This is a fictitious story and is not related to any of the original stories as mentioned in our ancient literatures. Every effort is made not to replace any of them.

Characters:
Prahlada – The devotee.
Vishnu – The God.
Elephant – The elephant that was sent to kill Prahlada.
Fish – The fish that lifted Prahlada. (Visually it appeared as Prahlada floated).
Shopkeeper – A shopkeeper who sells poison.

Prahlada:
Hi, I am Prahlada and I hope you all know the story about my father, Lord Vishnu and me. My father Hiranykashipu was a great king, scholar and a mighty warrior. When I was born, his love knew no bounds. He raised the salaries of all employees who worked for him and distributed lots of sweets to everyone. Everyone was eager to get a glimpse of me only because I was born to the mighty king. My father was tall and heavily built that everyone had to keep their heads up to speak with him. He would effortlessly fight with 100 elephants and kill them with ease. He always helped everyone who came to him and never sent anyone empty handed.

My uncle Hiranyaksha’s influence (Elder brother of my father) made him to hate the Almighty Lord Vishnu.
This makes me protagonist of my story and him the antagonist. Hope, you are all aware that I was attempted to kill and it was a miracle I escaped from the jaws of death every time. You tell stories of mine to your children. After all these events happened and my father was slain by Lord Vishnu, I have completed my education and became the learned one, still maintaining the devotion to Lord Vishnu.

My mother and all people of our kingdom wanted me as their king when I reached 22 years of age. I obliged to their wishes. I started ruling my kingdom maintaining law and order and followed righteousness like Lord Rama.
Human mind always go beyond the limits as far as from the beginning of the human evolution and right from being ape. Mother Sita in Ramayana had to go to forest for the second time because of people’s suspect. In similar manner, rumors spread in my kingdom amongst the new generation kids. They thought that my story was to spread my greatness and the story would not have happened in reality. At times, I used to go in disguise to my people to know about their wellbeing.

One day I changed my appearance to look like a villager and visited one of the towns in my kingdom. Then I saw a 7 year old kid who was climbing a ladder and all of the sudden he fell down as he lost the grip. He was wounded and then he asked his father that why Lord Vishnu did not come and protect him. Even he added that he also prayed Him every day. His father answered that no one will be equal to the king Prahlada and only people like him will get the help of the God. Then the child asked why he has to do Prayer every day when God never helps him as he was not of the caliber of Prahlada. His father had no answer. In another incident I heard of, an elephant became wild and killed people who lived near the forest and even some kids.

All these incidents raised questions in the minds of some people as why God only helped me and not them. They even lost faith in God and started making fun with questions like “if they would survive unscathed on being trampled by an elephant”, “ would they float when jumped into an ocean when they cannot even float in a lake, can they escape from the jaws of death on consuming poison ”. So I thought it’s time to ask Lord Vishnu about the truth. So I went to the Lord and told him the events that happened in my kingdom and how people suspected my childhood events. He said that I do not need to know what and how it has happened as it was immaterial for me and asked me to be devoted as I always was. I knew that whatever happened and will happen must be his will and needlessly I troubled him. I went back to my kingdom.

Elephant:
Hi, I was born in a thick forest near Hiranyakashipu’s kingdom and as a child I used to be very mischievous and often used to put my parents in trouble because of my pranks. I often used to beat other friends and run after birds hoping to fly like them. I used to be very active and adventurous. One day I went far away from my home and saw lion cubs that were just born. Lions were most ferocious animals and they have killed most of my cousins and one of my uncles too. So, my parents warned me never to go near the lions. I got an idea in my mind instantly and thought of killing the cubs so that they will not kill any of my friends or relatives when they grow older. I observed sometime hiding in the bush to check if their mother was not nearby. I felt safe as I could not see their mother and went near to the cubs and about to put my leg on them. And all of the sudden their mother jumped on me. I was lucky enough that my uncles passed and they stopped the lion from tearing me apart.

That day was the most horrendous day in my life and I understood what it was to be caught up with a lion. I would have been just killed in few minutes. Every day when I slept at night I dreamt of fighting with lions and trying to kill the cubs. After few years I became young and had Mammoth appearance like my father. I was taken to do service in the kingdom. I crushed colossal rocks with just my foot and pushed huge logs with very ease. I was rewarded with medals from the king for my service. My Master always loved me and satisfied my hunger by feeding scrumptious food.

My services were just not only limited to crushing rocks, but also to kill the traitors and law breakers in the kingdom. I killed them with no mercy. People with weak hearts breathed their last on just seeing me, even before I placed my foot. I became quite popular in the kingdom and most of them boasted about me. Of course, few were jealous of my status in the kingdom.

One day, as a routine I was taken to kill someone. I went to the place and saw a lovely and sweet child being laid on the ground. I was ordered to kill the child by my Master. For the very first time I felt embarrassed of my job, as I had to kill a small child. A thought “do they truly need a giant elephant like me for this job” occurred. Even a small animal can kill this child. As I approached the child, my childhood incident about my attempt to kill the lion’s cub popped in my mind. But I thought I can do this job. The moment, I was about to put my leg on the child, out of nowhere a big lion roared and jumped on to me. I ran in a frenzy way and it took me few months to become normal. My master felt bad that I did an unfinished job. I learnt from my coworkers that there was no real lion that jumped on to me. It was my illusion because of an incident that happened in my childhood. As an elephant, it was very difficult to forget something as our brain was designed like that. Because of this incident, I was degraded in my position and my reputation was tarnished. Now I feel I did a blunder. I should have killed that child and shown my sincerity towards my job.

Fish:
Hi, I live in the vast ocean. Everyone used to say I was a miracle child and this is my story. I used to be very naughty and do a lot of mischief. I never stayed at one place and swam miles of distance in search for new friends. Once a fisherman saw me alone and tried to catch me. Unexpectedly, a shark in search of prey came and in the process of killing me it hit the boat. The fisherman fell down and I escaped. One day my friends and I planned for a picnic and midway on the route were caught in a net. Then a man came and collected all of us. When he started butchering each fish into pieces, a small boy crawled near me and took me in his hands. I played dead and he thought that I was his toy and started to play with me. Then slowly he took me to his bathroom and placed in a big vessel of water. Later it rained and I jumped to into the small canal nearby and escaped from being killed.
I grew up and became strong and enormous in size. I wanted to be tough so that I can help others in rescuing from fisherman. I used to teach my friends and other fishes on how to be bold and face the fisherman without being visible. The art was to be invisible in the blue ocean and always be part of the big waves while travelling from one place to another. One day I was going to my work and all of the sudden I saw a small child falling from the skies and accelerating down into the ocean. I realized it was the same child who rescued me when I was a kid. I acted as a buoyant and helped him without being drowned into the water. With all my expertise I was able to synchronize with the big waves of the ocean and finally took him to the land and left him there. Finally I got an opportunity to pay my debt back to him.

Shopkeeper:
Hi, I have a small shop and formulated medicines and also make poisons which on consumption are fatal. Though my shop was small, I earned a lot of gold from the king’s army by selling them the dreadful poison and medicines during combats and war crimes. My eyesight started degrading gradually because of my age. But, I never told this anyone as it would affect my business. One day, I was unwell and due to my greediness to make more money, I did not take off and worked in the shop, till late night. A man came to purchase poison and he said he had to kill a criminal. He wanted a powerful poison and I gave him a dose and he left. The next morning I became normal and as I started to sort out the products, I realized there was a distinctive medicine that was missing. It was made of a special flower and some lotions. This was my trademark and no one knew how to prepare this medicine. I used to sell it for a greater price and reap profits. If anyone consumed it, they would be producing some toxins from their body in the form of sweat, that can stop the fire touching their body and they can jump into fire with no effect. One dose of the medicine was quite expensive that almost costed a big bowl of gold coins. I prepare only one bottle in a year as there was lot of procedure involved and chemical reactions to get completed. I ran frantically to find out the person who purchased the medicine from me and found that it was used to kill the son of the king. I was scared to ask him more cash, as he would tell the king and I would be slayed for giving a lifesaving medicine instead of a fatal poison. The boy drank whole bottle of lotion and nothing happened as it was not truly a poison. Then the king fumed with anger and asked the boy to be thrown into the fire. The boy was tied like an animal to a wooden block and a massive fire was lit beneath the block. I laughed wholeheartedly inside my heart what the fire could do when the boy drank such a powerful lotion. As expected, nothing happened to the boy. Despite the heavy loss incurred to me, I was overjoyed to see that a small boy escaped from death.

God:
I called Prahlada to my place after thinking he would have been disappointed because I have sent him without answering his questions. I told him how he was saved in all these incidents and told him that I was not present in none of the incidents. It was a fish, a shopkeeper, an elephant that saved him. Then Prahlada asked me as how they knew that they had to save him instead of killing him. Then I told the stories of each one of those rescuers and told Prahlada that they were not aware of you or me. It had to happen and it happened.
Prahlada was puzzled and was dissatisfied with my answer. Then I asked him,
– “Why did not the king try again with another elephant when the first one did not kill him??”
– “Why did not the king order his men to throw for the second time into ocean if he was not dead the first time”
– “Why did not the king order to try with another poison or throw him in fire for the second time?”

Then I questioned Prahlada that if he realized that the person who ordered him to kill was his own father. I told him that as a furious person and thinking me as his enemy, he wanted to kill Prahlada to show his supremacy over me. But every time he ordered his men to kill you, he had a small hope that his child would change his mind. As a father he always wished that you would not die and come back alive only to accept what he said.

Finally, instead of my protracted mind-numbing answer, I have decided to tell in precise. I told that when I created the Universe, I have created Nature too which is self-governing. Nature has created both living and non-living beings.

Nature when born did not have any knowledge other than me and so whatever it created it wanted something to resemble or express me. If something was created with any abnormality it destructed it and created it again. For instance, a potter who creates different designs of pots with clay destructs those with flaws. If he could detect defects earlier while making, he would mould a pot to finish as he wants. If a flaw was discovered in the final stage after heating, he would break the pot. But pots that had few flaws could be used as a base for other well designed pots. He would arrange everything according to his plan dynamically evaluating the options before him and grouping them to serve his purpose.

Similarly, without my knowledge those who always love me and keep me in their hearts under all circumstances, Nature takes care and helps them all the time without any qualm. For instance, the elephant that did not trample you had a fearful childhood. The fish wanted to repay the help that it received from the child and the shopkeeper was a very intelligent person but greedy with weak eyesight.

When you were in your mother’s womb, Sage Narada blessed you to be my devotee. Though your father hated me he was good king and loved you. These were all independent events and I did not make them to happen. Also it was a misconception that I define everyone’s fate. I do not do that as I do not know how to. I always exist when someone thinks about me and will be non-existent as soon as someone forgets. So it is you “the human being who make me to exist or non-existent”.

I do not punish anyone or favor anyone. But if someone constantly remembers me, loves me, Nature finds interest in that person and try to set the events or send people in his or her life, such that it helps the person to overcome the hindrances in their path to reach me. So, in your case you heard my name from the time you were in your mother’s womb and then after coming into this world, fortunately you could still remember the saccharinity of my name. At the same time, your father’s hatred towards me had reached to a peak.

Nature found irregularity in your father’s creation and sequenced the events in such a way that your father would alter between two states of mind. One state was to assassinate you and at same time have you back alive. It confused him in such a way that he called for his own destruction. So finally Nature invited me for his destruction as his power raised above the power of Nature that I have created and was beyond the control of the Nature. So I had to intervene in the form of a lion headed man.

Prahlada was very happy with my answers and went back to his kingdom and he told everyone about the discussion that he had with me. Those who were already inclined towards me but got deviated because of problems in life have taken courage to overcome their obstacles and always maintained a remembrance of me. Nature found the resemblance of God and divine qualities in them and promoted them to the next level spiritually than an ordinary human being. They started progressing. While, the rest who always hated others because of their beliefs or arrogance have been destructed by Nature to be born again to learn the lesson of life.