Prahlada, Prahlāda, Prāhlāda: 25 definitions

Introduction:

Prahlada means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

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In Hinduism

Purana and Itihasa (epic history)

[«previous next»] — Prahlada in Purana glossary
Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia

1) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—General information. Son of a rākṣasa King who saw Mahāviṣṇu by means of his devotion in the form of Narasiṃha (man-lion). His father was Hiraṇyakaśipu and mother Kayādhū. (See full article at Story of Prahlāda from the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani)

2) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—A Kṣatriya King born of the family of Bālhīka. This King belonged to the line of kings under the demon king Śalabha. (Śloka 30, Chapter 67, Ādi Parva).

3) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—A serpent. This serpent sits in the court of Varuṇa and worships him. (Śloka 10, Chapter 9, Bhīṣma Parva).

4) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—A place of human habitation of Purāṇic fame. (Śloka 46, Chapter 9, Bhīṣma Parva).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana Index

1a) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—(also Prahrāda): son of Hiraṇyakaśipu and Kayādhu, a dānavī;1 a devotee and attendant of Hari; of Narasimha and Kṛṣṇa in Harivarṣa,2 Lord of the Daityas and Dānavas;2 most righteous of Hiraṇyakaśipu's sons, a Mahābhāgavata and a Mahātma,3 Dattātreya was a tutor: Saṇḍa and Marka, sons of Śukra, were his tutors to teach him kingly policy and Trivarga;4 served as calf for the Asuras to milk liquor from the earth;5 one of the twelve, who knew the dharma ordained by Hari;6 at the repeated tests of his father he spoke of the nine ways of devotion to Hari; was ordered to be killed, by being trodden by elephants, or to be done to death by poison, fire or water; all these were of no avail; he was then bound by noose; Prahlāda once lectured to his playmates and classmates on the importance of devotion to Hari even from childhood as it is rare to be born a man, and even as a man one half of the life is wasted in sleep and one quarter in old age; once one got into the groove of saṃsāra it was not possible to get out of it; so he asked them to aim at knowledge following the pure bhāgavata dharma; asked by the Daitya boys how and when he got that knowledge, he narrated how when his father went out to Mandara for penance, his mother was taken captive by Indra who set her at liberty on the advice of Nārada, who kept her in custody until his father's return...

  • 1) Bhāgavata-purāṇa VI. 18. 12, 13. VII. 1. 41; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 5. 33; 8. 6; Matsya-purāṇa 6. 9; Vāyu-purāṇa 67. 70; Viṣṇu-purāṇa I. 15. 142.
  • 2) Bhāgavata-purāṇa I. 3. 11; 12. 25; IV. 21. 29; V. 18. 7; VI. 18. 10, 16; VII. 1. 41-43; X. 39. 54; 63. 47-9; Viṣṇu-purāṇa I. 15. 143-52.
  • 3) Bhāgavata-purāṇa VII. 4. 30-43.
  • 4) Ib. VII. 5. 1-3.
  • 5) Ib. IV. 18. 16.
  • 6) Ib. VI. 3. 20.

1b) A Kādraveya Nāga.*

  • * Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 7. 36; Vāyu-purāṇa 69. 73.

2) Prāhlāda (प्राह्लाद).—(also Prahlāda) defeated by Indra in war;1 was regarded as the Indra of the Asuras;2 came after Hiraṇyakaśipu and Bali.3

  • 1) Vāyu-purāṇa 97. 79.
  • 2) Ib. 97. 90.
  • 3) Ib. 98. 41, 81.
Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and places

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is a name mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. I.63.93, I.63, I.59.18, I.65, I.61.6) and represents one of the many proper names used for people and places. Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Prahlāda) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

Source: Shodhganga: The saurapurana - a critical study

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) refers to one of the four sons of Hiraṇyakaśipu: one of the two sons of Diti, according to one account of Vaṃśa (‘genealogical description’) of the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—Accordingly, Kaśyapa’s thirteen wives are [viz., Diti]. Diti gives birth to two demons Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa. Hiraṇyakaśipu has four sons—Prahlāda, Anuhlāda, Saṃhlāda and Hlāda. Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed by Narasiṃha. [...] Then Prahlāda ascended the throne. His son was Virocana who was killed by Viṣṇu and his son Bali became the king.

Purana book cover
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The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.

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Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)

Source: Wisdom Library: Śaivism

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is the name of a daitya chief, presiding over Paratāla, according to the Parākhyatantra 5.44-45. Paratāla (also called Varatāla) refers to one of the seven pātālas (‘subterranean paradise’). The word pātāla in this tantra refers to subterranean paradises for seekers of otherworldly pleasures and each the seven pātālas is occupied by a regent of the daityas, nāgas and rākṣasas.

The Parākhyatantra is an old Śaiva-siddhānta tantra dating from before the 10th century.

Shaivism book cover
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Shaiva (शैव, śaiva) or Shaivism (śaivism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshiping Shiva as the supreme being. Closely related to Shaktism, Shaiva literature includes a range of scriptures, including Tantras, while the root of this tradition may be traced back to the ancient Vedas.

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Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma)

Source: Pure Bhakti: Brhad Bhagavatamrtam

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) refers to:—A most exalted devotee of the Lord; son of Hiraṇyakaśipu. (cf. Glossary page from Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta).

Vaishnavism book cover
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Vaishnava (वैष्णव, vaiṣṇava) or vaishnavism (vaiṣṇavism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshipping Vishnu as the supreme Lord. Similar to the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, Vaishnavism also developed as an individual movement, famous for its exposition of the dashavatara (‘ten avatars of Vishnu’).

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Ayurveda (science of life)

Source: gurumukhi.ru: Ayurveda glossary of terms

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद):—Delight;

Ayurveda book cover
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Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

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Vastushastra (architecture)

Source: archive.org: Bharatiya vastu-sastra

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) (Cf. Prāhlādatantra) is the name of an ancient teacher (ācārya) of Vāstuśāsta (science of architecture) according to the Agnipurāṇa.—All these great teachers cannot be said to be legendary. Some used to be propagated in ancient India. No nation can flourish without its care for its material prosperity. All this technique and training and their systematic and successful teaching and transmission were of equal importance. Most of the treatises of Vāstuśāstra carry many of these names [i.e., Prahlāda], yet a good many of them are quoted as authorities, yet still others are honoured with actual passages being quoted from their works.

Vastushastra book cover
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Vastushastra (वास्तुशास्त्र, vāstuśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science (shastra) of architecture (vastu), dealing with topics such architecture, sculpture, town-building, fort building and various other constructions. Vastu also deals with the philosophy of the architectural relation with the cosmic universe.

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General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: WikiPedia: Hinduism

Prahlada a saintly boy from the Puranas known for his piety and bhakti to Vishnu, despite the attempts of his father, Hiranyakashipu, to turn change him. He is considered to be a mahājana, or great devotee, by followers of Vaishnava traditions and is of special importance to devotees of the avatār Narasimha (the Man-Lion). A treatise is accredited to him in the Bhagavata Purana in which Prahlada describes the process of loving worship to his lord, Vishnu.

Prahlada was a great devotee of lord vishnu. According to hindu mythology, Narada taught prahlada NarayanaMantras, when prahada was in his mother's stomach. From then he is a great devotee to Lord Vishnu.

Prahlada was born to Hiranyakashipu and Kayadu, an evil king who had been granted a boon that he could not be killed by man or animal, day or night, inside or outside. Despite several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continues to worship Vishnu instead of him. His father then decided to commit filicide and poison him, but he survived. Then he trampled the boy with elephants, but he lived. Then he put him in a room with venomous snakes, and they made a bed for him with their bodies.

Source: The Hare Krsnas: Prahlada Maharaja

The history of Prahlada Maharaja, the great devotee of Nrsimhadeva, is narrated in the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Prahlada Maharaja, a small child of only five years, became the object of envy for his great father, Hiranyakasipu, only because of his becoming a pure devotee of the Lord. The demon father employed all his weapons to kill the devotee son, Prahlada, but by the grace of the Lord he was saved from all sorts of dangerous actions by his father. He was thrown in a fire, in boiling oil, from the top of a hill, underneath the legs of an elephant, and he was administered poison. At last the father himself took up a chopper to kill his son, and thus Nrsimhadeva appeared and killed the heinous father in the presence of the son. Thus no one can kill the devotee of the Lord.

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Tibetan Buddhism

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is the name of a Dānava king (i.e., Dānavendra) mentioned as attending the teachings in the 6th century Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa: one of the largest Kriyā Tantras devoted to Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of wisdom) representing an encyclopedia of knowledge primarily concerned with ritualistic elements in Buddhism. The teachings in this text originate from Mañjuśrī and were taught to and by Buddha Śākyamuni in the presence of a large audience (including Prahlāda).

Tibetan Buddhism book cover
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Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

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In Jainism

General definition (in Jainism)

Source: Wisdom Library: Jainism

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is the name of the seventh Prativāsudeva according to both Śvetāmbara and Digambara sources. Jain legends describe nine such Prativāsudevas (anti-heroes) usually appearing as powerful but evil antagonists instigating Vāsudeva by subjugating large portions of Bharata-land. As such, they are closely related with the twin brothers known as the Vāsudevas (“violent heroes”) and the Baladevas (“gentle heroes”).

The Prativāsudevas (such as Prahlāda) fight against the twin-heroes with their cakra-weapon but at the final moment are killed by the Vāsudevas. Their stories are narrated in the Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita (“the lives of the sixty-three illustrious persons”), a twelfth-century Śvetāmbara work by Hemacandra.

Source: archive.org: Trisastisalakapurusacaritra

1) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) or Pralhāda refers to one of the nine Prativāsudevas (enemies of Vāsudevas), according to chapter 1.6 [ādīśvara-caritra] of Hemacandra’s 11th century Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra: an ancient Sanskrit epic poem narrating the history and legends of sixty-three illustrious persons in Jainism. Accordingly: “[...] Aśvagrīva, Tāraka, Meraka, Madhu, Niśumbha, Bali, Pralhāda (Prahlāda), Laṅkeśa, Magadheśvara, rivals of the Vāsudevas, all fighting with the cakra, will perish from their own cakras which have gone to the hands of the Vāsudevas”.

2) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is the name of an ancient king from Ādityapura, according to the Jain Ramayana and chapter 7.2 [Rāvaṇa’s expedition of conquest].—Accordingly, “Now, here on Mount Vaitāḍhya in the town Ādityapura there was a king, named Prahlāda, and his wife, Ketumatī. They had a son, Pavanañjaya, victorious like the wind because of his strength and manner of moving through the air. [...] One day the minister showed Mahendra (king of similarly-named city) the portrait of Vidyutprabha, the son of the Vidyādhara-lord, Hiraṇyābha, and his wife, Sumanas, and the handsome portrait of Pavanañjaya, the son of Prahlāda. [...]”;

Source: academia.edu: Tessitori Collection I

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) is the father of Pavana, according to the “Añjanā-māhāsatī ro rāsa” (dealing with the lives of Jain female heroes), which is included in the collection of manuscripts at the ‘Vincenzo Joppi’ library, collected by Luigi Pio Tessitori during his visit to Rajasthan between 1914 and 1919.—Accordingly, “Añjanā, the daughter of King Mahendra, was married to Pavana, son of Prahlāda. A conversation he had overheard before marriage persuaded him that Añjanā was attracted by another young man, whom her parents had vaguely considered as a possible match. He was no longer keen to marry her but finally got convinced to do so. However, he refused to come to her and did not consummate the marriage. [...]”.

General definition book cover
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Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—

1) Great joy, pleasure, delight, happiness.

2) Sound.

3) A species of rice.

4) Name of a son of the demon Hiraṇya-Kaśipu. [According to the Padma Purāṇa, he was a Brāhmaṇa in his previous existence, and when born as son of Hiraṇya-Kaśipu, he still retained his ardent devotion to Viṣṇu. His father, of course, did not like that his own son should be such a devout worshipper of his mortal enemies, the gods, and with the object of getting rid of him, he subjected him to a variety of cruelties; but Prahlāda, by the favour of Viṣṇu, was quite unscathed, and began to preach with even greater earnestness than before the doctrine that Viṣṇu filled all space and was omni-present, omni-scient, omni-potent. HiraṇyaKaśipu in a fit of exasperation asked him "If Viṣṇu is omni-present how do I not see him in the pillar of this hall?" Whereupon Prahlāda struck the pillar with his fist (according to another account, HiraṇyaKaśipu himself angrily kicked the pillar to convince his son of the absurdity of his faith), when Viṣṇu came out half-man and half-lion, and tore HiraṇyaKaśipu to pieces. Prahlāda succeeded his father, and reigned wisely and righteously.]

Derivable forms: prahlādaḥ (प्रह्लादः).

See also (synonyms): prahrāda.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—m.

(-daḥ) 1. Pleasure, joy, happiness. 2. Sound, noise. 3. The name of Hiranyaksha'S Pious son and regent of one division of Patala. E. pra before, hlāda gladness or sound.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—[pra-hlād + a], m. 1. Joy, pleasure. 2. The name of a Daitya, [Arjunasamāgama] 8, 20.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद).—[masculine] refreshment, comfort, joy, happiness; [Name] of a Daitya, also = [preceding] [plural] [Name] of a people.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Aufrecht Catalogus Catalogorum

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—Narasiṃhastuti. Rice. 272. Haryaṣṭaka. Oppert. 139.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद):—[=pra-hlāda] [from pra-hlād] m. joyful excitement, delight, joy, happiness, [Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa; Suśruta]

2) [v.s. ...] sound, noise, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

3) [v.s. ...] a species of rice, [Demetrius Galanos’s Lexiko: sanskritikes, anglikes, hellenikes]

4) [v.s. ...] Name of a pious Daitya (son of Hiraṇya-kaśipu; he was made king of the D° by Viṣṇu, and was regent of one of the divisions of Pātāla; cf. pra-hrāda), [Mahābhārata; Viṣṇu-purāṇa] ([Religious Thought and Life in India 109])

5) [v.s. ...] of a Nāga, [Mahābhārata]

6) [v.s. ...] of a Prajā-pati, [ib.]

7) [v.s. ...] [plural] Name of a people, [ib.]

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद):—[pra-hlāda] (daḥ) 1. m. Joy; noise; Hiranyāksha’s son.

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Prahlāda (प्रह्लाद) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Palhāya.

[Sanskrit to German]

Prahlada in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Prahlāda (ಪ್ರಹ್ಲಾದ):—

1) [noun] excessive joy, gaiety; great mirth.

2) [noun] a sound that is above or below the threshold of human hearing.

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Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

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