gokulkr Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 Actually, in the Sattvika puranas, there is no mention of the Lord drinking Hiranyasura's blood. And in any case, there is no relation (asaN^gataM) between Lord Narasimha's drinking blood and becoming deluded. The shruti (Mahanarayana Upanishad) says: sarvabhUtasthamekaM nArAyaNaM kAraNarUpaM shokamohavinirmuktaM viShNuM dhyAyan.h | shrIdadhAti... and thus rules out the possibility of Vishnu ever getting deluded (viShNormoha atyantAbhAvasya evAvedanAchcha). Moreover, that all the worlds were terrified of Lord Narasimha is also not correct. It is well known from the Gita verse 'paritrANAya sAdhUnAM vinAshaya cha duShkR^itAM' that the purpose of Vishnu's avataras is to protect the good and punish the wicked. Also, that Lord Narasimha was killed by Sharabha is also incorrect. The following lines in the nR^isimha-tApanIya Upanishad : eSha dehAnte tamasaH paramaM dhAma prApnuyAt.h | yatra virajo nR^isimho bhAsate tatra upAsate | tasadR^ishA munayaH talk of Lord Narasimha being located in 'paramaM dhAma' (Moksha sthAna: vaikuNTha, I guess). At the beginning of tApanIya Upanishad, in the line "kevalaM jyotirekamanAdyanantaM", Lord Narasimha is said to be devoid of a beginning and an end. (Where then is the question of his getting killed by Sharabha?) What more, that the Lord Narasimha killed Sharabha is told in many puranas. The Padma purana says: tau yudhyamAnau cha chiraM vegena balavattamau | na samaM jagmaturdevau nR^isiMhasharabhAkR^itI || tataH kR^iddho mahAkAyo nR^isiMho bhImavikramaH | sahasrakarajAnatra tasya gAtre nyaveshayat.h || patitaM bhImamatyugraM nR^isiMhaH sharabhaM ruShA | ** jaghAna nishitaistIxNaiH nakhairnakhavarAyudhaH || ** sharabhe tasmin.h raudre madhuniShUdanam.h | tuShTuvuH puNDarIkAxaM devA devarShayastathA || The highlighted lines convey that the Lord, using his nails, killed Sharabha. Vamana purana: nikR^itya bAhUrushirA vajrakalpamukhairnakhaiH | merupR^iShThe nR^isiMhena sharabhashchAtha so.apatat.h || Kurma purana: sa chaJNchupaJNchAnanamaShTapAdaM paxadvayADhyaM ghananIlagAtram.h | sphuranmahAtIvrasahasrahastaM sahasrashastraM sharabhasvarUpam.h || karadAdaya pratyekaM mukhaM chaJNchupuTadvayam.h | vidArya cha nR^isiMhastaM hiraNyakashipuM yathA || Agni purana: tataH kshaNena sharabho nAdapUritadiN^.hmukhaH | abhyAshamagamadviShNorvyanadadbhairavasvanam.h || sa tamabhyAgataM dR^iShTvA nR^isiMhaH sharabhaM ruShA | nakhairvidArayAmAsa hiraNyakashipuM yathA || All of them compare the Lord's killing Sharabha (using his nails) to the act of killing Hiranyakashyapa. More so, in the shruti 'hariM harantamanuyanti devAH | vishvasyeshAnaM vR^iShabhaM matInAM', Rudra (conveyed by the word 'IshAna') is said to be killed by Hari. The shruti's interpretation is thus: The shaShThi-vibhakti in vishasya should be taken in the prathamA-vibhakti. The Devas (vishvedevAH) follow that Hari, who destroys (harantaM) Rudra. It should not be said that the Devas follow that Rudra who destroys Hari. For, the Smriti: brahmaNamindraM rudraM cha yamaM varuNameva cha | nihatya harate yasmAttasmAddharirihochyate || (On the account of being the destroyer (nihatya harate yasmAt) of Brahma, Indra, Rudra, Yama and Varuna, he is called 'Hari') clarifies that the very word, Hari, indicates His being the destroyer and not the destroyed. A passage in the Taittariya Aranyaka starts with 'tasyendro vahmirUpeNa dhanurjyAmachChinatsvayam.h' (Indra in the form of Agni himself breaks the 'heart of his bow' into pieces) and concludes 'etadrudrasya dhanuH | rudrasyatveva dhanurArtniH shira utpipeSha | sa pravargyo.abhavat.h' (That bow belonged to Rudra. Since that belonged to Rudra, his 3 heads broke into pieces) and thus conveys an incident where Indra, powered by his antaryAmi Vishnu, severes the head of Rudra (thus establishing Vishnu's supremacy over Rudra). It should not be said that this anecdote does not refer to the well-known Rudra because the singers of Samaveda consider the Rudra with 3 heads and a bow as some other Yaksha and not the well known Rudra. As the above shruti (hariM harantaM) says, it is indeed the destruction of well known Rudra that is referred here. Though Indra is not capable of severing Rudra's head on his own powers, he was able to do that with help from Vishnu's discus and Vishnu Himself. There are pramANas to that effect. The latter portion of Kurma purana says raxitaM naiva shaknoShi svAtmAnamapi shaN^kara | yuddhe kiM jeShyasi tvaM mAM pUrvavR^ittaM mayochyate || yadA madbhaktashakrasya yaj~nadhvamsaH kR^itastvayA | tadA.ahaM te shirashChitvA tatkratU raxito mayA | tato mAM prArthayAmAsa manobhIShTAya pArvatI | tadA vai matprasAdena prANAn.h lebhe bhavAn.h shiva || (Vishnu says:) Hey Shankara, you are not capable of protecting even yourself. How can you win over me in a war? I shall recount an old account (pUrvavR^ittaM). You came to ruin the yajna performed by Indra. Then, I protected that Yajna, having got your head severed. Then, to obtain you back, Parvati prayed to me; after which, you got your life due to my grace. These words are told by Shiva to Parvati praising Vishnu. There is a upAkhyAna to this effect also (atredaM kilopAkhyAnam.h) In some kalpa, Indra without telling other gods, meditating upon Lord Narayana, started a sacrifice. Then the Gods sent Rudra to spoil that yajna. When Rudra created havoc there, Indra meditated upon the Lord. Then Vishnu's chakra beheaded Rudra. Later he was brought to life due to Parvati praying the Lord. This can be seen in Matsya and Narasimha puranas also. Therefore there is all evidence to say that Lord Narasimha is Parabrahma. Sarabha is nothing. shrI madhveshanR^isiMhArpaNamastu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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