PLATE FOUR

When Prahlada’s teachers observed that all the students were becom-
ing advanced in Krsna consciousness, they approached King
Hiranyakasipu and described the situation. The King became extremely
angry and decided to kill his son Prahlada. Cursing him again and again,
Hiranyakasipu took up his sword and with great anger struct his fist
against a nearby column. Then from within the pillar came a fearful
sound, which appeared to crack the covering of the universe. At that
time the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exhibiting the wonderful,
fearsome form of Lord Nrsitnhadeva, emerged from the pillar. Lord
Nrsirnhadeva was half man and half lion. His angry eyes resembled
molten gold, His teeth were deadly, His nostrils and gaping mouth ap-
peared like caves of a mountain, His jaws parted fearfully and His entire
body touched the sky. His neck was very short and thick, His chest
broad, His waist thin, and the hairs on His body as white as the rays of
the moon. His arms, spread in all directions, carried His conchshell, disc,
club, lotus and other weapons. The demon Hiranyakasipu attacked
Nrsimmhadeva with great force, but the Lord captured him and placed
him on His lap, supporting him with His thighs. Then, in the doorway of
the assembly hall, the Lord very easily tore the demon to pieces with the
nails of His hand. Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mouth and mane were sprinkled
with drops of blood, and his fierce eyes, full of anger, were impossible to
look at. Licking the edge of His mouth with His tongue, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Nrsirmhadeva, decorated with a garland of in-
testines taken from Hiranyakasipu’s abdomen, resembled a lion that has
just killed an elephant. (pp. 120-150)
