Nrsimha caturdasi, May 6. N. 1.

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"Hands

 

Lord Nrsimhadeva, You are the deliverer and protector and You are very

affectionate to Your devotees. Once, in ecstatic affection, You picked up

Prahlad, put him on Your lap and placed Your lotus hand on his head.

 

But, my Lord, Your hand is most inconceivable! The palm of Your hand is very

soft and pleasing just like a lotus flower. But Your nails are ferocious,

razor sharp, piercing and harder than thunderbolts! With these amazingly

wonderful fingernails You tore apart the demon Hiranyakasipu and annihilated

the hordes of his demoniac friends.

 

Simply by the touch of Your hand (Bhagavat darsa) Prahlad Maharaja became

immediately free from all material contaminations and desires, and achieved

brahma-jnana, transcendental knowledge. His heart became full of love, and

all the symptoms of ecstasy manifested in his body. Then Prahlad offered

prayers to You in full spiritual knowledge and full of devotional ecstasy...

 

Previously, my Lord, the lizard Nrga gave up his ugly body and received the

beautiful body of a demigod by the touch of Your hand.

Gajendra the elephant became free from all ignorance and attained

sarupya-mukti by Your touch.

By catching hold of Rukmini's hand, You saved her from being contaminated by

the hands of Sisupala and his company.

Akrura journeyed to Vrndavana with great expectations of receiving

benedictions from Your supreme hands.

With Your lotus hand You wiped the pearl like drops of perspiration from the

faces of the gopis, and they immediately felt refreshed by Your touch.

With Your two hands You held a flute and played the sweetest most enchanting

music to satisfy all of Your devotees.

 

Please Lord Nrsimhadeva, pick me up from the deep dark well of ignorance

with Your lotus hands. Please free me from this ugly body full of

insincerity and wicked, wordly desire. Award me a pure spiritual body and

always keep me protected in Your loving embrace. Never again let me be

touched by maya. Hold me in Your hands as Your instruments of service, and

engage me in sweet ways to please all of Your devotees.

 

Lord Nrsimhadeva, Your heart is as soft as lotus petals for Your surrendered

devotees. As Gajendra offered a lotus to You in submission, I put the lotus

of my heart in my hands and surrender to you. With Your hands You accept

whatever is offered to You. O my Lord Nrsimhadeva, I offer You my very self

and beg for this benediction in return: please may I see Your hand in

everything and always remember You. O Lord Nrsimhadeva, please protect me

and give me Your mercy."

 

(Adapted from the 53 paragraphs of Mahanidhi Swami's prayers to Lord

Nrsimhadeva written at Mayapura on Caturdasi 1997)