Sri Nrusimha PanchAmrutha Sthothram : Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bahkthi Group :

 

I will cover a beautiful eulogy attributed traditionally

to Sri RamachandrA . This sthothram is delectable to

listen . Hence it has been described as equivalent in rasanai

to the tasting of PanchAmrutham , which is made up of many fruits ,

honey , and sugar . The DevAs , who enjoyed listening to the most

delectable sthuthi described it as"PanchAmrutham Anutthamam ".

The DevAs felt that the experience of listening to this sthuthi

composed by Sri RamA was unsurpassed (AnutthamAm )

in taste , better than any PanchAmrutham made up of the usual

ingredients. Hence they described it as " PanchAmrutham

Anutthamam " or invincible PanchAmrutham from the point of

view of its "taste " to the ears .

 

Sri RamachandrA with Sowmithri stopped at Ahobilam

on his southward trek towards LankhA to fulfill his avathAra

Kaaryam . He worshipped Sri Narasimhan of Ahobila Kshethram

and received His blessings and with the power of those blessings

destroyed the evil RavaNA and returned home victorious with His

consort . Hari vamsam in the section on Sesha Dharmam

(chapter 47 ) describes Sri RamA"s sojourn at Ahobilam .

The sthothram composed by Sri RamA in front of PrahlAdha Varadan

is known as " Sri Nrusimha PanchAmrutham ". There are five slokas

that Sri RamA used to offer His salutation to BhagavAn Narasimhan .

 

SRI NRUSIMHAAYA NAMA :

 

INTRODUCTORY SLOKAM

******************************

 

AhObilam Naarasimham gathvA Rama: PrathApavAn I

NamaskruthvA Sri Nrusimham asthousheeth KamalApathim II

 

In this slokam , Sri Nrusimhan is described as KamalApathi

or the consort of MahA Lakshmi , who does not leave Him even for

a second. Hence , the ArchA murthy worshipped by Sri RamA

could very well be MaalOlan or Lakshmi Narasimhan , who

is the Aaradhana Murthy of Ahobila Mutt Jeeyars today.

 

The slokam indicates that Sri RamA prostrated first before

the Lord of Ahobilam ( Kaayika namaskaraNam ) and then

offered His vaachika salutation ( Asthusheeth ) .

 

The first line of this slokam states that the valorous

Sri RamA (PrathApavAn ) made a deliberate journey

to Ahobilam ( gathvA ) and offered his homage to

Lord Narasimhan.

 

FIRST SLOKAM

*****************

 

Govindha Kesava JanArdhana Vaasudeva

Visvesa Visva Madhusoodhana Visvaroopa I

Sri PadmanAbha Purushotthama PushkarAksha

NaarAyaNAchyutha Nrusimha NamO NamasthE II

 

This verse is a testament to the " Madhura Vaak "

of Sri RamA described by HanumAn in Sundara Khaandha

Slokam section : " SatyavAdhee Madhura Vaak dEvO

VaachaspathiryathA " ( Sundara KhAndham 34.29) .

HanumAn describes Sri RamA to Sri SitA as the

one with " Madhura Vaak " and as a competitor to

Brahaspathi , the Deava Guru , in His meaning-laden

speech (Artha Pushti ) .

 

In this slOkam , Sri RamA uses 12 NamaskArams

( If one counts the Naamam , NaarAyaNAchyutha ,

as one Naamam . These NaamAs chosen by

Daasarathi are the ones celebrated in VishNu

Sahasra nAmam . RaamA chose these celebrated

names to eulogize " Naarasimha Vapu: SrimAn

KESAVA : PURUSHOTTHAMA ". One can hear the echoes

of Vishnu Sahasra Naamam (VSN) again and again here .

For instance , when RamA slautes Narasimhan

as PadmanAbhan , we hear the echo of the sixth

verse of Vishnu Sahasranaamam :

 

" ApramEyO Hrishikesa: PADMANAABHO amara Prabhu ; "

 

When RamA addresses BhagavAn Narasimhan as

" SRI PADMANAABHAN " , one is reminded of the

DwAdasa Naama Panjara Sthothra section saluting

Padmanaabhan :

 

" hrudh padmE PadmanAbhO meh

sahasrArka samaprabha : I

SarvAyudha: Sarvasakthi: Sarvajna :

sarvathOmukha : "

 

Sri RamA reached Ahobilam to seek the blessings

of the Lord , who used just His nails as a weapon ,

even though He is served by SarvAyudhams and

is the embodiment of Sarva Sakthi . BhagavAn Narasimhan

gave the boon of his sarva sakthi to RamA to

complete successfully His avathAra Kaaryam .

 

Sri RamA's choice of the naamam " SRI PADMANABHA "

reminds one of the prefix , Lakshmi , which goes before

the name of the Lord of Ahobilam ( Lakshmi Narasimhan ).

One is also reminded of the consort of the ArchAmurthy of

Thiruvananthapuram (PadmanAbhan ) revered as " Hari Lakshmi ".

 

The twelve names (Dwaadasa Naama) chosen by RamA

to construct the golden cage/house ( Panjaram) for

BhagavAn of AhObilam are :

 

1. Govindha(190th VSN ; The protector of those , who

know the words )

2.Kesava(23rd VSN; one who has lovely locks of hair/Pidari )

3.JanArdhana ( VSN 129; the destoyer of persons

who are antagonistic )

4.Vaasudeva(334th VSN; He who pervades and sports )

5. Visvesa( Close to VSN 118 : Om Visva YonayEa nama:)

6. Visva (full in all aspects, 1st naamam of VSN)

7. Madhusoodhana( an epithet for VishNu and is also the name for

honey bee; RamA's sancharam as a Bramaram (bee) around

Bhagavan NarasimhA can also be the reference ) .

8. Visvaroopa ( Close to VSN 90 ; Om VisvarEthasE Nama: )

9. Sri PadmanAbha( 48th VSN; One who has alotus in His navel)

10. PurushOtthama (24th VSN )

11.PushkarAksha (40th VSN; the lotus eyed one)

12. NaarAyaNAchyutha ( AchyuthAnandha Govindha NaarayaNa

namOsthu tEh ).

 

The remaining four slokams end with either the line ,

" Tham Naarasimham SaraNam gathOsmi " or

" Tvaam Nrusimham sathatham NathOsmi ".

I will cover the SaraNAgathi performed by Sri RamachandrA

to BahgavAn Narasimha in the next posting .

 

BhagavAn Sriya: Pathi: Sriman NaarAyaNa:

BhakthAnAm Abhaya^nkara: Dushta Nigraha

Sishta paripAlana Kshama: saraNAgatha

Vathsala : NaarAyaNAchyutha Nrusimha

,Thubhyam NamO Nama :

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan