Nrsimha Caturdasi

Mother Merciful

Sri Nrsimha Pranamas

namas te narasimhaya

prahladahlada-dayine

hiranyakasipor vaksah-

sila-tanka-nakhalaye

I offer my obeisances to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja and whose nails are like chisels on the stonelike chest of Hiranyakasipu.

ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho

yato yato yami tato nrsimhah

bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimho

nrsimham adim saranam prapadye

Lord Nrsimha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Nrsimha is there. He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Nrsimha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-srngam dalita-hiranyakasipu-tanu-bhrngam

kesava dhrta-nara-hari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare

O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari who have assumed the form of a half-man, half-lion! All glories to You! With the wonderfully sharp nails on Your beautiful lotus hands You have ripped apart the wasplike body of Hiranyakasipu.

The story of Lord Nrsimhadeva can be found in the seventh canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. He is one of the ten incarnations of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Sukadeva Goswami, who is narrating the Srimad Bhagavatam to King Pariksit, narrates the story of Lord Nrsimhadeva to illustrate how the Lord is always impartial, and always very kind to all living entities. He relates the story by means of a dialogue between King Yudisthira and Narada Muni which was spoken at the time of the Rajasuya sacrifice. It was spoken by Narada Muni for the very purpose of illustrating the Lord's impartiality.

The story begins to unfold at a gate to the spiritual sky where two gatekeepers named Jaya and Vijaya were doing their duty. Four sages known as the Kumaras came up. They looked like young children, not like self-realized sages, so the gatekeepers refused them entry. Because of this, the Kumaras cursed the gatekeepers to take birth in the material world as demons.

Krsna is so faithful to His devotees that He stands behind their words. He would not take back the curse of the Kumaras in spite of the pleas of Jaya and Vijaya. At the same time, He was also faithful to His devotees, the gatekeepers. Lord Krsna used them as instruments to enact one of His most exciting and inspirational pastimes.

Jaya and Vijaya were born as two very powerful and terrible demons. One of them became the demon Hiranyakasipu, and the other was his younger brother Hiranyaksa. Hiranyaksa was personally killed by Lord Krsna in his incarnation of Varaha. Hiranyakasipu knew that Krsna is supposed to show equanimity to the devotees and the demons. He then accused Krsna of having been partial to the demigods. It is explained that Hiranyakasipu could not forget the death of his brother at Krsna's hands, and was always thinking of the Supreme Lord. Srimad Bhagavatam explains that if a conditioned soul somehow concentrates his mind upon the Lord whether by enmity or devotional service that the result will be the same, for the Lord is never affected by enmity or friendship. (Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that this doesn't mean we should therefore blaspheme the Supreme Lord, but that we should serve Him very favorably.)

Hiranyakasipu went on to perform great austerities because he wanted to become immortal so that he could kill Krsna.The severe austerities that Hiranyakasipu performed caused great disturbances throughout the universe. Lord Brahma went to see Hiranyakasipu and agreed to give him benedictions as a reward for his sacrifice. When Hiranyakasipu asked for immortality, Lord Brahma was unable to give it, but Hiranyakasipu settled for other benedictions which he felt would give the same result. He prayed that he would not be killed by any living entity, not to be killed in any place covered or uncovered, not to die in the daytime or at night, not to be killed by any weapon, on land or in the air, and not to be killed by any human being, animal, demigod or any other entity, living or non living. He further prayed for supremacy over the entire universe. Lord Brahma granted him all of this.

With these benedictions, Hiranyakasipu went on to conquer all the three worlds. Only Lord Shiva, Lord Visnu, and Lord Brahma did not come under his control.While Hiranyakasipu was off performing his austerities, Narada Muni rescued Hiranyakasipu's wife who was about to be taken captive by the demigods. She was pregnant, and the demigods feared that her offspring would be another demon like his father. Narada Muni stopped the demigods' plans to kill the child and took the mother and unborn child to his home where he instructed her on spiritual matters. The child, Prahlad, who was still in the womb heard these instructions.

By the time Prahlad was five years old, Hiranyakasipu came to know that his son was a devotee of the Lord. He instructed his men to have Prahlad killed. They were not successful. No matter what they tried to do to kill him, he escaped unharmed. Finally, when Prahlad was caught teaching transcendental knowledge to all his schoolmates, Hiranyakasipu decided to kill Prahlad himself. Prahlad, by the mercy of his spiritual master had all the qualities of a devotee. He was never inimical to his father, as devotees are always equal to everyone. When Prahlad became aware that his father was angry with him, he tried to pacify him unsuccessfully. Hiranyakasipu then began to advertise himself as being superior to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but Prahlad challenged him. Prahlad instructed his father as to his correct position as servant of the Supreme Lord, explaining to him of the Lord's all-pervasiveness and that everyone is under Him. The more Prahlad praised the Lord, the angrier Hiranyakasipu became. Finally Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlad whether his Lord was within the pillars of the palace. Prahlad immediately accepted this as the Lord is present everywhere. Hiranyakasipu then slammed his fist in to the pillar.

A tumultuous sound filled the palace, and Lord Nrsimhadeva came forth from the pillar. He came to save his devotee and vanquish the demons just like he promises in the Bhagavad Gita. He appeared in a most special form in order to kill Hiranyakasipu without disturbing the benedictions given by Lord Brahma.

He came as a half-lion, half-man, so that he was neither a man nor beast. He fought Hiranyakasipu at dusk which is neither the daytime nor the nighttime. He dragged Hiranyakasipu to the doorway of the palace which was neither covered nor uncovered. He placed the demon on His lap which was neither the land nor the air, and killed him with his claws, which were not a weapon. In this way, the Lord effortlessly killed the terrible demon Hiranyakasipu, and saved his devotee Prahlad.

After killing Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrsimhadeva sat on the throne. He was still angry. All the demigods including Lord Brahma had come to see the end of Hiranyakasipu, but they were afraid to approach the Lord in His anger. Even Laksmidevi had never seen the Lord in such a wonderful and extraordinary form, and was afraid to approach Him. Because of a special favor bestowed upon him, Prahlad remained silent and unafraid, therefore Lord Brahma asked him to approach the Lord in order to pacify Him.

Prahlad approached the Lord and fell at His feet and offered prayers. Lord Nrsimhadeva raised up Prahlad and placed His hand on Prahlad's head. By the touch of the Lord's hand, Prahlad was completely freed from all material contaminations and desires. Narada Muni tells us that the Lord's hand is always ready to create fearlessness in all His devotees.

There are so many lessons to be learned from the pastime of Lord Nrsimhadeva and Prahlad. The Lord did not appear only for Prahlad's personal benefit. He came for the benefit of all society.

Hiranyakasipu was an eternal liberated associate of the Lord who just happened to be cursed by great sages (who are not given to anger), to take birth in the material world. Prahlad was born as a demon. Lord Nrsimhadeva addressed him as, "the best of the family of the asuras." But, although Prahlad had the body of a demon, he became a pure devotee of the Lord.

Lord Nrsimhadeva is our well wisher whether we are demons or devotees. We have nothing to fear from Him. He is equal to all. As He is not affected by the material nature, He is not moved by praise or insult. He loves us all, and gives us all exactly what we need in order to come to Him.

In this story we see the mercy of the spiritual master. Narada Muni saved Prahlad while he was still in his mother's womb by sharing Krsna's transcendental instructions. Prahlad became a great devotee because he was blessed by Narada Muni. Even though Prahlad was only a little boy, just a little devotional service brought him bliss. In spite of the fact that his own father was ready to kill him, he was still peaceful. Hiranyakasipu on the other hand, even though he was the ruler of the entire universe and in no danger from anyone or anything, was miserable because he was still a slave to his senses.

With Lord Nrsimhadeva everything is possible. He effortlessly killed Hiranyakasipu without breaking Lord Brahma's benedictions. He played with the most dangerous demon in the universe like a cat toys with a mouse.

Let us take shelter of Lord Nrsimhadeva who can free us from all material contaminations and desires, simply by the touch of His hand.