"nammudaiya namm perumAn"!

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

The asterism of 'swAti' will dawn on us tomorrow. The 'jayanti' of

the 4th avatAra of Vishnu will arrive! It is the avatArA of

Lakshmi-nrsimhan…the man-lion form in which

the Almighty appeared before his beloved devotee, the child PrahlAda,

and rescued him from the tyranny of the evil 'asura', Hiranyakassipu.

 

The story of the Nrsimha-avatAra is related in the ancient purAnA of

our land, the Srimad BhAgavatam, in the 7th 'skanda'. Today is an

especially appropriate day to re-read the "prahlAda-charitram" and

recount/recollect/re-live the experience of this unique avatAra of

the Lord Almighty.

 

The Nrsimha-avatara is 4th in the line of Vishnu's 'dasAvatAra' and

the first in a form akin to human kind. The 'avatAra' of half-lion

half-man became necessary because the evil of Hiranyakassipu was so

overpowering that it could be destroyed by neither human nor animal

agency alone... It required a Divine Force combining within itself

the awesome ferocity of raw animality ("ugram") and the marvellous

capacity of human genius ("agatita-ghaTana-sAmarthyam") to outwit and

root out the scourge of Evil from earth.

 

Hiranyakassippu, the personification of evil, and the Lord's

child-devotee, Prahlada, were father and son. (The purAnA intends us

to understand from this fact that good and evil in this world often

reside together). The father by dint of years of penance and effort

had attained extraordinary powers and had become the lord of all the

worlds. So powerful did he become that he came very near claiming

immortality and omnipotence.

 

Pride soon made arrogate to himself the status of God Almighty. He

saw all the world to be but his own creation... and he saw nothing

beyond the world of which he had become undisputed ruler.

 

Prahlada though born of his father's flesh was of entirely different

character. Even as a child his soul tended toward utter devotion to

God. And as he grew in years Prahlada became more and more

immersed in the consciousness and worship of the Almighty.

 

This infuriated the father who could'nt tolerate his son bowing to a

Being other than himself.

 

When neither fatherly persuasion nor threats could succeed in turning

Prahlada away from contemplation of God, Hiranyakassippu subjected

his son to untold misery.... He had his courtiers throw the boy into

a

pit of serpents; they fed him to the lions; they tried sinking him in

the sea; they hurled him from a steep cliff; they tried poisoning

him...

 

However hard they tried, none could do harm to Prahlada who came out

unscathed from every ordeal almost miraculously. The Lord's

protection was upon him in full measure.

 

Finally, Hiranyakassipu could stand it no more. In a terrible rage

one evening he confronted his little son and challenged him to reveal

the whereabouts of the God he worshipped. "Show me where your Vishnu

is and I shall show you who I am!", he thundered. "PrahlAda, I am the

Lord of the World, I am unmatched.. I am invincible... No man or

being on earth can overpower me... Death cowers in my presence... Day

and night, the earth and the skies shudder in my presence... No

weapon on earth, sword, mace or axe.. can smite me... Who is this

Supreme Being Narayana you are talking about?! Show him to me! And

you shall know who is truly supreme!".

 

Prahlada quietly retorted, "My father you ask me to show you where

the Lord Vishnu is? How can I? He resides everywhere! He resides in

my heart as much as He does in yours! There is no place in all of

Creation where his Presence is absent! He is "sarva-vyApi". He is

"vsihvAtmA", the inner soul of everything! He is the Witness of

everything... and everything witnesses Him... He is

"avyaya:purusha-sAkshi"!".

 

When he heard this almost laconic reply of his son, Hiranyakassipu

became incensed. In a paroxysm of mad temper he gathered his great

mace and said, "If your great Vishnu resides everywhere let him show

himself up in this pillar here! If your Vishnu is brave enough to

stand up to Hiranyakassipu, he should show up here!".

 

So saying the Emperor of Evil took up his massive mace and brought it

down on one of the great pillars in the palace-hall...

 

The earth trembled. The walls crumbled. The wind suddenly howled. The

day passed suddenly into night... and a strange, macabre event

unfolded itself!

 

>From within the pillar rent asunder by Hiranyakassippu emerged a

strange, hideous form that was half-man and half-lion. It had long

manes, blazing, fiery eyes... It had massive leonine jaws and gaping

fangs... It stood tall... taller than anything around the palace...It

emerged out of the debris with a spine-chilling roar... It strode

towards Hiranyakassipu, towering over him like a colossus, casting

its eerie shadow of death upon him like a malevolent predator lurking

in the darkness of the night...("bheekara-bheekara kareendra...")

 

NammAzhwAr in his famous 'tiruvoimOzhi' sang of this scene in

brilliant Tamil images:

 

pozhuthu melintha pUn sekkaril vaan thisai

suzhum ezhunthu uthirap-punalA malai

kizhuthu-piLantha singam othathAl appan

aazh thuyar seyydu asurarai kollumArE ! (7.4.6)

 

The above verse has been very beautifully translated into English by

A.K.Ramanujam as follows:

 

"At the red hour of sunset,

there was blood

on the heavens and the eight directions.

 

Our Lord

plunged the demon into despair

and slaughtered him:

 

a lion

tearing open

a mountain under his claws."

 

 

It was a ghastly sight indeed... and it is described very vividly by

the great SriVaishnava poet-philosopher, Swami Vedanta Desika (14th

CE) too in his famous 'stOtra' "kAmAsikAshtakam" in praise of Lord

Nrisimha:

 

"saTa-paTala bheeshanE sarabha-sAta hAsoTbhaTe

spuradh-kruti sphutat brukuti-kEpi krutE..." etc.

 

Vishnu emerged instantly in such a strange and marvellous form

("nArasimha-vapu:) and picking up Hiranyakassipu, He laid him upon

His lap and snapped his spine like a twig. The fury of the Lord was

unbounded. Nrsimha cracked open the mighty chest of the Evil Emperor

as if it were a nut-fruit; and with with His Nails

("nakkAgrE-shakali-chakrE") gouged out the entrails of His devotee's

tormentor and wound it around his neck like a garland...

 

It was gory spectacle that the purAnA describes... It all happened in

the flash of an instant... in that nether hour of twilight when day

is not far gone and night too is not far away...And it happened right

on the doorsteps of the Emperor's palace … The death of he who

had claimed lordship over the entire world was dealt by nothing more

lethal than a pair of feline claws...

 

Lord Nrisimha's fury did not however abate. The Man-Lion continued

his mayhem ... roaring, gnashing his talons, eyes spewing fire and

sheer terror... The 'purAnA' tells us that such was the terrible,

irrepressible mien of this avatArA, even the presence of His Consort,

Goddess Lakshmi, who hurriedly appeared on the scene, could not douse

the mighty fires of rage emanating from "jwAla-narasimhan"! The

Goddess gave up trying to pacify Her Lord saying, "Maybe this

creature here is not My Lord at all!!".

 

Finally, the 'devAs' and gods who had gathered there pleaded with

PrahlAda to himself approach the raging form of the Man-Lion and

somehow mollify it. The child boldly strode forth and sang a peaean

to the Lord... "prahlAda-stuthi".... on hearing which Nrisimhan's

"ugram" waned. Goddess Lakshmi once again seated herself beside Her

Lord and together with the assembled Deities there, gave audience to

devotees in the auspicious form of "sri.mAlOla"...

 

The world was rid of evil... the devotee Prahlada was rescued and

peace once again reigned in all the worlds.

 

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

 

Lord Nrsimhan was celebrated by another AzhwAr also.

 

Tirumangai-AzhwAr hailed Him as "nammudaiya nam-perUmAn" meaning,

"The God who is our own... our very, very own!". The AzhwAr's simple

phrase is extraordinarily eloquent. What it means is that of all

other "avatAra-s" of NarAyaNa, it is the "nrsimha- avatAra" alone

that appeals to one and all. The following facts clearly attest to

it:

 

Both Rama and Rudhra bowed before our Lord Nrisimhan; one praised him

with the "panchAmruta-stOtra" found in the "Hari-Vamsha"; the other

sang the "mantra-raja-pada-stOtra" found in the "ahirbudhnya-

samhita".

 

Our Lord of SingavEzh-kunram (Ahobilam) was the darling of all

"vEdAntAchAryA-s", as beloved to AdiSankara as He was to Adivan-

SatagOpan!

 

Our Lord was an inspiration to a mere, dumb pillar as much as he was

to a great musical composer ("vAggEyakAra") like AnnamAchAryA (a

disciple of Adivan-Satagopan)!

 

And today too the Lord of Prahlada adorns the Sringeri-Mutt as

royally as He presides over the Ahobila-Mutt!

 

The purAni-c lore of Lord Lakshmi-narasimha lives eternally in the

hearts of millions of people in India. There are many temples in the

states of Andhra Pradesh and T.Nadu where this deity is worshipped

ardently to this day.

 

Ahobilam near Kurnool is the most famous where "nava-nrsimhan" or the

nine different forms of the Lord are found in 9 shrines at various

spots on the great, verdant hills of Ahobilam. This Ahobilam is a

great place of pilgrimage for millions of devotees from all over the

country. According to the 'hari-vamsha purAna" Lord Rama Himself

worshipped the deity here in Ahobilam through the hymn titled

"narasimha-panchAmruta stOtra".

 

There are beautiful temples of Lakshmi-nrsimhan also in Vishakapatnam

(simhAchalam), Yadagirigutta (near Hyderabad), Mangalagiri,

SingaperumAl koil (near Madras), Simhacholapuram (or Sholinghur, near

Madras), Vellukai (near Kanchipuram), Namakkal (T,Nadu), VedAdri,

Wadapalli and Mattapalli (all on Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh).

 

The devotees of Ahobilam by and large also belong to the famous

Ahobila Mutt headed by the holy pontiff, Sri.Azhagiyasingar Jeer.

 

The worship of Lakshmi-narasimha is popular amongst all sects of

Saivites, Vaishnavites and MadhvAs since all the great AchAryas of

the Vedic tradition have worshipped this Deity. In the

'ahirbudhnya-samhita" it is written that Lord Siva himself worshipped

Narasimhan through the famous 'stOtra' called

"mantra-rAja-pada-stOtra'. Adi Sankara sang the famous

"lakshmi-nrsimha-karAvalamba-stOtra' in praise of this Deity. The

Sankara Mutt also has a special shrine for this Deity in Sringeri.

Many MAdhvAs worship this Deity in their homes as "kula-deivam". For

millions of SriVaishnavas who belong to the lineage of the 15th

century saint Sri.Adivan Satagopa Muni, Lakshmi-nrisimhan is one of

the foremost deities in their traditional pantheon.

 

Lord Nrsimhan is thus a universally acknowledged God celebrated as

the Mighty One who rushes instantly to the succour of His dear

devotees just as He rushed to save His beloved PrahalAda.

 

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

 

Today is 'nrsimha-jayanti'. Let us all in our hearts beseech the Lord

to shower His Blessings on one and all.

 

"tvayi rakshati rakshakai: kimanyaihi

tvayi chAraskhati rakshakai kimanyaihi

iti nishrutadheehi srayAmi nityam

nruharE vegavati tatAshrayam mAm"

(Verse 8 of "kAmAsikAshtakam" of Swami Vedanta Desika)

 

"If You deigned to protect me,

Who else do I need appeal!

But if You should turn away, alas,

What use is it beseeching anyone else?".

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

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