Vaishnavite Acharya Embar said that Lord Narayana faced three dangers! We face many dangers in life, but how can the Supreme One be threatened? The three occasions when the Lord was worried were when Prahlada, Gajendra and Draupadi were in danger, explained M.A. Venkatakrishnan, in a discourse. Prahlada faced death multiple times, but every time he was saved by the Lord. Had he consented to give up his bhakti towards the Lord and had instead praised his father, he would not have faced constant threats to his life. But Prahlada would rather die than compromise on his belief. Such jnana came to him, because he had listened to a narration of Lord Narayana’s Supremacy, even when he was in his mother KayAtu’s womb. Thus, Prahlada was born with jnana and bhakti and this helped him confront his father. When Hiranyakasipu finally asked Prahlada where his much- celebrated God Hari could be found, Prahlada said that He was everywhere. Hiranyakasipu then pointed to a pillar and asked if Hari was inside that pillar, and Prahlada said He was. Hiranyakasipu then struck the pillar.
Vaishnavite Acharya Embar says that at this juncture, the Lord faced a danger! The Lord had to ensure that He was present in that particular pillar. Otherwise, Prahlada’s words would not be proved true. Not that being in a particular place is difficult for the Lord who is Omnipresent. But He wanted to make haste to appear as Narasimha, the moment the pillar was struck.
The Lord, according to Embar, was similarly anxious when a crocodile grabbed the foot of Gajendra, the elephant. The Lord rushed to save the elephant. Draupadi called out to Him, when the Kauravas tried to disrobe her, and again He was anxious to help her at once.
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