Friday, May 12, 2006
Narasimha Jayanti
Narasimha (Nrusimha), the 4th avatara of Lord Vishnu in the dashavatara series, incarnated to protect his beloved bhakta, Prahlada. Someone has very nicely said that amongst all the bhaktas of Lord Vishnu, Prahlada is the first - "Prahlada Naarada Parasara Pundarika Vyasa Ambarikeeka Shuka Shaunaka" so you can imagine to what an extent Lord Vishnu loved Prahlada and his devotion.
The story goes something like this: Jai and Vijay, the official gatekeepers of Vaikuntam, showed a moment of arrogrance and pride by not allowing the Sanakadhi Maharishis into Vaikuntam. For this the Maharishis cursed the two to be born on Earth and lead a life of human beings. They were given 2 choices to be freed from the curse - either lead a life as a Vishnu bhakta for 7 births OR lead a life of hatred against Lord Vishnu for just 3 births. Since Jai and Vijay wanted to be back to their abode as soon as possible, they chose the option to lead the life of hatred against Lord Vishnu. The first birth was that of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu. Of this the birth of Hiranyakashyapu is important for our discussion on Lord Nrusimha Avatara.
Hiranyakashyapu along with his brother began to wreak havoc not only on Earth but in the heavens too. All the Devas and other demi-gods approached Lord Vishnu seeking his help in destroying Hiranyakashyapu. The reason anyone else found it impossible to destroy Hiranyakashyapu was because of the "almost immortal" boon he had received from Lord Brahma - No animal, no man, no deva, no-one created by Brahma, no weapon, no not-weapon, no alive thing, no dead thing could kill him. In addition to this he could not be killed in the morning, night, inside or outside the house. That almost ruled out everything that could kill the demon. But then there is Lord Vishnu who always knows how to save his bhaktas. So when Hiranyakashyapu started to torment his son, Prahlada, to accept Hiranyakashyapu as the king of all the worlds, Prahlada sought refuge under the grace of Srimannarayana. Finally when Hiranyakashyapu forced Prahlada to show Lord Vishnu, Lord Vishnu happily fulfilled his bhakta's wish and granted mukti to Hiranyakashyapu.
The avatara of Lord Nrusimha is interesting and what is more interesting is the methodology that was adopted in killing Hiranyakashyapu. Lord came down as half man and half animal - he was neither man nor animal and Lord Vishnu is created by no one. Lord Nrusimha dragged Hiranyakashyapu to the thoranam (front entrance) of the palace and placed Hiranyakashyapu on his lap - neither inside nor outside the house. It was evening - neither morning nor night and Hiranyakashyapu used his nails to rip out Hiranyakashyapu. Why nails? - nails is neither a weapon nor not a weapon, is neither alive (if you cut it, it does not hurt you) nor dead (it keeps growing). Interesting! So this way Lord appeared as Nrusimha and killed Hiranyakashyapu and protected his bhakta, Prahlada.
In Livermore Temple, we celebrated Nrusimha Jayanti by performing the Nrusimha Mantra homam - "Ugra Veeram maha Vishnum, Jwalantham Sarvathomukham, Nrusimhmum Bheeshanam Bhadram Mrutyu Mrutyu Namamyaham" and also performed abhishekham to Lord Nrusimha. Here are a few pictures of the event. All the pictures can be located at the album: http://imageevent.com/jsny/narsimhajayanti
¶ 11:32 PM 
Narasimha (Nrusimha), the 4th avatara of Lord Vishnu in the dashavatara series, incarnated to protect his beloved bhakta, Prahlada. Someone has very nicely said that amongst all the bhaktas of Lord Vishnu, Prahlada is the first - "Prahlada Naarada Parasara Pundarika Vyasa Ambarikeeka Shuka Shaunaka" so you can imagine to what an extent Lord Vishnu loved Prahlada and his devotion.The story goes something like this: Jai and Vijay, the official gatekeepers of Vaikuntam, showed a moment of arrogrance and pride by not allowing the Sanakadhi Maharishis into Vaikuntam. For this the Maharishis cursed the two to be born on Earth and lead a life of human beings. They were given 2 choices to be freed from the curse - either lead a life as a Vishnu bhakta for 7 births OR lead a life of hatred against Lord Vishnu for just 3 births. Since Jai and Vijay wanted to be back to their abode as soon as possible, they chose the option to lead the life of hatred against Lord Vishnu. The first birth was that of Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu. Of this the birth of Hiranyakashyapu is important for our discussion on Lord Nrusimha Avatara.
Hiranyakashyapu along with his brother began to wreak havoc not only on Earth but in the heavens too. All the Devas and other demi-gods approached Lord Vishnu seeking his help in destroying Hiranyakashyapu. The reason anyone else found it impossible to destroy Hiranyakashyapu was because of the "almost immortal" boon he had received from Lord Brahma - No animal, no man, no deva, no-one created by Brahma, no weapon, no not-weapon, no alive thing, no dead thing could kill him. In addition to this he could not be killed in the morning, night, inside or outside the house. That almost ruled out everything that could kill the demon. But then there is Lord Vishnu who always knows how to save his bhaktas. So when Hiranyakashyapu started to torment his son, Prahlada, to accept Hiranyakashyapu as the king of all the worlds, Prahlada sought refuge under the grace of Srimannarayana. Finally when Hiranyakashyapu forced Prahlada to show Lord Vishnu, Lord Vishnu happily fulfilled his bhakta's wish and granted mukti to Hiranyakashyapu.
The avatara of Lord Nrusimha is interesting and what is more interesting is the methodology that was adopted in killing Hiranyakashyapu. Lord came down as half man and half animal - he was neither man nor animal and Lord Vishnu is created by no one. Lord Nrusimha dragged Hiranyakashyapu to the thoranam (front entrance) of the palace and placed Hiranyakashyapu on his lap - neither inside nor outside the house. It was evening - neither morning nor night and Hiranyakashyapu used his nails to rip out Hiranyakashyapu. Why nails? - nails is neither a weapon nor not a weapon, is neither alive (if you cut it, it does not hurt you) nor dead (it keeps growing). Interesting! So this way Lord appeared as Nrusimha and killed Hiranyakashyapu and protected his bhakta, Prahlada.
In Livermore Temple, we celebrated Nrusimha Jayanti by performing the Nrusimha Mantra homam - "Ugra Veeram maha Vishnum, Jwalantham Sarvathomukham, Nrusimhmum Bheeshanam Bhadram Mrutyu Mrutyu Namamyaham" and also performed abhishekham to Lord Nrusimha. Here are a few pictures of the event. All the pictures can be located at the album: http://imageevent.com/jsny/narsimhajayanti
Vajrankhaya Vidhmahe Teekshna Damstraya Deemahi, Thanno Na:rasimha Prachodaya:th
Performing the Homa
Abhishekham to Lord Nrusimha with milk, buttermilk, orange juice, fruits and sugar, Pushpa puja and Maha Mangala Ha:rathi
¶ 11:32 PM
