Sri Nrsimhadeva

 

ugram viram maha-vishnum
jvalantam sarvato mukham
nrisimham bhishanam bhadram
mrityur mrityum namamy aham
‘May my head be protected by the moon colored one, who is the greatest among humans. My obeisances unto the ferocious and powerful, the great Visnu, the fiery one, who’s faces are on all sides, the fearful one, Nrsimha, who causes the death of even death personified, (or who can overcome death).

 

oᚁ namo bhagavate narasiᚁhāya namas tejas-tejase āvir-āvirbhava

vajra-nakha vajra-daṁṣṭra karmāśayān randhaya randhaya tamo grasa

grasa oᚁ svāhā; abhayam abhayam ātmani bhōyiᚣᚭhā oᚁ kᚣraum

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.

(SB 5.18.8)

 

In the Nṛsiᚁha Purāṇa, Lord Nṛsiᚁhadeva says, “Anyone who prays unto Me and takes shelter from Me becomes My ward, and I protect him always from all sorts of calamities.”
(Nectar of Devotion 11, Aspects of Transcendental Service)

 

When Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared, Prahlāda Mahārāja was never afraid of Him, whereas his atheist father was immediately faced with death personified and was killed. Therefore, although Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appears as death for an atheist like Hiraṇyakaśipu, He is always kind and is the reservoir of all pleasure for the devotees like Prahlāda. A pure devotee is not, therefore, afraid of birth, death, old age and disease.
(Kṛṣṇa Book Chapter 87: Prayers by the Personified Vedas)

 

The fourth incarnation is Nṛsiᚁha-deva. Nṛsiᚁha-deva appeared to save Prahlāda Mahārāja, who was five-years-old boy, and he was being tortured by his atheistic father. So He appeared from the pillar of the palace as a half-man, half-lion. Because this Hiraṇyakaśipu took benediction from Brahmā that he’ll not be killed by any man or any animal. So the Lord appeared neither man nor animal.

This is the difference between the Lord’s intelligence and our intelligence. We are thinking that we can cheat the Lord by our intelligence, but the Lord is more intelligent than us. This Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to cheat Brahmā by indirect definition. First of all he wanted to become immortal. Brahmā said: “That is not possible, because even I am not immortal. Nobody in this material world is immortal. That is not possible.”

So Hiraṇyakaśipu, the demon—the demons are very intelligent—he thought that, “Roundabout way I shall become immortal.” He prayed to Brahmā that, “Please give me the benediction that I shall not be killed by any man or any animal.” Brahmā said: “Yes, that is all right.” “I shall not be killed in the sky, on the water or on land.” Brahmā said: “Oh, yes.” “I shall not be killed by any man-made weapons.” “That’s all right.” In this way he utilized his intelligence in so many ways just to come to the conclusion of being immortal.

But the Lord is so cunning that He kept intact all the benediction given by Brahmā; still he was killed. He said that, “I’ll not be killed either during daytime or night.” Brahmā said: “Yes.” So he was killed just in the evening, just in the junction of day and night. You cannot say it is day or night. He took the benediction that, “I shall not be killed in the sky, on the water, on the land.” So he was killed on His lap. He took the benediction that, “I shall not be killed by any man-made or any God-made weapons.” That was given, “All right.” So he was killed by the nails. In this way, all the benedictions were kept intact, still he was killed.

Similarly, we may make plan, we may make very advancement in scientific knowledge, but the killing process of nature will be there. Nobody can escape. By our intelligence we cannot escape. The four principles of material existence means birth, death, old age and disease. We can manufacture many medicines, many weapons, many means, many methods, but you cannot escape these four principles of material existence, however great you may be. That was proved by Hiraṇyakaśipu. Hiraṇyakaśipu was one of the stalwart materialistic, and he wanted to live forever, enjoy, but he also could not live. Everything was finished.

(700218 – Lecture Festival Appearance Day, Lord Varaha, Varaha-dvadasi and Purport Dasavatara-stotra – Los Angeles)

 

The yogīs should contemplate with full devotion the compassionate glances frequently cast by the Lord’s eyes, for they soothe the most fearful threefold agonies of His devotees. His glances, accompanied by loving smiles, are full of abundant grace.
(SB 3.28.31)

Information – The sthapati replied, “They are very insistent: They are constantly coming to talk to me about the Deity. Apparently, they have some problem with dacoits.” Handing his guru a sketch of the Deity, he said, “This is the Deity they want.” His guru took the sketch and looked at it knowingly. “Ah, this is ugra category,” he said, “but a Deity in this particular mood is-called Sthanu-Nrsimha: He doesn’t exist on this planet. Even the demigods in the heavenly planets don’t worship a form like this. Yes, this Deity belongs to the ugra category. Ugra means ferocious, : very angry. There are nine forms within this category. They are all very fierce. The one they want is Sthanu Nrsimha: stepping out of the pillar. No. Don’t carve this Deity. It will not be auspicious for you. I will talk with you about this later.” A few nights later the sthapati had a dream. In the , dream his guru came to him and said, “For them you can carve Sthanu-Nrsimha.” The next morning he received a hand-delivered letter from Kanchipuram. The letter was from the Sankaracharya and gave some instructions regarding temple renovations. There was a footnote at the bottom. It read, “For ISKCON you can carve Sthanu Nrsimha.” The sthapati showed me the letter and said, “I have my guru’s blessings. I will carve your Deity.”
(The Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva in Mayapur, Page 12)

This rare form of Nrsimhadeva is known as “Sthanu-Nrsimha” and this is the only place where this particular form of Nrsimhadeva is known to be worshipped. With bent knees and in great anger with reddish eyes, He is ready to spring out of the pillar to attack the demons and protect His devotees. The Lord has eight arms. In six of His hands, He holds a sword, lotus flower, disc, conch, club and shield, and to keep the promise of Brahma, His two front hands yield no weapons.

Information – On the 24th of March, 1984, at 12:20 a.m., thirty-five dacoits (thieves) armed with weapons and bombs attacked Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. They harassed the devotees and treated them with derision. But the greatest shock came when the dacoits decided to steal the Deities of Srila Prabhupada and Srimati Radharani. Fearlessly, the devotees challenged the attackers. How could they see Srila Prabhupada and Srimati Radharani carried away? Shots were fired, a few dacoits fell, and their plans were foiled. Srila Prabhupada was rescued, but that beautiful formof Srimati Radharani would no longer grace the main altar.

This incident really disturbed the minds of the devotees. Those involved in management were especially concerned to make some permanent solution. This was not the first time the devotees had faced violence and harassment in Mayapur. Bhavananda Dasa, who was the co-director of ISKCON Mayapur, suggested that Lord Nrsimhadeva be installed. When the dacoits had threatened devotees at the Yoga-Pitha, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura and his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, had promptly installed Sri Sri Laksmi Nrsimhadeva. There had been no further disturbances. Other devotees in Mayapur were not so keen to follow so closely in these footsteps. The pujari must be a naisthika-brahmacari (celibate from birth) and the worship ; of Lord Nrsimhadeva must be very strict and regulated…..
(The Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva in Mayapur, Page 8)

The installation of Lord Nrsimhadeva took place over a three-day period, from July 28th to 30th, 1986.