Appearnce of Lord Nrsimhadeva on 22nd May.

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Hare Krishna,

 

PAMHO, AGTSP,AGTGM

 

Kindly glorify the Appearnce of Lord Nrsimhadeva on

22nd May.

 

yr hs radhabhava gaur das

Lord Nrsimhadeva Slays the King of the Demons

SB 7.8 Summary

As described in this chapter, Hiranyakasipu was ready

to kill his own son Prahlada Maharaja, but the Supreme

Personality of Godhead appeared in front of the demon

as Sri Nrkesari, half lion and half man, and killed

him. Following the instructions of Prahlada Maharaja,

all the sons of the demons became attached to Lord

Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When this

attachment became pronounced, their teachers, Sanda

and Amarka, were very much afraid that the boys would

become more and more devoted to the Lord. In a

helpless condition, they approached Hiranyakasipu and

described in detail the effect of Prahlada's

preaching. After hearing of this, Hiranyakasipu

decided to kill his son Prahlada. Hiranyakasipu was so

angry that Prahlada Maharaja fell down at his feet and

said many things just to pacify him, but he was

unsuccessful in satisfying his demoniac father.

Hiranyakasipu, as a typical demon, began to advertise

himself as being greater than the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, but Prahlada Maharaja challenged him,

saying that Hiranyakasipu was not God, and began to

glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead, declaring

that the Lord is all-pervading, that everything is

under Him, and that no one is equal to or greater than

Him. Thus he requested his father to be submissive to

the omnipotent Supreme Lord. The more Prahlada

Maharaja glorified the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

the more angry and agitated the demon became.

Hiranyakasipu asked his Vaisnava son whether his God

existed within the columns of the palace, and Prahlada

Maharaja immediately accepted that since the Lord is

present everywhere, He was also present within the

columns. When Hiranyakasipu heard this philosophy from

his young son, he derided the boy's statement as just

the talk of a child and forcefully struck the pillar

with his fist. As soon as Hiranyakasipu struck the

column, there issued forth a tumultuous sound. At

first Hiranyakasipu, the King of the demons, could not

see anything but the pillar, but to substantiate

Prahlada's statements, the Lord came out of the pillar

in His wonderful incarnation as Narasimha, half lion

and half man. Hiranyakasipu could immediately

understand that the extraordinarily wonderful form of

the Lord was surely meant for his death, and thus he

prepared to fight with the form of half lion and half

man. The Lord performed His pastimes by fighting with

the demon for some time, and in the evening, on the

border between day and night, the Lord captured the

demon, threw him on His lap, and killed him by

piercing his abdomen with His nails. The Lord not only

killed Hiranyakasipu, the King of the demons, but also

killed many of his followers. When there was no one

else to fight, the Lord, roaring with anger, sat down

on Hiranyakasipu's throne. The entire universe was

thus relieved of the rule of Hiranyakasipu, and

everyone was jubilant in transcendental bliss. Then

all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, approached

the Lord. These included the great saintly persons,

the Pitas, the Siddhas, the Vidyadharas, the Nagas,

the Manus, the prajapatis, the Gandharvas, the

Caranas, the Yaksas, the Kimpurusas, the Vaitalikas,

the Kinnaras and also many other varieties of beings

in human form. All of them stood not far from the

Supreme Personality of Godhead and began offering

their prayers unto the Lord, whose spiritual

effulgence was brilliant as He sat on the throne.

 

Chapter Nine

Prahlada Pacifies Lord Nrsimhadeva with Prayers

SB 7.9 Summary

As related in this chapter, Prahlada Maharaja,

following the order of Lord Brahma, pacified the Lord

when the Lord was extremely angry after having killed

Hiranyakasipu. After Hiranyakasipu was killed, the

Lord continued to be very angry, and the demigods,

headed by Lord Brahma, could not pacify Him. Even

mother Laksmi, the goddess of fortune, the constant

companion of Narayana, could not dare come before Lord

Nrsimhadeva. Then Lord Brahma asked Prahlada Maharaja

to go forward and pacify the Lord's anger. Prahlada

Maharaja, being confident of the affection of his

master, Lord Nrsimhadeva, was not afraid at all. He

very gravely appeared before the Lord's lotus feet and

offered Him respectful obeisances. Lord Nrsimhadeva,

being very much affectionate toward Prahlada Maharaja,

put His hand on Prahlada's head, and because of being

personally touched by the Lord, Prahlada Maharaja

immediately achieved brahma-jnana, spiritual

knowledge. Thus he offered his prayers to the Lord in

full spiritual knowledge and full devotional ecstasy.

The instructions given by Prahlada Maharaja in the

form of his prayers are as follows.

Prahlada said, "I am not proud of being able to offer

prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I

simply take shelter of the mercy of the Lord, for

without devotion one cannot appease Him. One cannot

please the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by

dint of high parentage or great opulence, learning,

austerity, penance or mystic power. Indeed, these are

never pleasing to the Supreme Lord, for nothing can

please Him but pure devotional service. Even if a

nondevotee is a brahmana qualified with the twelve

brahminical symptoms, he cannot be very dear to the

Lord, whereas if a person born in a family of

dog-eaters is a devotee, the Lord can accept his

prayers. The Lord does not need anyone's prayers, but

if a devotee offers his prayers to the Lord, the

devotee benefits greatly. Ignorant persons born in low

families, therefore, can sincerely offer heartfelt

prayers to the Lord, and the Lord will accept them. As

soon as one offers his prayers to the Lord, he is

immediately situated on the Brahman platform.

Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared for the benefit of all human

society, not only for Prahlada's personal benefit. The

fierce form of Lord Nrsimhadeva may appear most awful

to a nondevotee, but to the devotee the Lord is always

affectionate as He is in other forms. Conditioned life

in the material world is actually extremely fearful;

indeed, a devotee is not afraid of anything else. Fear

of material existence is due to false ego. Therefore

the ultimate goal of life for every living entity is

to attain the position of being servant of the servant

of the Lord [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. The miserable

condition of the living entities in the material world

can be remedied only by the mercy of the Lord.

Although there are so-called material protectors like

Lord Brahma and the other demigods, or even one's own

father, they are unable to do anything if one is

neglected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

However, one who has fully taken shelter of the Lord's

lotus feet can be saved from the onslaught of material

nature. Therefore every living entity should be

unattracted by material so-called happiness and should

take shelter of the Lord by all means. That is the

mission of human life. To be attracted by sense

gratification is simply foolish. Whether one is a

devotee of the Lord or is a nondevotee does not depend

upon one's birth in a high or low family. Even Lord

Brahma and the goddess of fortune cannot achieve the

full favor of the Lord, whereas a devotee can very

easily attain such devotional service. The Lord's

mercy is bestowed equally upon everyone, regardless of

whether one is high or low. Because Prahlada Maharaja

was blessed by Narada Muni, Prahlada became a great

devotee. The Lord always saves the devotee from

impersonalists and voidists. The Lord is present in

everyone's heart as the Supersoul to give the living

being protection and all benefits. Thus the Lord acts

sometimes as the killer and sometimes as the

protector. One should not accuse the Lord for any

discrepancies. It is His plan that we see varieties of

life within this material world. All of them are

ultimately His mercy.

Although the entire cosmic manifestation is

nondifferent, the material world is nonetheless

different from the spiritual world. Only by the mercy

of the Supreme Lord can one understand how the

wonderful material nature acts. For example, although

Lord Brahma appeared from the lotus seat that had

grown from the abdomen of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, he

could not understand what to do after his appearance.

He was attacked by two demons, Madhu and Kaitabha, who

took away Vedic knowledge, but the Lord killed them

and entrusted to Lord Brahma the Vedic knowledge. Thus

the Lord appears in every millennium in the societies

of demigods, human beings, animals, saints and

aquatics. All such incarnations are meant to protect

the devotees and kill the demons, but this killing and

protecting does not reflect any sense of partiality on

the part of the Supreme Lord. The conditioned soul is

always attracted by the external energy. Therefore he

is subjected to lust and greed, and he suffers under

the conditions of material nature. The Lord's

causeless mercy toward His devotee is the only means

by which to get out of material existence. Anyone

engaged in glorifying the Lord's activities is always

unafraid of this material world, whereas one who

cannot glorify the Lord in that way is subjected to

all lamentation.

Those interested in silently worshiping the Lord in

solitary places may be eligible for liberation

themselves, but a pure devotee is always aggrieved to

see others suffering. Therefore, not caring for his

own liberation, he always engages in preaching by

glorifying the Lord. Prahlada Maharaja, therefore, had

tried to deliver his class friends by preaching and

had never remained silent. Although being silent,

observing austerities and penances, learning the Vedic

literature, undergoing ritualistic ceremonies, living

in a solitary place and performing japa and

transcendental meditation are approved means of

liberation, they are meant for nondevotees or for

cheaters who want to live at the expense of others. A

pure devotee, however, being freed from all such

deceptive activities, is able to see the Lord face to

face.

The atomic theory of the composition of the cosmic

manifestation is not factual. The Lord is the cause of

everything, and therefore He is the cause of this

creation. One should therefore always engage in

devotional service by offering respectful obeisances

to the Lord, offering prayers, working for the Lord,

worshiping the Lord in the temple, always remembering

the Lord and always hearing about His transcendental

activities. Without these six kinds of activity, one

cannot attain to devotional service.

Prahlada Maharaja thus offered his prayers to the

Supreme Lord, begging His mercy at every step. Lord

Nrsimhadeva was pacified by Prahlada Maharaja's

prayers and wanted to give him benedictions by which

Prahlada could procure all kinds of material

facilities. Prahlada Maharaja, however, was not misled

by material facilities. Rather, he wanted to remain

always a servant of the servant of the Lord [Cc.

Madhya 13.80].

 

 

 

 

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