Hiranyakashyapu was miffed with his son Prahlad for worshipping his arch enemy Narayana. He sent him to a gurukul so that he could be taught to sing his (Hiranyakashyapu’s) glory. At the gurukul, Prahlad was kept in seclusion so that the guru could keep a watch on him and stop him from worshipping Narayana. One day, the guru had to go out to a nearby place to perform a puja. He asked Prahlad what would he like to be given to keep himself engaged. Prahlad said that he liked to spend time singing and dancing and he was used to clapping his hands while performing sankirtan. He appealed to his guru that since his hands were small and tender, they hurt when he clapped during the sankirtan and so he would like to have a karthal, a musical instrument for that purpose. The guru gave him a karthal and went away to perform puja.

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It is to be noted that at a time when the guru was away, all the pupils decided to go out and play. The daitya balak, children of demons, ask Prahlad to join them, but he said, “I don’t really like to play worldly games. If you like to play my sport, then I could play with you.” The boys asked what kind of sport was he talking about? Prahlad said, he had learnt it from his guru. Prahlad’s guru was none other than Sankirtan Samrat Narada, who gave the Bhakti Sutra to the world.

Prahlad asked the daitya balak to bring musical instruments from their homes so that he could teach them the game. The boys became curious as they had never played a game with these things. They were only used to gambling and drinking madira, alcohol. What followed was a kirtan that made the boys excited and filled them with joy

To benoted that if you were to sing and dance to sacred bhajans, you will not feel any fatigue. On the other hand you will be energised and feel stronger. This is the mahima of Bhagvan’s nama, grandeur of Bhagvan’s name. Today’s youth like film music; they like to dance in nightclubs and discotheques. Keeping this in mind, I introduced sankirtan as interludes in katha sessions so that even if the young audience don’t follow the content of the kathas, they would like to sing and dance to Bhagvan’s sankirtan. This was introduced to us by Prahlad, who used to sing and dance while clapping his hands. Prahlad said, when you sing kirtan, do so by clapping your hands. This is because tali seva, clapping hands, changes your destiny and fortune favours you.

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