Bhakt Prahlad: Note by Faisal Devji

Abstract

A poster for the 1965 Hindi film Bhakt Prahlad (Devotee Prahlad), directed by Kamal Sharma and starring B. M. Vyas and Anjali Devi. Prahlad was the pious son of Hiranyakashipu, a demon king who could not be killed by day or night, indoors or out; neither by man nor beast nor by any creature born of woman. Steadfast in his devotion to Vishnu despite his father's persecution, Prahlad prayed for a deliverance that was vouchsafed him as the sun set and the king stood by one of the pillars supporting his palace wall, from which he dared Vishnu to appear. The pillar split open and Vishnu emerged in the incarnation of Narasimha, a half-man, half-lion, to tear Hiranyakashipu apart. Prahlad is one of the great child heroes of Hindu tradition, admired for his fortitude and even the ability to sacrifice his own father. He was held up as an ideal moral figure by Gandhi, who repudiated the European and, indeed, monotheistic privileging of adult males as free agents capable of exercising moral and political judgment. Instead he focused on the way in which children's lack of freedom allowed them to interrupt and transform the political logic defined by adults. In this way, Prahlad nicely represents the new activist role that children unable to vote or run for office nevertheless play in public life today.