A boy who will not stop praying, a father who cannot kill him, and the Lord who bursts out of a pillar to keep a promise.
What happens in this skandha
Narada tells Yudhishthira why the Lord seems to take sides. Hiranyakashipu wins a boon that seems to make him unkillable; his son Prahlada teaches devotion even in school, and survives every attempt on his life. Narasimha appears from a pillar, kills the king in a way the boon did not forbid, and is calmed only by the child. The book ends with Narada on the duties of the varnas and ashramas.
Episodes in this skandha
Prahlada and his father — Skandha 7, adhyayas 3-7 — A boy asked what the best thing he learned at school is answers 'devotion to Vishnu' — to the father who wants Vishnu dead.
Narasimha appears from the pillar — Skandha 7, adhyayas 8-10 — 'Is he in this pillar?' The king strikes it, and the Lord comes out in a form the boon never thought to forbid.
Continue through the Bhagavatam
Shashtha Skandha — Skandha 6 — A dying sinner calls his son's name, which is also God's, and Vishnu's messengers stop Yama's at the door.
Ashtama Skandha — Skandha 8 — An elephant's last cry from a lake, the ocean churned for nectar, and a dwarf who asks for three steps of land.
