middle of the ocean.
6289. But Prahladha did not leave meditating on the name of the Lord ,Who would be in the middle of all souls ebbing with great mercy and so,That ocean became like a pond and the mountain to which he was tied ,Not only floated in that ocean but also became a boat to him.
6290. Prahlaha keeping both his hands above his head did not ,Stop from meditating that lord Vishnu and was only chanting his name.And when he was caught by a banyan tree with very small leaves ,He appeared very similar to Lord Vishnu as a baby floating on a banyan leaf.
6291. Prahladha who speedily had mastery of Vedas without reading them,Disd not sink in that ocean with very big tides ans was floatingOn the stone to which he was tied and started ,chanting ,The one thousand divine lames of the primeval Lord Vishnu.
6292. “Oh cruel one to evil persons , one who does not have any properties ,Oh Lord who cannot be ,Classified , Oh tall one , would you appear before this slave , am I one having the great power,So that those who trouble me , who is your slave of slaves and who loves you , cannot win.”Said Prahladha.
6293. ”Oh lord who is like the nectar of the ocean of milk , you , who would not be visible,To those involved falsehood , is there anything which cannot be seen by your mind ?The five organs which without stability are jumping here and there ,Are only the tests being done by you due to the fate ?”
6294. “The devas like Brahma who came from the lotus on your belly ,Were ones according to best tenets from the best of the Vedas ,And even they could not see you after a search extending for the life time ,But how can I who am innocent within a day think and praise you.
6295. ”There are no bad acts which have not been done by me who am your slave ,And they truly came to me and add to my bad Karma , Oh lord ,Have you forgotten to shower your mercy on me ,So that the results of bad karma are removed from me.”
6296. ”Thinking that the good culture that we follow after very great thought ,Are visible only to us, the innumerable deva chiefs seeing that it is beyond their comprehension,Become ones who are not able to think about you and ,After entering in to the net of your illusion , became greatly attracted by it.”
6297. “Thinking that they are matchless leaders the people of olden days were ,Thinking that they could complete any job without failing ,Said that they themselves were the very great divine thing ,And were they who told like this able to complete any job?Except you who are there who can be termed as the great divine thing?”
6298. ,”If one book tells it is primeval thing of divinity , some other books tell.That it is not the divine thing at all and the big books who hold this contrary view are many, And you who brings out the differences , are not prepared to go away from there,Oh Lord who is talked about by the Vedas as divine , are you playing after seeing contrary things?”
6299. ”Even Lord Brahma who sits on the lotus and even lord Shiva ,Do not know anything about you but then how people like me ,Can think about you in various ways about you?Along with the branches of a tree are leaves , flower and fruit .And telling all of then are same as the tree is nothing new.
6300. “The world differing from you is stable and exists in various forms,And though it is like that , does it have an existence separate from you?Though the ornaments made of gold are of different forms ,They never become different from Gold , from which they are made.”
6301. ”Oh Lord who gave me pain , the mother who gave birth to us ,And our father are given by you to all souls , so that ,They may be worshipped and I have a mind in which you live ,And so please tell me your decision.” Like that ,Prahladha prayed to that Lord telling very many truths.
6302. Hiranya of very great strength , knowing that his son was still alive ,Told , “Bring him and produce him before me “ and his soldiers ,Brought Prahladha and seeing him Hiranya said with great anger,“This boy is mad and so let us kill him with cruel poison.”
6303. Those soldiers gave Prahladha , very cruel and strong poison ,And he who meditated on God took it from them and ate it,And remained without any tiresomeness and seeing that,The merciless and cruel Hiranya asked them to attack him,With a weapon called CHammatti and they all threw it at him.
6304. , When those cruel Asuras who were innumerable in number,Threw that weapon at him ,people who saw it told ,That Prahladha would not escape , he knowing that,The God in his mind had thousand hands meditated on hium.
6305. ” Due to his magical capability , he is preventing his soul,Being taken away from his body and so I will eat him away “Said Hiranya in great rage and came near Prahladha,Making the sky as well as all the seven worlds tremble.
6306. Prahaladha saluted his father who came near him and said,“Oh my father , if you want to take away my soul which is stable,Understand that this soul does not belong to you and can be taken,Only by Lord Vishnu who has given all the worlds to us.”
6307. Though the anger was ebbing out in Hiranya , did not kill him,Wanting to see the one who gave the world , if Prahladha can show him,And asked, “Who has created this world? It is definitely not the trinity ,Is it the sages or is it the Devas who were completely defeated by me ,And which other person” Please tell me so that I can understand.”
6308. Prahladha looked at his father and told “Oh father , he who has,Created all these worlds is also the one who created all the beings ,And who exists in those destruction less souls and fills them up .He is the scent of flowers , the oil in gingelly seed and one,Who has immeasurable things within himself and he is,Lord Vishnu who without any doubt exists everywhere and also please hear further.”
6309. ”Oh my father, If I tell this out of my love towards you , you would not ,Agree to that in your mind. Do you think that the Lord Vishnu with a lotus eyes.Who killed your brother HIranyaksha is so inferior that you can see him.,And please understand that the divine one is everywhere , so that I can see him.”
6310. ”The three types of behavior, sathva, Rajasa and Thamas are his charecterstics,Creation , upkeep and distruction are all his activities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva,Are his forms The lustrous sun ,moon and fire are all his eyes.The earth , heaven and Patala are his worlds and that divine one is the witness ,For birth, living and death ,This is the conclusion of Vedas and they are truth.”
6311. When Prahladha told in various ways the nature of the divine God ,The Asura king Hiranya , laughed showing out his bud like teeth and told,You said that he who is single exists with all things which are of different types,Let us first see it and then we will take actions accordingly “ and then bad one ,Pointed out a pillar and said, “You said he is in here and make him appear before me out of that.”
6312. ”He would be in things which are of hand breath , He would be ,In the hundredth part of the atom which cannot be split , he would be in big Meru mountain,And he would be also in this pillar and you would see soon,The property of that God that he would be every where.”Said Prahladha and Hiranya laughed at him with aversion.
6313. ”You show me that Lord Vishnu , who according to you and the Devas ,Is spread all over the world in this pillar and if you fail to show,Like a lion killing an elephant in rut , I would immediately kill you ,And drink your blood which is coopery red and then eat your body.”
6314. The best among the wise Prahladha said, “My soul is not simple,That it can be killed by you and if that Lord Vishnu whom I had told earlier ,Does not come out in all places that you touched, I would give my life,Because if I want to live further I would not be a good servant of that lord.”
6315. ,With ebbing desire to see that God saying “good, good” and laughing ,With sarcasm, like the falling of a thunder and with great speed ,Hiranya hit on that pillar with his hand which was victorious,And then from that Pillar , the man lion form of Lord Vishnu came out .And uproariously laughed splitting the directions and tearing the globe.
6316. That very wise Prahladha who told that he would himself search the divine one,And show him to Hiranya , started dancing with joy when that Lord Vishnu ,Who could not be found out by Brahma and devas in spite of searching al day,And who was far , far away laughed , and he also cried and prattled ,Kept his hands above his head and saluted him and started jumping all over the world.
6317. That Hiranya who with his famous legs used to walk making the earth ,Get uprooted said,”who are you who are laughing? Are you the Hari told by this boy?After hiding in the ocean due to your fear of me , did you search ,For this big pillar to hide?If you want to fight with me come with great speed.”
6318. , When Hiranya challenged Lord Vishnu for war, that pillar split in to two,And the man-lion appeared and immediately started growing up measuring ,All the directions and all the universes and went on growing and who ,Can properly describe the nature of his growth and,The globe of earth got pierced at the top as well as at the bottom.
6319. That lord Vishnu wore the garland of scented Thulasi as a man-lion,Went on growing beyond the sky and I cannot describe it properly.His red soft feet was stable on earth and when he was standing ,It appeared as if the Lord Brahma in his world was on his belly.
6320. If we want to tell about how many hands he has , are there ,Any experts in counting who can count and tell us? And the ,Huge army of that Hiranya which was five hundred vellam strong,Was picked by each and every hand of the God completely.
6321. ”The army of Asuras which was one thousand vellam strongWho all had sharp spear like teeth, and to each of them ,They saw one face of the God, twice the number of shoulders ,Red eyes which which were burning like fire , three times more head ,And that divine man –lion had in his mouth ,The Seven oceans and seven mountains and several other things.”
6322. Its bent and pure hairs on its neck were capable of eating away,All the universe completely , would destroy the fire at deluge ,Capable of destroying everything and the breath of that man –lion,Who was like the God of death would win over the wind at deluge .And all these were spread in side and outside of its fully open mouth.
6323. All the souls which came out of the Belly of Lord Vishnu after deluge ,And which have been living in this world with stability , at the time when,This egg like universe created by the divine one which does not give out babies ,Breaks , enter in to the huge mouth with nectar dripping teeth ,And search and settle in a place which is safe for them.
6324. ”Would some thing evil happen to those who keep on doing good deeds?Lord Brahma and others who have been observing good conduct and who are great,And also all other people who were not the evil Asuras ,Were being kept within his belly band protected like a mother by that man-lion.
6325. That man lion would hammer and make ineffective all those who are,Called Rakshasas , using its crescent like teeth , it would rub some on the ,Earth which is stable , Some it would throw towards the universe ,It would catch some and dash them against Mount Meru . It would grind some ,Using only its fingers , Some it will kill by drowning them in the sea , making,Bubbles in water and some It would put in raging fire and burn.
6326. It would open the body of some and tear it , It would catch some and forcibly ,Open their mouth , IT would catch some and tear of their skins ,It would take out the eye balls of some asuras which used to give out fire ,It would cut off the the livers of some and take it out ,It would grind the bodies in to a paste and those who were caught ,Between its nails it would break them by its other nails.
6327. It would eat the body of elephants, chariots and horses of Hiranya ’s army ,After killing them and later it would drink the water of the entire ocean,With great tides along with fishes living in that ocean, It would swallow ,All the clouds in the sky along with its thunder and dur to its ,Anger not getting satiated even the God of Dharma got bored.
6328. It would throw some on the mountain of horizon and kill them,Some it would rub on the wall below the universe and kill them,Some it would throw on the motionless seven mountains and kill ,And It would carry some by its big hands and throw them,In the dark corners at the end of directions .
6329. Many of those Asuras thrown by it fell on the mountains and it would,Pinch the heads of those asuras by the tip of its nails ,It would lift some asuras and put them in fire and would kill those Asuras ,According to the job of murder they were engaged in , it would lift ,And drink their souls and dropping their body down ,Some it will throw up in the sky and some in to the ocean.
6330. After searching all the three worlds and without allowing to escape .Capturing all Asuras and killing them ,after destroying pregnancies of Asura ladies,After killing Asuras and ensuring that none of them survive in the universe,The Hands of the man- lion started searching Asuras in other universes.
6331. When he stood after killing all the Asuras except Hiranya, and his faultless son,Prahladha who was the protection of all the Devas , that man lion which had large eyes,Killed all types of Asuras with a speed of thought and the Hiranya wearing pretty anklets ,Seeing the coming of that God who was the man-lion stood with great safety.
6332. Hiranya seeing the coming of the man lion form of the God , took out,His diamond studded sword from his sheath and holding it in his hand,And also holding a shield which is capable of hiding even the sky in the other hand,Making the mind of Devas burn , making the seven oceans with banks of soft sand ,And the mountains shiver , made tumultuous war cry and stood there ,Like the Meru mountain which has come alive ,with very great anger folding his mouth.
6333. “Even after seeing the powerful form of the Lord,It looks as if you have still not understood His power .Please salute this Lord Vishnu ,Who uses the wheel as weapon and who is greatly valorous, If you bow and salute him,He would excuse the crimes that you did without proper realization “Said Prahladha who stood there praised by all the world.
6334. ”Hear what I have to say to you , I would cut off the matchless shoulders,And legs of this angry lion which has appeared here , while you are seeing.And later I would cut you with my sword and later I would salute my sword ,Saluting him and submitting to him only existed during love tiff with ladies “And after saying this he laughed uproariously making the world shiver.
6335. After laughing with smoke coming out of his sword , mouth , hands ,And legs , with his eyes emitting fire sparks , he went to fight.With the man-lion of the God and that God who destroys ,All those who do evil deeds , using his innumerable shoulders .Ad with his hands tightly surrounded that Hiranya.
6336. They both tightly caught hold of each other to fight with each other ,And went up above all the worlds so that no body can see them ,And if comparison has to be told , That Hiranya had a form,Which would make others scared and had anger and fearlessness,And that Lord Narsimha appeared like all other ,Mountains except Meru mountain and the oceans.
6337. Due to the sound of the fight which also echoed and the Lord ,Who had innumerable arms with very sharp white nails ,Looked like the rising with foam of the ocean of milk ,With several type of tides reaching to the land ,Of Lord Brahma who was sitting on a lotus flower ,And the Hiranya looked like Mount Meru surrounded by ocean of milk.
6338. Hiranya with sword held in his hand , shoulders , hands and crown ,Was rubbed on the wall below the globe of universe created by Lord Brahma ,.And That Lord Narasimha with hands wearing many gem studded ornaments,Similar to the rotation of sun and its planets , with his long hand,Caught hold of the two legs of Hiranya and started rotating him.
6339. When Lord Narasimha was rotating Hiranya like that , the ear globes,Worn by Hiranya loosened from his ears and fell on the east and west.And the east where Lord Sun who was radiating heat rises ,As well as on the west , the light from those ear globes ,Were giving and spreading light in the day as well as the night.
6340. Can any one say that the appearance of the lord is like this ,Or say a particular thing was like this and the white sharp nails of that,Lord and that philanthropist who gives the life of Vaikunta to his devotees Went inside the very powerful and strong chest of that Hiranya ,The blood that oozed out from there spread all over the world.
6341. The Hiranya was taken to the entry door of his palace ,made to lie ,On his pretty lap by Lord Narasimha in the evening , and using his sharp lustrous tip of his nail,Making the blood flow up from his stomach , tore in to itThe lustrous chest of Hiranya making fire to come out of it ,And killed him and put an end to the sufferings of the DEvas.
6342. Lord Shiva with three eyes, Lord Brahma with eight eyes ,Devendra with thousand lotus like eyes , devas as well as sages ,Who were hiding and wandering scared of Hiranya, here and there,Hearing that the Lord has killed Hiranya came and assembled there and ,Were wondering which eye they will use to see the Lord who killed Hiranya.
6343. Those devas and sages who came near saw before them,The form of Lord Vishnu with face and hands ,Which are suitable to see and saw separately his body and the legs ,Which was filing everywhere , making him not possible to describe by words ,And difficult to ne thought by mind , not possible to understand by wisdom ,And having a very huge form of man-lion and got scared.
6344. The distance between one teeth and another teeth of the Lord was thousand Yojanas,And his divine face was of a measure of one crore multiplied by another crore ,And he had a limitless very huge form and seeing him ,.Lord Brahma who sits on the lotus with lovely petals started praising that lord.
6345. The saying that God has the nature of creating himself ,You have created yourself as Lord Narasimha and this shows ,To the world your greatness and the fact that you created ,The worlds from yourself and to create the beings ,Of the world , you created me and this is a o praise of your great ability.
6346. Several thousand universes arise from you like the water bubblesFrom the cool ocean and all the forms in this world is yourself only ,And if you have speedily created this form of the man-lion,Would not your ability of creation have the form of limitlessness.
6347. Having a system of giving a matchless single thing great names like Vishnu, Shiva as well as Brahma , You exist a matchless single form,And since except you no one is there and so apart from you , who else can be created?Who can be protected and who can be destroyed , Oh God we do not know your great state.
6348. You made me appear from within yourself and by the help of your grace,From within me I created living beings and non living things,There is separate cause and action within me , and Oh lord ,Who is our father , born from you I am like an ornament coming out from Gold.
6349. When that Brahma who had non blinking eight eyes, praised him like this,In various ways , Lord Shiva armed with an axe and who is engaged in war , And all other Devas saluted Lord Narasimha and stood on both his sides ,And that Lord with the divine wheel Suppressed his great anger within himself.
6350. Looking at the Devas who were greatly scared thinking that,Due to the great anger of Lord Narasimha would destroy all the worlds .Lord Narasimha told “Do not be scared “ and looked at them with his merciful glance ,Using his hands which were prettier than lotus flower , showed symbol of protection.
6351. Lord Brahma sent Goddess Lakshmi who sits on lotus flower ,Who is like the pretty ornament , who is the goddess who grants wealth to all,Who grants salvation , who is the partner of Vishnu who never parts with him,Who was born in the ocean of milk where nectar was born,And who is the mother of all devas , near the angry Narasimha to pacify him.
6352. That Lord who does not have any one comparable to himself,Saw with eyes full of mercy that Goddess Lakshmi ,Who with great joy sits on the red lotus flower ,Who is like the scented new leaf with stalk and ,Who gives this world and its souls step by step.
6353. That God with love saw her , who for avoiding problems to all souls,Gave and helped this world and seeing this the crowd of sages repeated,The fame of our Lord and praised them and that great divine light .Looked at the dear Prahladha who never had any sorrow in loosing his father.
6354. The Lord looked at Prahladha and said , Oh Prahladha who stands firmly in Dharma ,And never got sad even though I killed your father before you andPierced his body by my sharp nails , you have placed endless love towards me.Oh boy who deserves my protection , what compensation can I give to your great love?”
6355. What compensation I can give you , who saw me pierce the body of your father ,In thousandth of a second , got angry with him , and scratched all over his body,AS if I am searching for his soul, but never felt inimical towards me and had only great love?”
6356” . From now on though I come to know that they did endless crimes,If they belong to your clan, I will not kill them and I would be good to you,In all your births and if I can do anything to you , please tell me without being shy.”
6357. ”Oh Lord , I who am your slave have received so much from you,That there is no end to it and Is there anything that I need to get from you?And if it is a must even if I am born as a worm without bones ,Please give me the boon of your love even then.” , he asked.
6358. The God looked at Prahladha and with a mind dripping with grace Said, “My boy is a strong one” and then that Lord became extremely happy ,And said “Even if the elements like earth which were created by me get destroyed,Your life span would not get over and you would be always like me.”
6359. ”Oh boy who has a lustrous body which is like the saved lightning ,Which appears and then vanishes in an instant , The three worlds should ,Belong to you for the great service that you did to me earlier,All the benefits that people would receive by saluting and praying to me ,Would be also got by them by saluting and praying to you ..”
6360. ”oh great one who got knowledge of the old Vedas without learning them,All the people who are my devotees would love you and also would become your devotees.You would be the king of Asura clan and not only that you would be God of devas also,And it would not be easy for any one except you who can get the great life that you lead”
6361. ”Oh boy who has got a greatly lustrous body , always good dharma , truth ,The four Vedas that do good , the divine grace , the limitless divine knowledge ,All things which never get destroyed and the ancient eight good characters Would obey your words and you would continuously attain a very great life.”
6362. After giving these boons to Prahladha , he instructed the Devas who were there,To consent and crown Prahladha in that courtyard itself , as the king of all the three worlds ,So that he would be saluted by all beings of the world , accompanied by playing ,Of auspicious instruments and do that job in a very great manner.
6363. That Prahladha who became an expert in the knowledge of the famous four Vedas ,Without learning them and without being instructed by any teacher ,Was crowned , with Indra the king of Devas doing al necessary work to the coronation,With Lord Brahma who had four heads looking at the four directions doing the Yagna ,With Lord Narasimha who had all the worlds crowning him ,AS the emperor of the three worlds and started ruling over them.
6364. That Vibheeshana who was the greatest among all people with wisdom,Said, “This is the story of Hiranya which happened earlier and whatever,I have told is aimed at causing you good and without understanding it,It f you are going to find fault with me , evil would definitely come to you.”
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About Kavichakravarthy Kamban
Historians place him in the 9th century CE, But surely Kamban belongs to the third great wave of Tamizh literature that started with the Sangam period (dated before the Common Era), followed by the widespread impact of Bhakti literature of the Alwars (vaishnavite saints) & Nayanamars (shaivaite saints). Kamban Authored Ramanaya in Tamil…Known as Kamba Ramayanam..
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
FAQs
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayanam are two versions of Ramayana written in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages respectively. … Kamba Ramayanam is originally called as Ramavataram. Although Valmiki Ramayana is the original version of the story of Rama, Kamba Ramayana is believed to be based on the work by Valmiki.
The Kamba Ramayanam, is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil. These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic.