Prahlad Maharaj

By adopting only one of these nine principles, the following renowned devotees of the Lord were able to achieve the highest perfection: …. (4) By remembering the Lord, Prahlāda Mahārāja attained the desired result.
(Śrī Īśopaniṣad 17)

My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But Your servant Nārada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?
(SB 7.9.28)

When Prahlāda Mahārāja chants oṁ namo bhagavate narasiṁhāya, he prays for a benediction from the Lord, but because he is also an exalted Vaiṣṇava, he wants nothing for his personal sense gratification. The first desire expressed in his prayer is svasty astu viśvasya: “Let there be good fortune throughout the entire universe.” Prahlāda Mahārāja thus requested the Lord to be merciful to everyone, including his father, a most envious person.
(SB 5.18.9 purport)

Pankajanghri Prabhu said, “Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non-devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrsimhadeva is very, very gentle and kind to His devotees like Prahlada Maharaja.” While dressing the Lord and remembering His mercy, I am thinking how some people misunderstand our purpose of worshiping Lord Nrsimha. Sometimes devotees say that worship of Nrsimhadeva is Vaikuntha-bhava, and it cannot take one to Goloka Vrindavana, the Lord’s supreme and most intimate abode. But Lord Nrsimhadeva is partucularly inclined towards the devotees of Radha and Krishna. He is Krishna Himself, appearing especially in this form to reciprocate with our desire to remove all the obstacles in our devotional service. If one can always raise his hands and call out with great love the names of Nitai-Gaura and Radha-Madhava, that is wonderful. But if there is something in your heart that is stopping you from that spontaneous call, why not go in all humility before Lord Nrsimhadeva and pray that with His sharp nails, He may pierce those crooked desires in your heart and throw them far away… This is His main function. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura writes: “Therefore, I will pray at the feet of Lord Nrsimhadeva to purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Krishna. Weeping, I will beg at the lotus feet of Nrsimha that I may worship Sri Sri Radha and Krishna in Navadvip Dhama, free from all obstacles.” His prayers continue: “At that moment, by Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mercy, I will exhibit symptoms of ecstatic love for Radha and Krishna, and I will roll on the ground by the door of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s temple.”