Sri Nrisimha Pranama
(from the Nrisimha Purana, offered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Lord Jagannatha in Jagannatha Puri)
namas te narasimhaya
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakashipor vakshaha
shila-tanka-nakhalaye
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, Lord Nrisimhadeva. You are the giver of pleasure to Prahlada Maharaja, and your nails cut the chest of Hiranyakashipu like a chisel cutting stone.”
ito nrisimhah parato nrisimho
yato yato yami tato nrisimhah
bahir nrisimho hridaye nrisimho
nrisimham adim sharanam prapadye
“Lord Nrisimha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Nrisimha is there. He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Nrisimha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.”
You have asked me what the meaning of this prayer is. It is a prayer of protection invoking the Mercy of the Half Man Half Lion incarnation of Vishnu or Krsna known as Nrisimghadeva. Like many of you I have watched with dismay with the increased militarization against the citizens of this country (and everywhere else for that matter) who are asking for a process that is participatory with access to our leaders to redress grievances. Food, shelter, education,a clean environment, mercy shown to defenseless women, children, elderly and animals are all reasonable concerns which should not in fact have to be asked of those charged with the human responsibility of stewardship by the mass of people. We wonder what they are actually learning at such higher institutions such as Harvard which boast of being superior educational institutions for the best and the brightest. As devotee and scholar, Srila Prabhuapada said many times the fatal flaw in the educational system is there is no department to study the science of the soul in any of these universities. Without a grasp of the fundamentals of the difference between Matter and Spirit, the relationship we have with the Source of all life, understanding the application of compassion, we run the risk of finding ourselves in a misguided civilization that is gliding towards hell. (Sound familiar?)
Non – Violence and the Transcendent Realm – The History of Hiranyakasipu and Prahlada Maharaja
Looking back to history, I see that this is not the first time humanity has faced this situation. Allow me to elucidate. Prince Prahlada was the son of Hirayakasipu (which means “gold” and “soft bed” such were his priorities) who was an incredibly powerful tyrant who had managed to create his own One World Order through intimidation and brutality. In terms of military strength and personal wealth he made todays despots seem puny So Fear Not. In fact, he was so terrible that just by raising one eyebrow he could make the Universe tremble. Prahlada was the heir apparent to this throne of cruelty and was duly sent to school at the age of 5 years to learn diplomacy, politics and manipulation as part of the ruling elite. Prahlada being a self realized soul by dint of having the good fortune of encountering his spiritual master in utero, was completely uninterested in such topics. His heart was already given to the the Supreme Lord and had concluded that one’s time was wasted striving for mundane power. Humble, peaceful and well mannered, he could still be classified as a rebel.When his teachers Amarka and Sanda weren’t paying attention he spent his time instructing his classmates in the science of devotional service during recess in the schoolyard. When Prahlada went home Hiranyakasipu asked him what the best thing he had learned that day. His response met with considerable disapproval. His teachers were chastised and told to take charge of the situation or else. When they asked him where he had learned such deviant teachings Prahlada Maharaja replied:
“Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose external energy has created the distinctions of “my friend” and “my enemy” by deluding the intelligence of men. Indeed, I am now actually experiencing this, although I have previously heard of it from authoritative sources. He went on to say (SB 7.5.12) : ” When the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased with the living entity because of his devotional service, one becomes a pandita and does not make distinctions between enemies, friends and himself. Intelligently, he then thinks, “Every one of us is an eternal servant of God, and therefore we are not different from one another.” (SB 7.5.13: ) ” Persons who always think in terms of “enemy” and “friend” are unable to ascertain the Supersoul within themselves. Not to speak of them, even such exalted persons as Lord Brahma, who are fully conversant with the Vedic literature, are sometimes bewildered in following the principles of devotional service. The same Supreme Personality of Godhead who has created this situation has certainly given me the intelligence to take the side of your so-called enemy.”
After some time when asked again by his father what he learned in school, he replied in the same vein stating that only a bewildered person would invest in the perspective of division and that true success lies in remembering, hearing and serving Lord Vishnu. Furious, Hiranyakasipu took this as an act of direct aggression and throwing his son down on the marble floor of the palace (ouch!) ordered his lackeys to kill Prahlada immediately. Things were looking grim. How could a 5 year old boy defend himself against riot cops in military gear?
Tridents and swords were brandished and poked at Prahlada but the attempts to chop him to pieces were ineffectual. No visible harm was done as Prahlada sat in profound meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hiranyakasipu at that moment became very afraid. What power was this 5 year old boy drawing upon?
Panicked and fearful Hiranyakasipu then began a series of violent acts against his son:He attempted to have Prahlad trampled by elephants, thrown from a top of a hill, boiling him alive in a caldron, poisoning him with food, throwing him in a pit of poisonous snakes and so on. Regardless of the dangerous circumstances he was placed in Prahlada remained serene by dint of his unflinching faith and meditation on Lord Vishnu. He thought ” I can see that this boy’s strength is unlimited, for he has not feared any of my punishments. He appears immortal. Therefore, because of my enmity toward him, I shall die. Or maybe this will not take place.” S.B. 7.5.47
Now this is the thing: Prahlada while seemingly imbued with great mystic power was relying for his protection on the Supreme Mystic Yogesvara. The glue was love. The Lord is Bhakta Vatsala which means he is affectionately inclined towards His devotees. For those who depend on Him exclusively He provides protection. If this sounds far fetched consider the power of the life connection we all share known as the Supersoul. This is a feature of the Lord who is present in the heart of all living entities. The Supersoul instructs from within so when it came time to trample Prahlada the elephants simply lifted him with their trunks and placed him upon their backs as they were instructed to do so from within. The snakes ordinarily ill tempered became peaceful and saw no threat in his presence among them. Weapons were rendered useless, poison ineffectual and so on.
Now for the Closer:
After some time Hiranyakasipu desiring more power questioned Prahlada as to where he got his power from.
“The same place that you do father. The Supreme Personality of Godhead”.
This was too much for the demon. He said “Where is he?”
“He is everywhere.”
“Everywhere? Is he here? Is he here?”
This line of questioning was accompanied by some frantic finger pointing by Hiranyakasipu to various locations in his palace.
Finally he inquired ” Is he in this pillar?”
“Why Yes He is is father.”
“Well then I shall kill him!” shrieked Hiranyakasipu and with his great strength smashed the pillar with his sword.
Out of the pillar lept the half man, half lion incarnation of the Lord Nrsimghadeva roaring in great Trancendental anger.
“Hiranyakasipu studied the form of the Lord, trying to decide who the form of Nrsimhadeva standing before him was. The Lord’s form was extremely fearsome because of His angry eyes, which resembled molten gold; His shining mane, which expanded the dimensions of His fearful face; His deadly teeth; and His razor-sharp tongue, which moved about like a dueling sword. His ears were erect and motionless, and His nostrils and gaping mouth appeared like caves of a mountain. His jaws parted fearfully, and His entire body touched the sky. His neck was very short and thick, His chest broad, His waist thin, and the hairs on His body as white as the rays of the moon. His arms, which resembled flanks of soldiers, spread in all directions as He killed the demons, rogues and atheists with His conchshell, disc, club, lotus and other natural weapons.
While Hiranyakasipu looked all around to find the source of the sound, that wonderful form of the Lord, which could not be ascertained to be either a man or a lion, emerged from the pillar. In amazement, Hiranyakasipu wondered, “What is this creature that is half man and half lion?”
PURPORT: “A demon cannot calculate the unlimited potency of the Supreme Lord. As stated in the Vedas, parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca: the different potencies of the Lord are always working as an automatic exhibition of His knowledge. For a demon it is certainly wonderful that the form of a lion and the form of a man can be united, since a demon has no experience of the inconceivable power for which the Supreme Lord is called “all-powerful.” Demons cannot understand the omnipotence of the Lord. They simply compare the Lord to one of them (avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam [Bg. 9.11]). Mudhas or asses , rascals, think that Krsna is an ordinary human being who appears for the benefit of other human beings. param bhavam ajanantah: fools, rascals and demons cannot realize the supreme potency of the Lord, but He can do anything and everything; indeed, He can do whatever He likes…”
Why This Is So
“The Lord is situated transcendentally, in pure goodness. The material world is generally controlled by tamo-guna, the quality of ignorance, but the spiritual world, because of the presence of the Lord and His effulgence, is free from all contamination by darkness, passion or contaminated goodness. Although there is a tinge of goodness in this material world in terms of the brahminical qualifications, such qualifications sometimes become invisible because of the strong prevalence of the modes of passion and ignorance. But because the Lord is always transcendentally situated, the material modes of passion and ignorance cannot touch Him. Whenever the Lord is present, there cannot be any darkness from the mode of ignorance. It is stated in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.31)”
The Power of Mantras to Lord Nrsimghadeva
In the spiritual currency sound is all powerful. This is so because there is no difference between the Name Fame Form and Entourage of the Lord. Spiritual Sound is the original reality and everything we see here is a derivative of that. Today there is a common acceptance that words have the power to heal or harm. That our thoughts have great power and the ability to manifest positive or negative results. I present to you here the spiritual origins of these ideas. As we work to shape a compassionate just world let us not leave out the Source of compassion and justice. Our position like Prahlada finds us outgunned by aggressive and hostile persons who are fully invested in a friend/ enemy paradigm. We know that we don’t want to end in bloodshed which is the mode that the old guard would like to see things end in because they don’t understand anything else. Let’s dig in, have faith and depend on a true Friend who has everyone’s best interests at heart and who is perfectly capable of protecting us in ways beyond our expectations while purifying the world of envy and greed. Please copy and past the link below to read more extensive mantras of protection to the Lord. And in case you are wondering what happened to Hiranyakasipu he was liberated as a result of being touched by the Lord. In the same way a kitten is unafraid of being picked up in the jaws of it’s mother, so a devotee is peaceful and unafraid the face of the great power and majesty of the Lord.
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/prayers_to_lord_narasimhadeva.htm
