Prahalad and Kuan yin

Kuan Yin and Bhakta Prahlada, Same stories but different Screenplay

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The Chinese goddess Kuan- Yin’s story is very similar to the Hindu Story of Bhakta Prahlada. How parents of both tortured them to get what they parents want. They were helped by the Gods and rescued every time. They were assisted by supernatural powers. The similarities between the two stories are really interesting.

 Story of Kuan-Yin

 It happened that Kuan Yin came to live in her father’s house, with two older sisters. Sensing their father’s disgust with them, one of the sisters married a taciturn warrior, and the other, a merchant. But Kuan Yin had no interest in marriage. Instead, she asked to live in the temple of the White Bird. Her father was incensed and demanded that the women of the temple treat her with great cruelty so that Kuan Yin would abandon her foolish ideas and get married. Afraid, the women abused her and tormented her, forcing her to do the heaviest labor of the temple and eat the least appetizing leftover food. But Kuan Yin was unshakable: she would not marry. Instead, she waited until the other women slept.

 
Then she was joined by the serpent, who helped her carry water, and the tiger, who gathered firewood. Birds fluttered, collecting vegetables from the temple gardens, and the fire spirit danced, preparing the food. Other animals came to her, helping complete her round of chores. Hearing this, Kuan Yin’s father grew enraged and set the temple on fire, a warning to all women who would dare defy him. But Kuan Yin put her hands over the fire and extinguished it, and her goddess’s hands neither charred nor blistered. Besides his fury, her father ordered a servant to chop off his daughter’s head. But the servant’s sword could not slice her neck; instead, it broke into two parts.
 
Goaded by fear of his master’s wrath, the servant then took Kuan Yin’s throat in his hands and strangled her until her life was gone.  Lifeless, she was taken to the Land of the Dead on the back of a tiger, and there she overcame her fear of the icy, inert fingers of death. She began to sing, and the pale, moaning shades gathered near her, relieved of their eternal sorrow by her lovely voice. Seeing this, the effects of his torture vanishing and the spirits of the afflicted lifting even in death, the king of the house of doom flew into a rage and banished Kuan Yin. Kuan Yin returned to the earth, where she found an abode on an island in the north-eastern sea, a place of solitude and peace where She could chant for both the living and the dead and bring to those who prayed for her song, comfort in the continuing cycle of troubles that afflict all beings in the cycle of time.

 

The Story of Prahlada

 Prahlada was born to Kayadu and Hiranyakashipu, an evil Demon King who had been granted a boon that he could not be killed by anything born from a living womb, neither be killed by a man nor an animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither on land nor in the air nor in water and of no man-made weapon! Prahlada while in his mother’s womb got to hear Narada’s chants. He was taught by Narada in early childhood. As a result, he was devoted to Vishnu. His father didn’t like his spiritual inclination. He tried to warn Prahlada. Despite several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continued to worship Vishnu instead. His father then decided to commit filicide and poison Prahlada, but he survived.

 He then trampled the boy with elephants, but the boy still lived. Then he put Prahlada in a room with venomous snakes, and they made a bed for him with their bodies. Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed in that she could not be hurt by fire. Hiranyakashipu puts Prahlada on the lap of Holika as she sits on a pyre. Prahlada prays to Vishnu to keep him safe.
Holika then burns to death as Prahlada is left unscathed. After tolerating abuse from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada is eventually saved by Nrsimha, Lord Vishnu in the form of a half man half lion comes to the rescue, places the king on his thighs, and kills him with his sharp nails at the entrance to his home at dusk, thus nullifying all of Hiranyakashipu’s boon of virtual immortality.
 
SIMILARITIES
 
  • Kuan-yin’s Father wants her to get married while Prahlada’s father wants him to leave the worship of Vishnu.
  • Kuan-Yin’s father makes grievous torturous attempts to make her change her mind so does the demon Hiranyakashipu to change Prahlada’s mind.
  • Kuan-Yin gets help from animals, and gods to help her with the chores, etc,  Prahlada gets help from god Vishnu, he is saved every time he is tried to kill.
  • Kuan-Yin’s father tries to burn her in the temple, so does Hiranyakashipu tries to burn Prahlada with the help of his sister Holika and both Kuan-Yin and Prahlada are not burned by fire.
  • Kuan-Yin comes back to life even after she was killed, and lord Nrsimha comes to the rescue of Prahlada
  • Kuan-Yin and Prahlada both display how faith and determination help you to win every challenge in life.
  • Both stories show how evil will always fail and goodwill Prevail.

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