Sudarsana-Narasimhan ArchA Vigrahams

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SrI :

Dear BhakthAs :

This question raised by Sri Bharat Iyengar on the back to back presence of

Sri Narasimha BhagavAn and His Sudarsana Moorthy has come up quite often .

 

Back in 1996 , I had posted an article on the subject . It is attached .

There is also an excellent article by Sri Muralidhar Rangaswamy

on the subject that I would like to invite your attention to .That appeared in

the SaranAgathi Journal . That article is being sent to you seperately .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

Message from Internet

V. Sadagopan (75041.3037_at_CompuServe.COM)Mon Oct 07 1996 - 14:18:06 PDT

Sri Rangaswamy was able to extract form hisarchives a note I sent out

on Narasimha-Sudarsana connectionlast July , a month after I joined

the Bhakthi group .V.Sadagopan

P.S : I will supplement this note with a posting on Sudarsna Kavacham

that has additional information on the relationship between Bhagavans

Narasimhanand Sudarsanaazhwaan. ---------- Forwarded Message

---------- INTERNET:RANGASWAMY (AT) plh (DOT) af.mil,

INTERNET:RANGASWAMY (AT) plh (DOT) af.milTO: V. Sadagopan,

75041,3037DATE: 10/7/96 10:18 AM12 Jul 95 21:31:04 EDT"V.

Sadagopan" <75041.3037 (AT) compuserve (DOT) com>To:

"INTERNET:rjm (AT) ulysses (DOT) att.com" <rjm (AT) ulysses (DOT) att.com>Subject:

Chakrataazhwar

Sriram: Here are some points on the Back to back iconography of

Narasimha andSudarsana . Up to the seventh century AD, the narasimha

Icons had two handsonly.Afterthat Period of Pallavas, the Iconography

of Narasimha became complexwith his Form having 16 and even 32 hands.

The two-in-one icon came into vogueby daring sculptors.

Narasimha-Sudarsana and Subrahmanya-Lakshmi Narasimha aretwo such

creations. The latter is a very rare one seen in atemple 30 miles

otthe Norht of Bangalore and is known as Ghati Subrahmanya. According

to theiconographic traditions, Subrahmanya faces east and Natrasimha

facesWest. Now , Coming back to Sudarsana -Narasimha vigraha followa

the Vighanasa andPancharatra Agama stipulations on Narasimha

Iconography. According to VaikanasaAgama, Narasimhan has to be

worshipped in 4 Places , namely, below the earth,in pillars, on

hills and in Sudarsana. Presence of Narasimha inside theSudarsana

wheel is pointed out by Padma Samhita(31 and 257) .Narasimha

isconsidered as residing in the heart of Sudarsana.THe Sudarsana

disc(wheel )itself is recognized as a form of Vishnu (ie) he being

present as Chakra rupi.Thus in worshipping Sudarsana chakra, we not

only worship Narasimha , but alsoVishnu in all other forms.The

Puranas(Agni, Narada, Vishnu Dharmottara ) also provide some clues in

thismatter.Narada purana in particular elaborates on the worship of

Narasimha in theUgra form with 16 arms. Narasimha is presented a

shaving the lustre of thedeadly fire (Kaalanala). Sudarsana has been

recognized as the wheel oftime(Kaala) in Mahabharatha . Sudarsana is

also the Maha Jyothi of a MightyJwaala , similar to the one seen

around the head of Jwaala Narasimhan, with hisshrine on the upper

reaches of the Ahobila Hills. Jwaala Narasimhan is one ofthe Nava

Narasimhas and the tradition has it that it is this form of

Narasimhan,who destroyed Hiranyakasipu. We have to piece the fact of

Jwaala and the timeaspects of that Jwaala , which is represented by

Sudharsana, the mighty weaponof the Lord.Some people have also

speculated on the Time aspect of the Sudharsana thru itsrevolving

motion (dynamics) and the Space aspects of the Form denoted

bySankam(Panchajanyam) . Here again the revolving mighty flame

associated withSudharsana reminds one of the Kaalagni alluded to

earlier. Swami Desikan"sreference in his Shodasaayudha Stotram makes

reference to Kaala chakram andJagat chakram (Time and space) being

incorporated in the Lord (CHAKRINA:) , whois of the form of the

divine disc(CHAKRA RUPASYA)> Verse 2<.Hope this provides some input

for additional reflections,Sadagopan