Study a Verse

• By the will of the Supreme, a sinful man is sometimes given the chance to enjoy the material world as if he were not under the clutches of material nature, just so that he may be fooled.
• A sinful man who acts against the laws of nature must be punished, but sometimes he is given a chance to play, exactly like Hiraṇyakaśipu when he was released from the hands of Nṛsiṁhadeva.
• Hiraṇyakaśipu was destined to be ultimately killed by Nṛsiṁhadeva, but just to see the fun, the Lord gave him a chance to slip from His hands.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Terror and divine fury → Protection and compassion. The crisis resolves through relationship rather than domination.

Chapters 8–10 of Canto 7: Nṛsiṁhadeva appears; Prahlāda pacifies Him. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 8: Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Hiraṇyakaśipu asked his Vaiṣṇava son whether his God existed within the columns of the palace, and Prahlāda Mahārāja immediately accepted that since the Lord is present everywhere, He was also present within the columns. When Hiraṇyakaśipu heard this philosophy from his young son, he derided the boy’s statement as just the talk of a child and forcefully struck the pillar with his fist.