Abhanga 3085
When Prahlad insisted God was present even in a plain pillar, the pillar cracked open to prove it, showing that God is not confined to holy places but is fully present in the ordinary thing right in front of you.
The verse
कोपोनियां पिता बोले प्रल्हादासी । सांग हृषीकेशी कोठें आहे ॥१॥
येरू म्हणे काष्ठीं पाषाणीं सकळीं । आहे वनमाळी जेथें तेथें ॥ध्रु.॥
खांबावरी लात मारिली दुर्जनें । खांबीं नारायण म्हणतां चि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कैसा खांब कडाडिला । ब्रम्हा दचकला सत्यलोकीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kōpōnīyām pitā bōle Prahlādāsī — angry, the father said to Prahlāda; sānga Hrṣīkeśī kōṭhe āhe — tell me — where is Hrṣīkeśī. Yerū mhaṇe kāṣṭhīm pāṣāṇīm sakaḷīm — the other said: in wood, in stone, in everything; āhe vanamāḷī jethe tethe — vanamāḷī is wherever, there. Khāmbāvarī lāta māri durjane — the durjana kicked the pillar; khāmbīm Nārāyaṇa mhaṇatām chi — just on saying Nārāyaṇa-on-pillar. Tukā mhaṇe kaisā khāmba kaḍāḍilā — Tukā says: how the pillar cracked; Brahmā dachakalā satya-lōkīm — Brahmā was shaken in satya-loka.
What it means
The 5th-of-6 Prahlāda-rakṣaṇa text — the pillar-test stage.
The narrative: Angry-father asks: where-is-Hrṣīkeśī? Prahlāda: in-wood-stone-everything; vanamāḷī-everywhere. Durjana kicked-the-pillar. Just-on-saying-Nārāyaṇa-on-pillar, the-pillar-cracked. Brahmā-was-shaken in-satya-loka.
The doctrinal-claim is the vyāpaka-Hari (pervading-Lord) developed-from-3084. Here-it-is-tested-and-proved: if-the-Lord-is-everywhere, he-must-be-in-this-pillar too — and-the-pillar-cracks-to-reveal-Narasimha. The cosmic-effect: Brahmā in-satya-loka (the-highest-realm) trembles-from-the-crack.
This is the canonical-Narasimha-pillar-eruption narrative.
For someone today
Tukārām's telling of Prahlāda's pillar test. Angry, the father said to Prahlāda: Tell me — where is Hrṣīkeśī? Prahlāda said: In wood, in stone, in everything — vanamāḷī is everywhere, wherever you look. The wicked man kicked the pillar just as Prahlāda said Nārāyaṇa is on the pillar. How the pillar cracked! — Brahmā himself was shaken in satya-loka. The verse allows the classic story in which the pillar cracks open to reveal Narasiṁha, as proof that Hari pervades everything.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही प्रल्हादाच्या खांबपरीक्षेची कथा आहे. रागावलेले वडील प्रल्हादाला म्हणतात: सांग, हृषीकेशी कुठे आहे? प्रल्हाद म्हणतो: लाकडात, दगडात, सर्वत्र — वनमाळी जिथे तिथे आहे. दुर्जनाने खांबाला लाथ मारली, तेवढ्यातच प्रल्हादाने खांबावर नारायण आहे असे म्हटले. खांब कसा कडाडला! — सत्यलोकात ब्रह्मदेवही दचकला. हा अभंग खांब फुटून नरसिंह प्रकट होण्याच्या पारंपरिक कथेला मान्यता देतो, जी हरी सर्वव्यापी असल्याचा पुरावा आहे.
Where this applies
- When someone challenges you to prove where your faith or God actually is
- When you are mocked or tested for believing something you cannot physically point to
- When you look at something ordinary, like a plain object in your home, and wonder if it could hold anything sacred
- When you feel small standing up to someone with power over you, like an angry parent or boss