Narasimha is a significant iconic symbol of creative resistance, hope against odds, victory over persecution, and destruction of evil. He is the destructor of not only external evil, but also one's own inner evil of "body, speech, and mind"
I bow to the lord who conquered the three worlds with his valiance, who has unlimited valiance, the great man-lion, the one who has four arms, the one who holds shrI and the weapons shAr~Nga (bow), chakra (sudarshana), sword (nAndaka) and the mace (kaumodaki), the best among men.
~Mahabharata: Harivamsha Parva: Bhavishya Parva chapter 34
“Making a loud, shrill sound of laughter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, who is extremely strong and powerful, captured Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was protecting himself with his sword and shield, leaving no gaps open. With the speed of a hawk, Hiraṇyakaśipu moved sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the earth, his eyes closed because of fear of Nṛsiṁhadeva’s laughter.” [source : Srimad bhagwat mahapuran, 7.8.28]
He incarnated to kill the mighty demon Hirankashyapu, and his rage went out of control, even after slaughtering the demon :
“Manifesting a full effulgence and a fearsome countenance, Lord Nṛsiṁha, being very angry and finding no contestant to face His power and opulence, then sat down in the assembly hall on the excellent throne of the king. Because of fear and obedience, no one could come forward to serve the Lord directly.” [source : srimad Bhagwat mahapuran, 7.8.34]
“When Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva saw the small boy Prahlāda Mahārāja prostrated at the soles of His lotus feet, He became most ecstatic in affection toward His devotee. Raising Prahlāda, the Lord placed His lotus hand upon the boy’s head because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness in all of His devotees.” [source : srimad Bhagwat mahapuran, 7.9.5]
Ugram Viram Maha Vishnum Jvalantam Sarvato Mukham
Nirisimham Bhishanam Bhadram Mrutyur Mrutyum Namamy Aham
I bow down to Lord Narasimha who is highly ferocious and brave and the emanation of Lord Maha Vishnu. He is full of effulgence, terrific and auspicious and the death of death.
Story
Legend has it that the demon Hiranyakashipu —twin brother of Hiranyaksha, wanted to avenge Lord Vishnu who killed his brother in his previous Avatar (incarnation) as Varaha (boar). Both were Daityas, a clan of Asuras (who were jealous of Devas). To get extraordinary mystical power equal almost to immortality for challenging lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu received a special boon from God Brahma (creator) after a long, strenuous penance. The gist of his boon was: that "he could not be killed by humans or animals or Devas; from inside or outside, by day or by night and that no weapon or force could harm him either in space or on earth".
This particular boon set and unprecedented anomaly in 3 worlds Swargam, Bhoomi and Patal Lokam. Hiranyakashipu declared himself as God and whoever worships Vishnu will be beheaded. He started dominating 3 worlds and causing havoc. This risk created an imbalance which must be corrected., that is when with the help of Narada and new soul Prhallada with purpose was set to be born and help Vishnu to correct it. This anomaly is unique, as it must be precise to mitigate the disk, then only Hiranyakashipu can be killed.
To Hiranyakshipu, lord Vishnu was his sworn enemy and so, he troubled Vishnu's devotees. Having got special boons from God Brahma, the demon-king misused his mystical power and grew cruel and tyrannical. Driven by over confidence, pride and presumption, he troubled Rishis (sages) and Devas (Celestial).
Feeling secure, he began to trouble heaven and earth. His atrocities that caused untold miseries, having gone far beyond tolerance, Devas sought the help of Vishnu. The demon king did not spare his own son Prahlada, an ardent disciple of Vishnu and tried to kill him because he was worshiping Lord Vishnu. One day while the demon- king had a heated argument with his son over Lord Vishnu, he kicked the near-by pillar and asked his son whether he could see his God Vishnu in the pillar. Prahlada said, ''He is omnipresent and you can find him in everything" - in Tamil "Thoonilum erruppar, Thurumbilum erruppar"meaning he is in the pillar and also in the dust. At that point of time Hiranyakashipu was ready to slay his own son who uttered the name of Vishnu - Om Namo Narayana.
In a flash, the pillar which the demon kicked cleaved into two and out came a fierce-looking strange form with a human body and a lion's head - Narashimha Avatar (neither human nor an animal nor Deva. The time of his appearance was neither late evening nor early night, it was twilight. Narashimha dragged the demon to the outer most entrance of the building, sat right below the entrance (neither indoors nor outdoors) put the Asura right across his lap (neither earth nor space) and tore him apart with his long nails (no weapon was used). That was the end of demon-king Hiranyakashipu. It was the victory of the good over the evil. Lord Narashimha knew that it was the only way to kill this fearsome Asura. The lord took the avatar of a strange creature, chose right time, right place and finally used his long nails and lap. After killing the demon, Narashima was in an uncontrollable ferocious mood and was roaming around the near-by forest aggressively and there was no sign of the lord getting back to his normal mood. At the request of Devas, Narasimha was subdued by his consort Lakshmi, taking the form of Senchulaksmi. According to another version his devotee Prahlada himself subdued him.
No comments:
Post a Comment