Who is Nrsimhadeva?

Nrsimha which means half-man half-lion and deva which means God, is the fourth (of the principle ten incarnations or Dasa Avatar and fourteen of the total incarnations) of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.

Why is Nrsimha so scary?

By His transcendental cleverness, Lord Nrsimhadeva was able to kill Hiranyakasipu without contradicting any of Lord Brahma’s benedictions which were :-

- Not be killed by any crated living being

-Not to die inside or outside any residence

- During the daytime or night

- On the ground or in the sky

- Not be killed by any being created by you

- Nor by any weapon

- Nor by any human being or animal

So in order to contradict one of Lord Brahma's benedictions to Hiranyakashipu, He had to appear as Half-man Half-lion and thus He appears fearsome.

Who is that boy with Nrsimha?

That five year old boy seen mostly on the right side of Nrsimha is Nrsimhadeva's most dearest devotee, Prahlada Maharaja. He is the son of the demon Hiranyakashipu and it is because of Prahlada that Nrsimha appeared.

Why did Nrsimha appeared?

There was once a great demon, named Hiranyakashipu, who was overwhelmed with rage: his brother Hiranyaksa had just been killed by the incarnation of Vishnu known as Lord Varaha. Thus he became very determined to become the emperor of the entire universe. In order to increase his power, he performed very powerful austerities. This penance was so severe that it disturbed the demigods. In fact, the demigods requested Lord Brahma to stop him. The chief of the demigods, Lord Brahma, therefore descended to pacify him by granting him a wish.

"Please grant that I not be killed by any crated living being," commanded Hiranyakasipu, "that I not die inside or outside any residence, during the daytime or night, nor on the ground or in the sky; that I not be killed by any being created by you, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal indeed that I not meet death from any entity, either living or non-living; that I have no competitor; that I have sole lordship over all living entities and presiding deities, and that I acquire all mystic powers."

After Brahma had granted him all these requests, Hiranyakasipu very swiftly conquered all the planets in the universe, took up residence in the lavish palace of King Indra, and forced the demigods to bow down to his feet. He even stole the sacrificial oblations meant for the demigods. Intoxicated physically by wine and mentally by power, Hiranyakasipu ruled the universe very severely.

During this time his queen, Kayadhu, returned to the palace of her husband and bore him a son, Prahlada. He was a reservoir of all transcendental qualities because he was an pure devotee of Lord Vishnu. Determined to understand the Absolute Truth, he had full control over his senses and mind He was kind to all living creatures and the best friend of everyone. Toward respectable persons he behaved just like a menial servant, to the poor he was like a father, and to his equals he was always like a sympathetic brother. Always very humble, he considered his teachers and spiritual masters to be as good as the Lord Himself. Indeed, he was completely free of and pride that might have arisen from his good education, riches, beauty, and aristocratic birth.

Hiranyakasipu wanted to raise his son to be a powerful demon, but Prahlada only wanted to learn about devotional service to Lord Visnu. After Prahlada attended school for some time, Hiranyakasipu took him on his lap and affectionately inquired, "My dear son, please tell me about your favorite subject in school."

Fearlessly, Prahlada said, "Hearing (sravanam) and chanting (kirtanam) about the holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia, and pastimes of the Supreme Lord; remembering (smaranam) them; serving the lotus feet of the Lord (pada-sevanam); offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia (arcanam); offering prayers to the Lord (vandanam); becoming His servant (dasyam); considering the Lord one’s best friend (sakhyam); and surrendering to Him (atma-nivedanam, in other words, serving Him with body, mind and words); these nine processes are known as pure devotional service, and I consider anyone who has dedicated his life to service of Lord Visnu through these nine methods to be the most learned person to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge."

Blinded by anger, Hiranyakasipu threw Prahlada from his lap onto the ground. "Servants! Take him away and kill him at once!" he screamed. However, Prahlada just sat silently and meditated on the Personality of Godhead, and the demons’ weapons had no effect on him. Seeing this Hiranyakasipu became fearful and contrived various ways to kill his son. His servants threw Prahlada beneath an elephant’s feet; they cast him into the midst of huge, fearful snakes; they cursed him with destructive spells; they hurled him from a hilltop; they gave him poison; they starved him; they exposed him to severe cold, winds, fire and water; they threw heavy stones to crush him. Hiranyakasipu even sent his sister Holika to burn him but instead she herself was burned. But throughout these trials Prahlada was simply absorbed in thoughts of Lord Visnu, and thus he remained unharmed. Hiranyakasipu became very anxious about what to do next.

"You say there is a being superior to me," said Hiranyakasipu, "but where is He? If He is present everywhere, then why is He not present in this pillaryou see before you? Do you think He is in this pillar?"

"Yes," Prahlada answered, "He is there."

Hiranyakasipu's rage flared more and more. "Because you are speaking so much nonsense, I shall now sever your head from your body. Now let me see your most worshipable God come to protect you. I want to see it." Cursing him again and again, Hiranyakasipu took up his sword, got up from his royal throne, and with great anger struck his fist against the column.

Then from within the very pillar that he had singled out came a wonderful half-man, half-lion form never before seen. The Lord’s form was extremely fearsome because of His angry eyes, which resembled molten gold; His shining mane, which expanded the dimensions of His fearful face; His deadly teeth; and His razor-sharp tongue. Lord Nrsimha then proceeded to battle with the wasp-like Hiranyakasipu.

Finally at twilight, Lord Nrsimha captured Hiranyakasipu and placed him in His lap on the doorway of the assembly hall. As He began ripping the demon to pieces with His many, many hands, Lord Nrsimha’s mouth and mane became sprinkled with drops of blood, and His fierce eyes, full of anger, were impossible to look at. Licking the edge of His mouth with His tongue, the Supreme Lord decorated Himself with a garland of intestines taken from Hiranyakasipu's abdomen. Lord Nrsimha uprooted Hiranyakasipu’s heart and finally threw him aside and destroyed an army of Hiranyakasipu’s faithful followers.

By His transcendental cleverness, Lord Nrsimhadeva was able to kill Hiranyakasipu without contradicting any of Lord Brahma’s benedictions. The execution took place neither inside nor outside, but in the doorway; neither on land nor in sky, but on the Lord’s lap; neither during the day nor during the night, but at twilight; neither by man, beast, or demigod nor by any created being, but by the Personality of Godhead; and not by any weapon, but by the Lord's own lotus hand, relieving the whole universe of Hiranyakasipu’s demonic activities.

Having been protected by the Lord, Prahlada Maharaja offered many prayers in a voice that faltered with love:

"My dear Lord Nrsimhadeva, please, therefore, allow Your angry feature to diminish, now that my evil father Hiranyakasipu has been killed . . . [The saintly persons] will always remember Your auspicious is fearsome incarnation, for it frees them from fear. In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles."

Adapted from Srimad Bhagavatam (7) translated 
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

copy from www.avatara.org

 

Why is Lakshmi with Nrsimha?

Lakshmi is the Goddess of Fortune and is the dear consort of Lord Vishnu. Lord Sri Krishna, for the affairs of material worlds, incarnated Himself to Lord Vishnu. Lord Krishna's primeval internal potency, Srimati Radharani who is Lord Krishna's consort appeared along with Lord Vishnu as Lakshmi. Nrsimhadeva is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu is the incarnation of Lord Krishna, who is the source of all incarnations. So when Nrsimhadeva appeared, Lakshmi and all the demigods and sages gathered at the palace of Hiranyakashipu to witness the extra ordinary Nrsimhadeva and to calm Him down. After Nrsimha killed Hiranyakashipu, Lakshmi was scared to approach Her own husband! So She and Lord Brahma, the creator, kindly requested Prahlada to approach Nrsimha and pacify Him. Nrsimha became pacified looking at Prahlada and then Lakshmi also approached the Lord and is usually seen in paintings and deities sitting on Nrsimha's lap along with Prahlada on the right.

Why does the demons have to appear?

Before the pastime of Nrsimhadeva and Varaha, the four kumaras, who are very noble and elder sages (although they appear to be very young naked boys) and who are the sons of Lord Brahma, the creator, arrived to Vaikuntha, the heavenly abode of Lord Vishnu. Before they could enter the seventh and last gate of Vaikuntha, they were stopped by the twin gate-keepers, Jaya and Vijaya. Enraged by the act of Jaya and Vijaya, the four kumaras headed by Sanaka Kumara cursed the door-keepers to appear on earth as demon brothers thrice. Lord Vishnu then rushed to the Gateway and explained to the door-keepers and the four kumaras that this were all apart of His transcendental plan and that He Himself will appear to kill each of the demons and liberate them again and again. First, Jaya and Vijaya appeared as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu who were killed by Varaha and Nrsimha. Then they appeared as Kumbakarna and Ravana and were killed by Rama and last they appeared as Dantavakra and Sisupala and were killed by The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.

Does the festival "Holi" have to do with Nrsimha ?

Yes, it does! Holika is the demoniac sister of Hiranyakashipu. She earned a special cloak from Lord Shiva that does not allow her to get burn. Under the order of her brother, she and Prahlada sat on a bonfire. After some time Hiranyakashipu noticed that her sister Holika burnt to ashes as her cloak flew from her shoulders to Prahlada by the the help of the demigods thus saving Prahlada because of his strong devotion and trust in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Why did Nrsimha appear from a pillar ?

To prove that Prahlada's words are accurate. Prahlada said that His dear Lord is in the pillar.

Why worship Nrsimha ?

Nrsimhadeva give devotees protection materially and spiritually. He protects us from material danger (like for example natural disasters) and from spiritual danger which is once again falling down to this ocean of repeated birth and death.

How to worship Nrsimhadeva ?

Nrsimhadeva have two main forms or rasas (feelings/emotions), Ugra (angry) and Shanta (peaceful). Ugra Nrsimha is the angry form of Nrsimha when He was thinking of Hiranyakashipu and while He was killing Hiranyakashipu ands Shanta Nrsimha is when He thinks of His devotees like Prahlada Maharaja or when He is with them. The most merciful is Nrsimha in His peaceful or submissive mood and it is best to worship Him in this particular mood. You can worship either a picture of Nrsimha or a deity of Nrsimha. A deity usually holds more responsibilities but it depends on how you desire to worship Him. You can simply worship His picture by offering Him some flowers and incense sticks. When you worship a deity of Nrsimha, you can simply only offer flowers and incense sticks or you can dress Him, offer Him a feast (Krishna and His incarnations only accept milk products, fruits, grains and vegetables this means, no meat, fish and eggs and also no onion and garlic due to it's category as in the mode of passion and ignorance and also no caffeine as it is considered as intoxication), flowers and flower garlands, ornaments, incense sticks, ghee (clarified butter) lamps, peacock fan and even giving Him a bath! The best is to worship Nrsimha's picture of deity simply (if you plan on worshipping the deity other than the simple way, please do email (info@nrsimhadeva.com) us for further instructions).