Message of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji in Bhakti TV Program telecast on May 9, 2020
Compiled by: Jaya Akkanapragada
Narasimha Avatāra Part 5
Aum Lakshmī Narasimhāya Namaha
Hirańyakaśipu asked Prahlāda “with whose support are you talking like this?” Until this point there had been no questions, only scoldings. This was the first question. So Prahlāda replied “Father, the One who has created these three worlds, the One who is maintaining them and the One into whom they will all dissolve – that Paramātma is my succor! Father, give up your feelings of hatred at least now. You say you want to rule the three worlds. The real enemy is the mind. If you win over the mind, it is equivalent to winning thousands of crores of battles.”
Hearing all this, the real demon in Hirańyakaśipu came to the fore. There was no mention of SriHari in Prahlada’s words now. He was talking about Paramātma and creation, sustenance and destruction. He was teaching the Vedanta principles to his father. When Hirańyakaśipu had consoled his mother – Diti, he did not mention Paramātma, but the same principle which he had been talking about was now being told to him by his son.
When Brahma had appeared before him, Hirańyakaśipu had extoled Him saying “You are responsible for creation, sustenance and destruction.” But now, he had forgotten all that because he was a demon.
He said to Prahlāda “Who is this Paramātma? I am the greatest! there is no one greater than me in this world. Instead of recognizing the one standing right in front of you, you are singing praises of some SriHari and Paramātma who cannot even be seen. I command and rule over so many people. Therefore, I am Paramātma. To protect my people, I have looked everywhere for SriHari, but he is not to be found anywhere. If he does exist, then he must be a coward hiding somewhere in fear of me. If he is really God, then tell me where is He?”
Prahlāda was overjoyed at hearing this question. He said “Father, SriHari is everywhere! Wherever we search for Him, He is present there.” Prahlāda said this clearly and in a very steady voice.
Hearing the son defy him like this in front of everyone present in the palace court, Hirańyakaśipu got very angry and heckled Prahlāda saying “Oh! In that case, is he present in this pillar?”
Prahlāda replied “from a blade of grass to Brahma, SriHari is present in everything. He is everywhere. Will He not then be present in this pillar? You will see Him emerge from this pillar now.” Prahlāda did not know what made him say this last line, but it angered his father so much that he bellowed “You have talked too much! I shall sever your head myself!” Saying so, Hirańyakaśipu picked up a sword and pounced on the boy.
In his anger, he hit the pillar with his left fist. With the might of his force, the pillar crumbled and crashed, and from it emerged a form which seemed menacing. It was jeering him. It was dusk when this form emerged. Hirańyakaśipu looked at the form from top to toe which had the form of a man till the neck, and that of a lion above the neck. The hands had huge paws and claws. Seeing this rúpa (form), Hirańyakaśipu realized that this was SriHari’s māyārūpa. He realized his end was nearing, but still he stubbornly pounced on the Swāmi. Narasimha Swāmi picked up the demon king like a small cub by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him through the court to the entrance. He sat on the threshold and threw the demon across his lap and tore his stomach and intestines out using His claws and drank the blood. He seemed extremely ferocious and terrifying.
Hirańyakaśipu had asked Brahma for many boons – that he should not die outside or inside his home, therefore he was killed on the threshold. Since he had asked for a boon not to be killed during the day or at night, he was killed at dusk when the sun was setting. He had also asked for a boon that he should not die from any wound to his eyes, heart, hands or legs. But he forgot to mention the stomach – so Swāmi attacked him there. He also asked for a boon that he should not be killed in the sky or on earth or on any mountain, so Swāmi placed him on His lap and killed him. Brahma had granted all the boons that Hirańyakaśipu had asked for, but He smiled thinking anyway Paramātma would find a way to finish him off! Hirańyakaśipu had also given a big list of weapons using which he should not be killed. Swāmi used His ten claws to kill him.
Seeing this gory end to their king, all the demons ran in various directions. When we see Narasimha Swami, we see Him as the One who protects us – Anugraha Narasimha. But for those who lie and deceive others, the Swāmi’s form seems very frightening – Ugra Narasimha. Those who cheat and swindle others in society, their own family and friends and even the Guru, to them Swāmi seems very frightening. To the upāsaka, Swāmi appears in a śānta rūpa.
In that ugra rūpa, Swāmi threw the dead body aside and started pacing in a ferocious manner and seated Himself on the golden throne. The devatās who had recovered by then, showered flowers on Swāmi. Brahma and the other devatās present there started chanting stōtrās to Swāmi.
Narasimha deva mamu kāva rāva (Bhajan ID -2179) is sung by the children.
All the gods stood far away and chanted stotrās, but no one had the courage to go close to Ugra Narasimha. Brahma then pulled Prahlāda close and said “Son, you are the only one who can make Swāmi śānta mūrti. Only you can please Swami. Please go and appease Him.”
With utmost devotion, Prahlāda went up to Swāmi, and placing his head at Swāmi’s feet, he prostrated. Seeing the small boy prostrate, Swāmi immediately became pacified and smiling affectionately, He drew the child close to Him. As He stroked the child’s head, Prahlāda said “Swāmi, Your form does not scare me. This world and its ways scare me. In this world, neither parents nor gods can protect anyone. Only You can. I do not want any of these riches. Please bless me to serve those who serve You. All the gods are saying You took this avatāra to protect me when my father was about to kill me, but I know that you took this avatāra to protect all your devotees, and I am just one of them.”
Appreciating this stōtra by Prahlāda, Swāmi asked him to ask for a boon. Prahlāda said “O Father, all beings are filled with desires. People are born only to fulfil desires. When one praises God to attain something, it is only a business transaction. That is not bhakti. I do not want to ask for anything, but since you have asked me, I request only one thing. Please bless me so that no desires ever arise in my mind.”
Narasimha Swāmi was very pleased and said “A true devotee would ask for what you have asked, but you have certain duties to fulfil. You will have to rule the demons till the end of this time period. But do not worry that it will entrap you. For those who are constantly chanting Harināma, they do not feel entangled in the world. Singing Harināma will free you of all bonds.”
Prahlāda said “in his disillusion, my father hated You. Please save him with Your grace and compassion.”
SriHari said “Son, because of you, 21 generations of your family are now saved. The moment I touched your father, all his sins were washed away. Perform all the last rites for your father as mentioned in the Shástrās”
When Narasimha Swāmi returned to His Palace, He felt His entire body was on fire because He drank Hirańyakaśipu’s blood, and the flesh was still stuck under his nails. Lakshmi Devi tried many ways to end the burning sensation. She finally used the tender leaves of the Audumbara and ground them up and applied it. All the poisonous flames immediately died down.
SriHari was very pleased and blessed the tree that He would always reside in it.
In the Dattatreya avatāra, Swami always resides in the Audumbara tree. This is why the Audumbara vruksha is worshipped by all Datta devotees.
We have been discussing Narasimha Swami’s story all these days to say that with both love (prema) and enmity (vaira bhāvana), one can reach the Lord. Jaya and Vijaya were cursed to be born as Hirańyakśa and Hirańyakaśipu. Without their realizing, by developing enmity, they were constantly thinking about SriHari. In their next life also, as Ravana and Kumbhakarna, they continued worshipping SriHari in the vaira mārga – path of hatred and enmity. They were again reborn as Śiśupāla and Dantavakra, and continued on the vaira mārga. With these three lifetimes, slowly the rajas and tamas guńās in them were completely removed. Having become purified, they attained Paramātma.
We must remember how all these stories originated. When Dharmarāja saw Śiśupāla merge into Paramātma, he was confounded as to how this could happen. Then Narada Maharśi described the past lives in great detail and described Narasimha Swāmi avatāra.
From these stories we clearly understand that God never takes sides. To rid beings of tamōguńa, He helps everyone equally. The methods may differ, but the end goal is the same. As beings purify themselves, they automatically merge into Paramātma. Of all the paths to purify oneself such as Yoga and Tapas, bhakti is the greatest.
My family always had a tradition of worshipping Narasimha Swami. My father’s brother gave the deity and all the puja articles to my father when he was going away on a tirtha yātra. In that collection, there were several items of made of gold, a sāligrāma, an idol of Mother Goddess and Gańapati and a Narasimha Swami yantra. All these were given in a big box, which father never opened. These articles were used in the worship of Swami during Narasimha Swami Jayanti by ancestors going all the way back to Poundrika Surappadasa.
When father lost his first wife, he lost all interest in life, and gave these articles away to his father-in-law. He even entrusted his children to the father-in-law (who adopted them) and asked him to continue performing puja to Narasimha Swami. The family used to live in Kandakuru and had farmlands. Being Narasimha Swami upāsakās, they would perform puja during Narasimha Swami Jayanti, and invite people from nearby villages, and feed them as well.
One day, someone stole these puja articles, and the grandfather got very upset. Not knowing what to do, he started searching everywhere, and reached a village where there was an empty house. Since the next day was Narasimha Jayanti, not knowing what to do since the articles were lost, he decided to leave home. Having reached this empty house, he decided to spend the night there. In the middle of the night, he heard a big sound. Thinking the house would collapse, he started praying to Narasimha Swami and opened his eyes. The overhead beam had broken and from the tunnel inside, gold articles and the puja articles which were stolen started streaming forth. He took back the entire collection of puja articles and performed puja. He later gave it to his adopted son (and grandson) – Nanjundaiah. Nanjundaiah then gave the collection to Swamiji saying that this has to come back to Surappa’s family.
It is with these puja articles that we perform and celebrate Narasimha Jayanti each year. This is the story of how Narasimha Swami came to be worshipped by us.