अत्राप्य् उदाहरन्तीमम् इतिहासं पुरातनम् ॥
प्रह्लादस्य च संवादं मुनेर् आङ्गिरसस्य च ॥
प्रह्लादो नाम दैत्येन्द्रस् तस्य पुत्रो विरोचनः ॥
कन्याहेतोर् आङ्गिरसं सुधन्वानम् उपाद्रवत् ॥
अहं ज्यायान् अहं ज्यायान् इति कन्येप्सया तदा ॥
तयोर् देवनम् अत्रासीत् प्राणयोर् इति नः श्रुतम् ॥
तयोः प्रश्नविवादो ऽभूत् प्रह्लादं ताव् अपृच्छताम् ॥
ज्यायान् क आवयोर् एकः प्रश्नं प्रब्रूहि मा मृषा ॥
स वै विवदनाद् भीतः सुधन्वानं व्यलोकयत् ॥
तं सुधन्वाब्रवीत् क्रुद्धो ब्रह्मदण्ड इव ज्वलन् ॥
यदि वै वक्ष्यसि मृषा प्रह्लादाथ न वक्ष्यसि ॥
शतधा ते शिरो वज्री वज्रेण प्रहरिष्यति ॥
सुधन्वना तथोक्तः सन् व्यथितो ऽश्वत्थपर्णवत् ॥
जगाम कश्यपं दैत्यः परिप्रष्टुं महौजसम् ॥
atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam ||
prahlādasya ca saṃvādaṃ muner āṅgirasasya ca ||
prahlādo nāma daityendras tasya putro virocanaḥ ||
kanyāhetor āṅgirasaṃ sudhanvānam upādravat ||
ahaṃ jyāyān ahaṃ jyāyān iti kanyepsayā tadā ||
tayor devanam atrāsīt prāṇayor iti naḥ śrutam ||
tayoḥ praśnavivādo 'bhūt prahlādaṃ tāv apṛcchatām ||
jyāyān ka āvayor ekaḥ praśnaṃ prabrūhi mā mṛṣā ||
sa vai vivadanād bhītaḥ sudhanvānaṃ vyalokayat ||
taṃ sudhanvābravīt kruddho brahmadaṇḍa iva jvalan ||
yadi vai vakṣyasi mṛṣā prahlādātha na vakṣyasi ||
śatadhā te śiro vajrī vajreṇa prahariṣyati ||
sudhanvanā tathoktaḥ san vyathito 'śvatthaparṇavat ||
jagāma kaśyapaṃ daityaḥ paripraṣṭuṃ mahaujasam ||
[Vidura:] "Concerning this, too, they tell an ancient story — the dialogue of Prahlada and the sage, son of Angiras. There was a lord of the daityas named Prahlada, and his son was Virochana; for the sake of a maiden he assailed Sudhanvan, son of Angiras. 'I am the elder, I am the elder!' — so they disputed, out of desire to win the maiden, and their wager, as we have heard, was upon their very lives. A dispute arose between them, and they asked Prahlada: 'Which of us two is the elder? Answer the question truthfully.' He, fearing the accusation, looked toward Sudhanvan; and Sudhanvan said to him, enraged, blazing like the rod of Brahma: 'If you speak falsely, Prahlada, or say nothing at all, the Wielder of the Thunderbolt will split your head a hundredfold with his bolt.' Thus addressed, trembling like a leaf of the ashvattha tree, the daitya went to mighty Kashyapa to ask."
5a3d8ba368df · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:12:36 PM UTC
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With this parable Vidura treats the silent assembly: even Prahlada, holy among the daityas, is set before an inescapable choice between truth against his son and destruction — and the parable exposes that the judgment of truth cannot be evaded by kinship or by fear. It is significant that Sudhanvan threatens equally for falsehood and for silence: to evade is already to lie. Prahlada, father of great devotion, does not seek a cunning middle ground, but goes to seek the truth from Kashyapa — and in this he is a model for the assembly: where you do not know, ask one who knows, but do not stay silent out of fear. The verse teaches that truth is dearer than attachment and even life itself, and that the seeking of it is the beginning of righteous judgment.