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om nArasimha-vapushe namah.
SrI BhaTTar captures several thoughts about this incarnation of bhagavAn in one
sentence in his commentary: sva-bhaktyantarAya nivAraNam bhkata-bhayApaha
tadapekshA samakshaNa pratipannayathA kAma divya mahA-nRsimha samhananh.
SrI rAdhA kRshNa SAstri elaborates on these, and add his own anubhava-s. Among his
additional thoughts are:
7. Anyone who observes a scene of an ausra being torn to pieces with its nails by
a lion-faced form with a human body, will be terror-stricken. And yet, we see
prahlAda standing in great reverence, unperturbed, and pleased at having the divya
darSanam of the Lord. But seeing the same form, hiraNya kaSipu was terror-stricken
as the half-man-half-lion form emerged from the pillar. Thus, at the same time,
with the same form, bhagavAn was pleasing to the eye of the devotee, and causing
terror to the devotee's enemy. This is another revelation of the greatness of
bhagavAn � that simultaneously He is
endowed with all opposites at the same time.
8. In addition to the aspect of His being able to induce fear or love at the same
time, there is the beauty aspect to His form of half-man half-lion. Just for a
moment, think of some human form with the head of a lion appearing in front of us,
and imagine the aversion that this sight will induce in us. Not so with Lord
nRsimha. He was absolutely beautiful in this form, as SrI BhaTTar elaborates in
the next nAma � SrImAn � because He is always associated with SrI or Lakshmi.
tirumazhiSai AzhvAr describes His beauty as �ari po�ngik kATTum azhagu (nAnmugan
tiru. 21) � The beauty of nRsimha form looked like beauty bubbling and spilling
over because it can�t be contained anywhere.tirumazhiSai AzhvAr describes His
beauty as �ari po�ngik kATTum azhagu (nAnmugan tiru. 21) � The beauty of nRsimha
form looked like beauty bubbling and spilling over because it can�t be contained
anywhere.
9. In normal course of life, something that came from breaking a jaDa form such as
the pillar should be expected to be another piece of the same jaDa form. One
should expect a live form to be originating only from another life form. Hers
relating to Him, we should not be applying normal logic as we are used to do.
SvAmi deSikan describes this unusual birth of Lord nRsimha from the pillar in his
daSavatAra stotram in one of his poetic naya-s. He describes the lucky pillar from
which Lord nRsimha emerged, as the grandmother of brahmA � mahAsura gRha sthUNA
pitAmahyabhUt (Slokam 5). The �lineage� in this description is that bhagavAn is
the father of brahmA, and since the pillar gave �birth� to Lord nRsimha, the
pillar thus becomes the grandmother of brahmA.
10. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha does not support the interpretation that bhagavAn had
an actual mixed body consisting of some aspects of man and some aspects of lion.
Instead, he suggests that the nAma means that He took a normal form that possessed
the best aspects such as the strength of a lion, and the best aspects of man such
as the ability to think. We will not go into the merits of this interpretation.
Only the interesting philosophical aspect that he brings out is dealt with here.
He sees in this nAma the illustration that neither karma alone, nor j~nAna alone,
are sufficient in the fulfillment of any undertaking, and that both are needed. He
quotes from the Srtuti-s in support:
idam me brahma ca kshatram ca ubhe Sriyam aSnutAm (yajur. 32.16)
As a lesson to take from this nAma, SrI vAsishTha makes the point that whatever
action one undertakes, this should be done after fully analyzing and understanding
the consequences associated with this action. One can also extrapolate from this
the thought that it is not enough to have the ability to use force, but also along
with that, one should know how to use this force, when to use this force, etc., in
order for the force to have beneficial effects.
11. svAmi deSikan describes the six rahasya-s associated with bhagavAn�s
incarnations
in his SaraNAgati dIpikA Slokam 17. All of these naturally apply to nArasimha
vapuh also. These are:
- The incarnations are all true forms that He assumes, and not just mAyA forms �
a-kapaTaih.
- Every incarnation of His is fully endowed with His parattvam and all His kalyANa
guNa-s in full, irrespective of the incarnation He takes � ajahat-svabhAvaih
- His forms in His incarnations are not made of pa�nca bhUta-s like ours, but His
tirumEni in His incarnations is also made of Suddha-sattva, and so He is beyond
the three guNa-s, sattva, rajas, and tamas � a-prAkRtaih
- The forms in His incarnations are takenas part of His leelA, and not as a result
of any karma as in our case � nij-vihAra-siddhaih
- They are taken purely for the protection of His devotees and the destruction of
their enemies � AtmIya rakshaNa vipaksha vinASanArthaih.
"There is no incarnation of Lord Narayana that is greater than the Nrusimha
Nrusimha. The Vedam is replete with His glory. A sampling of Vedic hymns
1. The Purusha Sooktham of the sama vEdam glorifies Bhagavan Nrusimha in the
opening anuvakam through the Rk "sa BhUmim sarvathO vruthvA" referring to His
omniscient nature.
May we be blessed to hear auspicious sounds with our ears. May our eyes behold
all things auspicious with our eyes. Praising the Lord with sturdy limbs and
svastinasthArkshyO arishtanEmi:
svasthinO bruhaspathir dhaDhAtu" May He, who is the Lord of unbounded knowledge,
bless us with prosperity. He who is the sustainer of all; May He, who is the
source of all Vedas, bless us with prosperity. May He, who confers the wealth of
prosperity. May He, who rules over all elements guarantee our welfare.
panchama ithi" Out of fear of the awe-inspiring one (Bhagavan Nrusimha) the
wind-God (vAyu) performs his assigned function; Out of fear of Him, the Sun
carries out his prescribed duties; Out of fear of Him, agni (Lord of fire),
Indra (king of the Devas) and Yama (God of death) perform their respective
duties.
5. The Mahanarayana Upanishad glorifies Bhagavan Nrusimha through the mantram
"ya AtmadhA baladhA yasya vishva upAsathE prashiSham yasya dhEvA: yasya cChayA
to those who seek His protection, He who gives strength to experience Himself,
He whose divine command is implicitly obeyed by all beings, He to whom gods like
Indra are all subservient, He whom immortality follows like a shadow and He who
is death to death itself, to that Lord all creatures may we offer the oblation
SharaNagati to the Lotus feet of Bhagavan Nrusimha and contains several layers
of inner meanings.
Bhagavan Nrusimha is further glorified by the vedam as the three eyed one in the
the most auspicious name, who is the bestower of might. May thou free me from
The thApanIya Upanishad of the atharvana vedam pays its tribute to Bhagavan
Nrusimha as the three eyed one, with the left eye denoting the moon, the right
eye denoting the sun and the eye in his forehead denoting Agni (fire). Swami
kAmAsikA hari:" Dhivya prabandham pays its tribute to Bhagavan Nrusimha as the
arms are ever adorned by a bow known as pinakam.Therefore, he begets the name
ShAstram. The loftiness of the NrusimhAnustup mantram arises from the fact that
Brahma Vidyas, which are Upanishadic prescriptions (Upasanas) for attaining Lord
prayOgam of the mantram according to its prescriptions confers the upasaka with
the salutation nama: is most befitting for Bhagavan Nrusimha. Swami Desikan
through the salutation "tAram pUrvam". In the tantric form of worship, practiced
The ithihasas are replete with glorification of Bhagavan Nrusimha. The Ramayana
mentions Nrusimha explicitly in four places. (1) When Ravana approaches MarIcha
because Sita Piratti is seated on the lap of Nrusimha (2) Valmiki glorifies Rama
entering the cave as "simhO giri guhAshaya:" (3) While offering words of comfort
to Sita Piratti, Hanuman conveys the message "Do not worry. Narasimha will be
here shortly to rescue you." (4) In the ViBhishaNa sharaNagati, Sugriva enquires
part of the Rakshasas to gain our confidence and kill us while we are caught off
guard?. Lord Rama answers this question as "angulyagrENa thAm hanyAm" (Do not
worry. If indeed what you say is true, I do not even need my weapons to destroy
the asuras. I shall rip them apart with my finger nails. " Swami Desikan
for Lord Krishna in this exquisite stotram. However, closer examination will
mane of the lion was beautiful to behold because the man-lion was gentle to His
stotram of the sahasranamam can be divided into four groups each containing 8
aksharams. The first group of 8 syllables represent the ashtakshara mantram.. The
produces 16, which is the number of mantrams in the Purusha Sooktam. The next
set of 8 syllables added to this gives 24, the number of aksharams in the sacred
Gayathri mantram, which is a pre-requisite for reciting all other veda mantrams.
Finally, the 8 aksharams from the last group of salutations when added to 24
ithi. Lord Krishna never bore arms during the MahaBharata war. Nor did he adorn
himself with weapons while appearing before BhIshma. Therefore, this description
does not fit Lord Krishna in the present instance. However, Bhagavan Nrusimha's
finger nails have the power from all of His 5 weapons. Therefore, the concluding
salutation of the vishNu sahasranamam is most appropriate for Him. These facts
Bhagavata PuraNam and VishNu PurANam). For example the vishNu purANam contains
Bhagavan Nrusimha in the seventh skandam. It may be remembered here that this
Brahmam, who exemplified the Vedam salutation "sarvam Khalvidham Brahma" or its
listener of this narration too had unparalleled greatness. Parikshith was born
due to the munificent grace of Lord Krishna in keeping with the salutation
the pangs of hunger, thirst, and sleep while hearing Shuka Brahmam's exposition
avaDhIth viShamOyathA" (Oh kind-hearted Brahman, you say that the Lord is
Indhra and destroy his enemies, the asuras. Does this not mean that the Lord
dislikes the asuras?) Shuka Brahman was extremely pleased at this question
raised by ParIkshith and his reply in the verse "apapruShtan thvayA rajan
the entire universe. It seems as though your love for Bhagavatas exceeds even
and specifically demonstrate the Lord's love for Prahlada, who was born in the
asura clan, Shuka Brahmam narrated the Vaibhavam of Bhagavan Nrusimha. Therefore
from the pillar. Was this intended to rescue Prahlada from HiraNyan? Sri Mukkur
Swami avers most definitely not? To drive home his point Sri Mukku Swam observes
that "Was Prahlada not protected when he was poisoned or bitten by snakes or
thrown into the flames or trampled upon by elephants? Then why did Bhagavan
Nrusimha incarnate as He did and when He did? Sri Mukkur Swamin answers this by
stating that the incarnation of Bhagavan Nrusimha was solely to uphold the words
the pillar) and subsequently the conditions of Brahma's boon to HiraNyan and
rishi Narada-who dissuaded Indra from killing Kayadhu, the wife of HiraNyan,
when HiraNyan was engaged in penance. Testimony in support of this fact can be
(When the child Prahlada was thrown into the scorching flames, the grace of
mamadEhi karAvalambam" illustrates the fact that when poisonous serpents were
let loose to sting Prahlada, the grace of Lord Narayana caused Prahlada to
appear like Garuda, which scared the daylights out of the serpents. It is
HiraNyan ordered his wife to feed Prahlada with poison [kArkOtaka sarpa visham],
puraNam as "anukUlE jagannAtham visham pathyam BhavEn mama" [Oh Mother! Do not
cry or feel sad. You carry out the orders of my father. The Lord of the
Universe, who is helpful to me, will transform this offering into nutritious
food.].
HiraNyan ordered that Prahlada be thrown down from a cliff. As the child fell,
he did not for a moment think of the impending death as a result of his fall.
Instead, he clutched hard at his heart out of concern that Lord Narayana, who is
seated therein, would come to harm due to the fall. Bhumidevi, greatly moved by
this sight reasons to herself "This child is least concerned about his
impending doom. Instead his focus is the well being of my husband [Lord
Narayana], who is seated in his heart. Should I not therefore, make his landing
The Agamas too are replete with glorification of Bhagavan Nrusimha. The
outlines the procedure for His worship. The Mantrarajapada stOtram appearing in
NrusimhAnushtup mantram. The opening verse of this stotram contains the blessed
12, while verse 13 summaizes the benefits of reciting this magnificent stotram
found in adiyen's postings on the Malolan net between September and November
one).
The Azhwars too shower great tributes in their outpourings on Bhagavan Nrusimha:
1. For example PeriyAzhwar maps the entire mantrarajapada Stotram into Tamil in
3. Swami NammAzhwar, who is an avowed lover of Lord Krishna, desires to see none
In seeking the hand of Lord Krishna, Rukmini conveys her appeal in the form of 7
verses in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Significantly not once in these verses does She
mention Lord Krishna by name. Instead Rukmini employs the salutation "kAlE
uttering innovative lies. Sri Andal attests to this fact in the Brindavana
eLApoygaL uraippanE ingaipOhakandIrE. " Again while describing the Laaja Homam
of Her wedding ceremony, Sri Andal refers to Bhagavan Nrusimha in the vAraNam
Ayiram verse as "Arimukhan Achyuthan" (The lion faced one who does not slip from
His position, namely, rushing to the rescue of those who have sought refuge in
Him). Andal again refers to Bhagavan Nrusimha in the tiruppAvai salutation "yAm
vandha kAryam". From these references it is clear that the Lord sought after by
Sri Devi (Rukmini Thayar) and by BhU Devi (Since Andal is an Amsham of BhUmi
facts are sufficient to establish that Lord Nrusimha is the supreme Lord. Swami
the need for other protectors? If you have decided not to protect someone, of
what use are other protectors? Resolving thus, I surrender unto You Oh Bhagavan
Nrusimha, who has taken residence on the banks of the Vegavathi river). Again
Swami Desikan and Andal declare their preference for Andal by instructing us to
utter the name of Hari (which denotes Simham) 7 times while waking up in the
morning.
revered as periya perumal due to his worship by Lord Rama. However, Bhagavan
However he suffers from one fault. Lord Rama worshipped Him (saha pathnyA
vishalAksha ranganathamupAsathu ) and the next day was banished to the forest. On
the other hand behold the greatness of Bhagavan Nrusimha! Upon worshipping Him
Rama was re-united with Sita Piratti and regained his kingdom. Bhagavan Nrusimha
was also worshipped by the nomad Srinivasa, who roamed the forest. As a result,
He became nithya Sri and stands on top of the Venkatachalam Hill" This eulogy
caliber and then it is demonstrated that the former tops the latter. However,
Srinivasa was seated in the altar ready to perform the wedding rites. Agni
personally undertook the preparation of food for the occasion. When the food was
ready for offering as naivedyam, Brahma had a question "Who should the food be
offered to when Bhagavan Himself was present?" Lord Srinivasa answered this as
Finally, we note that Bhadram is the name of Bhagavan Nrusimha, while Bhadra is
the name for Thayar. The Bhadram (protection) afforded jointly by Bhagavan
Nrusimha and Thayar is that of unfailing coming to the rescue of those who
Namo Narayana,
SriMuralidhara Dasan