Makar Sankranti - Real story with 11 shloka of Bhishma Pitamah

I got this mail from one of the religious mailers:

Makar Sankranti is an important Hindu festival which marks the transition of the sun from Dakshinayan (Tropic of Capricorn) to Uttarayan (Tropic of Cancer), where the sun begins to move towards the northern hemisphere marking the beginning of summer. This therefore indicates the start of an auspicious phase. In Gujarat, this festival is also known as Uttarayan.

On this auspicious festival, it is described in the Shrimad Bhagavat that Shri Bhishmaji, who was lying on a bed of arrows in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, declared his intent to leave the mortal body. At the time, he devotedly performed a divine stuti (prayer) of Shri Krishna, who stood in front of him to bless him with his grace.

Let us all understand the meaning of this prayer, Shri Bhishma Stuti,

Iti matirupakalpita vitrishna bhagavati satvata pungave vibhumni,
Svasukhamupagate kvachidvihartum prakritimupeyushi yadbhavapravahah.

Shri Bhishmaji says, “O Krishna, I am the father of an unmarried girl, lying on a deathbed. I am worried that I still haven’t married my daughter.” Everyone present was surprised to hear that Shri Bhishmaji has a daughter despite having taken an oath of celibacy. Shri Bhishmaji continued to describe that this unmarried daughter is his mind.

Our mind is not single; it is attached to wealth, name and people. Shri Bhishmaji claims that his mind is single and he would like to wed it to Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna asked, “Have you asked your daughter if she likes me and agrees?”

Shri Bhishmaji replied, “Yes, she likes you, as who is more handsome compared to you in this world?”

Tribuvanakamanam tamalavarnam ravikaragauravarambaram dadhane,
Vapuralakakulavritananabjam vijayasakhe ratirastu me anavadya.

Shri Bhishmaji tells Lord Krishna that your complexion is dark like that of a bay leaf; you wear a pitambar which is as bright and yellow as the sun; your beautiful, black and curly hair dances on your face... O dear friend of Parth, let my love for you increasingly grow.

However, which girl would marry a man who is handsome but not brave? My mind has donedarshan of your bravery in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Yudhi turagarajovidhumravishvak kachalulitashramavaryalamkritasye
Mama nishitasharairvibhidyamana tvachi vilasatkavache astu Krishna atma

Your body was covered with dust spread from the running of horses, your forehead decorated with drops of sweat from the effort of riding the chariot and your armour was pierced with my arrows; my mind is attached to such admirable bravery of yours.

What if one is handsome and courageous but without a good temperament? Your nature is so simple!

Sapadi sakhivacho nishamya madhye nijaparayorbalayo ratham niveshya
Sthitavati parasainikayurakshna hritvati partha sakhe ratirmamastu.

Arjun commanded you in Kurukshetra to take his chariot in the middle of the two armies. This was not a request, it was a command. You laughingly replied, “Yes definitely Parth.” And Indeed you did so. O Prabhu, Hari, dear friend of Parth, who took away the age of the Kaurava army merely with your looks, let my love for you grow.

A girl likes a husband who is handsome, brave and has a good nature whereby he does as he is told. My mind-like daughter, in addition, has also seen how wise you are.

Vyavahita prithanamukham nirikshya svajanavadhadvimukhasya doshabuddhya
Kumatimaharadatmavidyaya yashcharanaratih paramsya tasya me astu.

When Arjun was surrounded with infatuation of his relatives on the Kaurava army in Kurukshetra, he began to sweat, felt dizzy, dropped his bow, sat down and said, “Keshav, I will not fight.” At that time, to take away Arjun’s infatuation and delusion of his mind, you sang the Gita in Kurukshetra. Let me develop love in the divine feet of such a singer of Gita.

What if one has all the above qualities but no love? Such a marriage would fail. Where there is love, one thinks of the other’s happiness. You thought of my happiness and thus to keep my oath true, O Damodar, you broke your oath!

Svanigamapahaya matpratigna mritamadhikartumahavapluto rathasthah,
Dhritarathacharano abhyayachchalatguh haririva hantumibham gatottariyah.

Shitavishikhahatovishirnadamshah kshatajaparipluta atatayino me,
Prasabhamabhisasara madvadhartham sa bhavatu me bhagavan gatirmukundah.

When Shri Bhishmaji started piercing Arjun’s body with his arrows, defeated, Arjun hid behind Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna was angry and his eyes became red. Angrily, he got out of his chariot, while his outer garment dropped, lifted the wheel of a broken chariot from the ground and ran like a lion would after a deer to kill Shri Bhishmaji and protect Arjun. Shri Bhishmaji dropped his weapons at this point and laughed as Shri Krishna had broken his oath of not using a weapon in the battle. Shri Bhishmaji began to shed tears of love while performing Shri Krishna’s divine prayer.

This prayer is composed of 11 shlokas. One shloka signifies presenting all one’s possessions to God thereby freeing oneself of attachments; another shloka represents presenting oneself to God thus taking away one’s ego and the rest of the nine shlokasrepresent the 9 types of bhakti (devotion) to unite oneself with God.

At the end, Shri Bhishmaji said, “O Krishna, I seek your refuge having left all the worldly attachments. I am tired of the continuous circle of life and death. Let me rest at your divine feet.” Thereafter, he concentrated his senses and mind into Shri Krishna, united with Shri Krishna and left the mortal body at the auspicious time of Uttarayan.

HOW CAN A GOD EXIST AND ALLOW SO MUCH SUFFERING AND EVIL IN THE WORLD AROUND US?

This Que. & Ans. I received from Nigeria Religious Society, Worth reading it.

Answer : Every kind, gentle hearted person is moved by and would want to help alleviate the suffering, miseries of others. Naturally, when such see so much suffering as a part of our daily lives, all over the world, many kind hearted people would ask, “Is there a God in control? How can He allow such atrocities to happen in the material world?” Faced with never ending miseries some people conclude that 

(i) If there is a God up there, then He is a cruel God or
(ii) There is no God, as there seems to be no one caring for the sufferings of the people or answering their prayers of relief.

Both these conclusions are wrong. There is a Supreme Creator and Controller of the universe and He is all-good.

People sometimes wonder, “If everything was created by God and there is so much evil in this world, then did God created evil?”

Yes, God created everything. He is the Supreme Creator.

Eg. God can be compared to the sun. Just like the sun is full of light, God is also full of pure goodness.

Does the sun create the shadows? When we face the sun, we see only light and brightness. When we face away from the sun we see darkness and our shadows. Thus, the sun is the ultimate or the remote cause of the shadow. The immediate cause is the person who is standing in the way and is facing away from the sun. Darkness cannot exist in the sun. Only when we face away from the sun we see darkness.

We can understand the principle of God and evil in the same manner.
Does God create evil? When we face God, we only see pure goodness and love. When we face away from God then we see evil and suffering. Thus God is the ultimate or the remote cause of evil. The immediate cause of evil are the people who face away from God and create evil, just like the people who face away from the sun create shadows.

Evil does not exist in God, just like darkness does not exist in the sun. It is wrong to think that God is bad or evil and therefore, He creates evil miseries in this world. God is always good and He always wishes us well. When we choose to face away from His grace, then we invite the evil of dark miseries in this world and in our life. Therefore, every sane man, woman and child must use all their human energies and resources to reconnect back with God to create a permanent solution to all problems in life.

STORY: AN ATHEIST CHALLENGES GOD TO APPEAR.There was once an atheist who went to a small town to “save the believers” from having blind faith in the existence of God. He went to the centre of the town, climbed on the main-square and announced, “My dear villagers, at 6pm to day, I am going to challenge God to appear today. Let us see whether God appears before us to prove His existence, otherwise we shall all give up our blind faith in this so-called Supernatural entity called God.”
The news quickly spread all over the town and at 6pm there was a huge gathering at the town square to see how God would respond to the challenge of this atheist. Sharp on time, the atheist started his discourse. Raving and ranting at the top of his voice, he was preaching how there is so much superstition in society and how science has made so much advancement, so everyone should give up the backward and aboriginal ideas about the existence of God.
After a few minutes, he stopped and then shouted his challenge, “Today, in front of all the towns folk, I openly challenge God to show Himself to us, if He exists. I will count from 10 to 0 and if He exists then let Him come personally and strike me down with a thunderbolt!” Gathering more energy, he shouted at greater decibels, “Today I will give up my life at the hands of God, or I will prove that belief in God is simply a superstition of the aboriginals!”
There was pin drop silence in the audience. Knowing that he had captured the attention of the people, the atheist slowly started counting from 10… 9… 8… 7… Then he looked up towards the sky for an indication to see if anyone was coming. Again with great dramatic pathos he slowly started counting 6… 5… 4… 3… Again he looked up into the sky and shouted his challenge, “If there is a God up there, or anywhere, I challenge you to appear, otherwise your bluff will be exposed and we will know that you don’t exist!”
As he started his countdown again, the townsfolk waited with baited breath to see what will happen. The atheist became even more slow, 2…. 1…. and finally 0! What happened? Nothing. The atheist was overjoyed. Thumping his hand on his fist, he proclaimed, “See, I told you. There is no God. If there were a God, He would have heard my challenge and come to strike me down with His thunderbolt. It is all simply superstition. We must all collectively clean ourselves from this misconception.”
At that time, an elderly pious gentleman came up to the atheist and spoke to him. He said, “My dear child, you should learn to see this situation in the correct perspective. Are you thinking that because God failed to come and strike you down, therefore, he doesn’t exist? Please tell me, which loving father will come with a weapon to strike down his rebellious child, simply to prove that he exists? The very fact that God did not beat you, proves that there above is a eternally loving and forgiving Father!”
Thus, when people rebel against God, they become implicated in impious lives, evil and misdirected civilization full of suffering. God, like a merciful parent is always trying to bring the lost souls back to His loving fold and offer them complete protection from real problems of life. It is said when we take one step towards God, He takes ten steps towards us. The question is when are we taking our baby steps toward Him?

New Year Wish with Good thoughts

Best wishes for the year 2013 to all of you. May god bless you and all your good dream comes true. I got some good thoughts on New year, attaching here for all of us. Mahavir Swami's (Jain's 24 Tirthankar) advise.

Sree Guru Charitra - Entire Book on Dattatreya - English Version -

I've copy paste different chapters in separate Blog post. Secondly in those attachments there were 10 chapters in English and balance in Hindi. Lastly there were few words, which were coming in English or Marathi, rather then following single trend. So I felt it will not provide full interest in reading the entire book.

Hence Finally I've searched again English entire book in one go. Which can be easily assessable by clicking following links (or copy paste on your web address).

http://nlshirdisai.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/shri-guru-charitra-in-english.pdf

I'm sorry for inconvenience cause to those who already tried to check my various blogs. I've removed 6 blog pages for that.

Datta Sampraday

Datta Upasana has been known since ancient times.  However, Narsinh Saraswati (1378-1458 AD) promoted it in the early part of 15th century. Datta Upasana became popular and grown into a cult form known as Datta Sampraday.  It's presence is mostly seen in Maharashtra and some parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. During Muslim regimes, Datta Sampraday flourished. It was taken as a unifying factor of Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions as well as Hindus and Muslims too. Granths : 'Tripura Rahasya', 'Datta Prabodh' and 'Datta Mahatmya'. The 'Guru-Charitra'  brought out by Saraswati Gangadhar in 1535 is a very popular Granth even till date. Mother-tongue of Saraswati Gangadhar was Kannada but he composed 52 Adhyays with 7491 Ovis in Marathi. Besides praise of Dattatrey Avatar, the Guru Charitra highlights the works of Datta Sampraday founders Shripad Shrivallabh and Narsinh Saraswati. Teaching :  The Guru Charitra especially does not give space to the 'Vedant' and 'Kriya-Shunya' Bhakti.   Rather it advocates to make best use of material life (Aihik Jeevan) to attain Moksha under guidance of a Guru.  It impresses that our body is momentary (a-shashvat), therefore one should attain 'chitta-shuddhi' through 'good karmas' so long the body is healthy and strong.  'Paduka Poojan' is preferred over an idol  worship. Influence of Datta Upasana is seen on Nath Sampraday's adoption of 'Guru Parampara' and 'Yog Sadhana' to attain 'param-pad' and hailing Dattatrey as Avadhoot Yogi.  Mahanubhav Sampraday adopted and popularized 'Ek-Mukhi' and 'Chaturbhuj' Datta.  Varkari Sampraday too extolled Dattatrey Yogis.  Chaitanya Sampraday and Anand Sampraday idolised  Dattatrey as Guru.

Gurus: Shripad Shrivallabh (14 th century AD): Born at Pithur, he is held as Maha Purush and first Avatar of Dattatreya. Narsinh Saraswati (1378-1458) : Born at Lad Karanje in Vidarbha as Shaligam Dev Madhav Kale. Taken Sanyas. Prapogated Datta Upasana. Stayed at Amarapur (Narsobachi Wadi), Audumbar, Gangapur. There is reference in some Granthas about his meeting with the Muslim King of Bedar, Allauddin (Second).  Manik Prabhu (1817-1865) : Born at Ladvanti and then settled down at Humanapur (later known as Manikpur) in 1845. Popularised upasana through 'sangeet maifils'. His following was from Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Jains, Boudhs and Lingayats and his group was known as 'Sakalmat' Sampraday.  Vasudevanand Saraswati (1854-1914) : Born at Mangaon in Ratnagiri as Vasudev Ganesh Tembe. Known as great Datta upasak and prolific Granth-kar. Akkalkote Swami (Samadhi-1878 AD) : Little known is about his previous life. Came to  Akkolkote (Solapur) in 1857 and started propagating Datta Upasana. Among his disciples are Nrisimha Saraswati of Alandi, Balappa Maharaj, Shankar Mahaarj, Vishnubuva Brahmachari.

Places: Mahur : Has oldest Temple of Ek-Mukhi Datta, built in 1219 AD on a mountain by one Mahant Mukund Bharati. Mahur  is also a Shakti-Peeth of Goddess Renuka and also a major centre of Mahanubhav Sampraday. Pithapur : Birth place of Shripad Shrivallabh. Yatra on Datta Jayanti held. Lad Karanja : Birth place of Narsinh Saraswati.  Audumbar : Narsinh Saraswati had stayed there. Now his Padukas are kept.  Narsinh Wadi (Narsobachi Wadi) : Narsinh Saraswati had stayed there. Considered Jagrit Sthan. Ganagapur : Narsinh Saraswati had stayed there & performed Anushthans on the confluence of Bhima and Amarja rivers. Considered Jagrit Sthan. Nasik : Known for popular Ek-Mukhi Datta Temple. Considered as Prati-Ganagapur. Akkalkote : Akkalkote Swami's Mutt. Now his Padukas are kept in the temple. Chaul : Known for Popular Datta Temple.  Maniknagar : Manik Prabhu Had stayed there.

Granths/ Books:   'Guru-Charitra' , 'Tripura Rahasya', 'Datta Prabodh', 'Datta Mahatmya' etc Entire Book on C=Guru Charitra:

108 Names of Narsinh Bhagwan (with meaning) & story in breif

108 Names of Lord Narasinh Bhagwan

1. Om narasimhaya namah        Obeisances unto the half-man half-lion Lord
2. Om mahasimhaya namah      Obeisances to the great lion
3. Om diyva-simhaya namah     Obeisances to the Divine lion
4. Om mahabalaya namah         Obeisances to the greatly powerful
5. Om ugra-simhaya namah      Obeisances to the angry terrifying lion
6. Om mahadevaya namah        Obeisances to the Lord of lords
7. Om stambha-ja-aya namah    Obeisances to One who appeared from the pillar

8. Om ugra-locanaya namah      Obeisances to one who possesses terrifying eyes
9. Om raudraya namah               Obeisances to the angry one
10. Om sarvadbhutaya namah   Obeisances to one who is wonderful in every way
11. Om srimanaya namah           Obeisances to the most beautiful
12. Om yoganandaya namah      Obeisances to the source of yogic bliss
13. Om trivikramaya namah        Obeisances to Lord Vamana (Who took three great steps)
14. Om harine namah                  Obeisances to Sri Hari Who takes our troubles away
15. Om kolahalaya namah         Obeisances to the roaring (Varahadeva - Varaha-nrisimha)
16. Om cakrine namah               Obeisances to Him Who carries the disk
17. Om vijayaya namah               Obeisances to Him Who is always victorious
18. Om jaya-vardhanaya namah Obeisances unto Him Who has ever increasing glories
19. Om panchananaya namah    Obeisances unto Him Who is five-headed
20. Om param-brahma-aya namah Obeisances unto Supreme Absolute Truth
21. Om aghoraya namah             Obeisances to Him Who for His devotees is not horrible
22. Om ghora-vikramaya namah Obeisances to Him Who has terrifying activities
23. Om jvalan-mukhaya namah   Obeisances to One Who has an effulgent face
24. Om jvala-maline namah          Obeisances to Him with effulgent garland of flames
25. Om mahajvalaya namah          Obeisances to He Who is most effulgent
26. Om maha-prabhuhaya namah Obeisances to the Supreme Master
27. Om niti-laksaya namah    Obeisances to Him Who possesses all good (moral) qualities
28. Om sahasraksaya namah       Obeisances to the thousand-eyed One
29. Om durniriksyaya namah Obeisances to Him Who is difficult to see (difficult to look at)
30. Om pratapanaya namah Obeisances to Him Who oppresses His enemies with great heat
31. Om mahadamstraya namah Obeisances to Him Who possesses huge teeth
32. Om yudha-prajnaya namah  Obeisances to the Supremely intelligent in battle (ready to fight)
33. Om canda-kopine namah   Obeisances to Him Who is likened to an angry moon
34. Om sada-sivaya namah      Obeisances to the All auspicious Lord
35. Om hiranyakasipu-dhvamsine namah Obeisance to Him Who destroys Hiranyakasipu
36. Om daitya-danava-bhanjanaya namah Obeisances to He Who destroys the masses of the race of demons and giants

37. Om guna-bhadraya namah Obeisances unto Narasimha Who is full of wonderful qualities
38. Om mahabhadraya namah Obeisances to Him Who is very auspicious
39. Om bala-bhadraya namah   Obeisances to Him Who is auspiciously powerful
40. Om subhadrakaya namah    Obeisances to the extremely auspicious One
41. Om karalaya namah          Obeisances to He Who possesses a wide open mouth
42. Om vikaralaya namah          Obeisances to Him with very wide open mouth
43. Om vikartaya namah          Obeisances to the Lord Who performs wonderful activities
44. Om sarva-kartrikaya namah Obeisances to the Lord Who performs ALL activities
45. Om sisumaraya namah          Obeisances to Him Who also appears as Matsya
46. Om trilokatmaya namah           Obeisances to the Soul of the three worlds
47. Om isaya namah           Obeisances to the Lord known as the controller
48. Om sarvesvaraya namah          Obeisances to that supreme controller
49. Om vibhuaya namah          Obeisances to Narasimha Who is the BEST
50. Om bhaivaradambaraya namah Obeisances to Him Who causes terror by roaring in the sky
51. Om divyaya namah       Obeisances to That Divine Person Narasimha
52. Om acyutaya namah         Obeisances to our infallible Lord Nara-simha
53. Om kavine namah      Obeisances to the Supreme intelligent (poet)
54. Om madhavaya namah Obeisances to the husband of Srimati Laksmi devi
55. Om adhoksajaya namah Obeisances to Him Who is beyond understanding (or beyond explaining)
56. Om aksaraya namah Obeisances to the infallible One
57. Om sarvaya namah     Obeisances to He Who is the origin of everything
58. Om vanamaline namah Obeisances to Him Who wears garland of forest flowers (or adorned by His loving devotees)

59. Om varapradaya namah Obeisances to the Merciful Lord Who grants boons to the deserving like Prahlada

60. Om visvambaraya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who maintains the universe
61. Om adbhutaya namah       Obeisances to Him Who is wonderful
62. Om bhavyaya namah Obeisances to He Who determines the future (Who is the future for His devotees)

63. Om sri-visnave namah Obeisances to that Narasimha Who is the all pervading Lord Vishnu
64. Om purusottamaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who is the Supreme Enjoyer
65. Om anaghastra namah Obeisances to Him Who can never be wounded by weapons
66. Om nakhastraya namah Obeisances to Him Who has sharp nails for weapons
67. Om surya-jyotine namah Obeisances to Narasimha the source of Suns rays
68. Om suresvaraya namah  Obeisances to Narasimhadev, Lord of devatas
69. Om sahasra-bahu-aya namah Obeisances to Nara-hari the thousand-armed Lord
70. Om sarva-jnaya namah Obeisances to Him Who is the all-knowing
71. Om sarva-siddhi-pradayakaya namah Obeisances to Him Who awards all perfections to the sadhakas (devotees)
72. Om vajra-damstraya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who has teeth like lightning bolts
73. Om vajra-nakhaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who possesses nails like piercing lightning bolts
74. Om mahanandaya namah Obeisances to the source of supreme bliss - Atmananda - Narasimha
75. Om param-tapaya namah Obeisances to the source of All austerities, spiritual energy (and taptah - heat)

76. Om sarva-mantraika-rupa namah Obeisances to that Divine Personality Who although one, he appears as the many mantrika formulas

77. Om sarva-yantra-vidaramaya namah Obeisances to Him Who destroys all machines (demoniac plans/arrangements/vehicles for demoniac works)

78. Om sarva-tantratmakaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha the essence of, and proprioter of all tantras (ritual rites - pujas)

79. Om avyaktaya namah Obeisances to the Lord Who appears unmanifest
80. Om suvyaktaya namah Obeisances unto Nara-simha Who for His devotees becomes wonderfully manifest from the pillar (or when needed)

81. Om bhakta-vatsala namah Obeisances to the Lord Who always has the well-being of His devotee at heart

82. Om vaisakha-sukla-bhototthaya namah Obeisances to That Narasimhadeva Who appeared during waxing moon of the month of Visakha (April-May)

83. Om saranagata-vatsalaya namah Obeisances to the Lord Who is kind to those surrendered to Him (like the mother lioness who is kind to her cubs)

84. Om udara-kirtine namah Obeisances to Nara-simha Who is universally famous
85. Om punyatmaya namah  Obeisances to Him Who is the essence of piety
86. Om mahatmaya namah    Obeisances to That great personality, Nara-simha
87. Om candra-vikramaya namah Obeisances to Him Who is the performer of moonlike or great deeds, or who performs deeds that eclipse all others.

88. Om vedatrayaya namah Obeisances to the Lord of the three original Vedas (Rg, Yajur, Sama)
89. Om prapujyaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who is supremely worshipable
90. Om bhagavanaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha the Supreme Personality of Godhead
91. Om paramesvaraya namah Obeisances to He Who is the Supreme Controller (Nara-simha-deva)
92. Om srivatsamkaya namah Obeisances to the Lord Who is just like Krishna, being marked with symbol of Laksmi

93. Om jagat-vyapine namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who pervades the entire universe
94. Om jagan-mayaya namah Obeisances to the Supreme Mystic Who makes the material world seem real

95. Om jagat-palaya namah   Obeisances to the protector of the universe (Nara-simha)
96. Om jagannathaya namah Obeisances to the Lord of Universe
97. Om mahakhagaya namah Obeisances to Him Who moves in the air or with the movement of the air (is everywhere)

98. Om dvi-rupa-bhrtaya namah Obeisances to Him Who has double form (man-lion)
99. Om paramatmaya namah       Obeisances to Him Who is the Supersoul of All beings
100. Om param-jyotine namah Obeisances to Him (Nara-simha) Whose effulgence is the source of Brahman

101. Om nirgunaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Who possesses transcendental qualities (not those of the material nature)

102. Om nrkesarine namah Obeisances unto Him man-lion (or having a lion's mane while appearing part human)

103. Om para-tattvaya namah Obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth (One Who is of the Supreme nature)

104. Om param-dhamaya namah Obeisances to He Who comes from the Supreme Abode
105. Om sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaya namah Obeisances to Narasimha Whose Form is made of eternal knowledge and bliss

106. Om laksmi-nrsimhaya namah Obeisances unto the Man-Lion Form together with the Supreme Goddess of Fortune Srimati Laksmi-devi

107. Om sarvatmaya namah Obeisances unto the universal, primeval soul (the Supreme Personality of Godhead - Narasimhadeva)

108. Om dhiraya namah Obeisances unto Narasimha who is always sober (being never bewildered)

Story in Brief:

Bhagavata Puran describes that in his previous avatar as Varaha, Vishnu killed the raksha Hiranyaksha. The brother of Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, wanted revenge on Vishnu and his followers. He undertook many years of austere penance to Vishnu: Brahma thus offers the demon a boon and Hiranyakashipu asks for immortality. Brahma tells him this is not possible, but that he could bind the death of Hiranyakashipu with conditions. Hiranyakashipu agreed:

O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you. Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal. Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time. Brahma said, "Tatha asthu" (be it so) and vanished. Hiranyakashipu was happy thinking that he had won over death.

Narasimha statue

One day while Hiranyakashipu performed austerities at Mandaracala Mountain, his home was attacked by Indra and the other devatas. At this point the divine sage Narad intervenes to protect Kayadu, whom he describes as 'sinless'. Following this event, Narad takes Kayadu into his care and while under the guidance of Narad, her unborn child (Hiranyakashipu's son) Prahlad, becomes affected by the transcendental instructions of the sage even at such a young stage of development. Thus, Prahlad later begins to show symptoms of this earlier training by Narad, gradually becoming recognised as a devoted follower of Vishnu, much to his father's disappointment.

Hiranyakashipu furious at the devotion of his son to Vishnu, as the god had killed his sister. Finally, he decides to commit filicide. but each time he attempts to kill the boy, Prahlad is protected by Vishnu's mystical power. When asked, Prahlad refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is all-pervading and omnipresent. Hiranyakashipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if 'his Vishnu' is in it:

"O most unfortunate Prahlad, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?"

Narasimha claws Hiranyakasipu at Banteay Srei in Cambodia.

Prahlad then answers, He was, He is and He will be. In an alternate version of the story, Prahlad answers, He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig. Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and following a tumultuous sound, Vishnu in the form of Narasimha appears from it and moves to attack Hiranyakashipu. in defence of Prahlad. In order to kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasimha is chosen. Hiranyakashipu can not be killed by human, deva or animal. Narasimha is neither one of these as he is a form of Vishnu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon. Kurma Puran describes the preceding battle between the Purusha and demonic forces in which he escapes a powerful weapon called Pashupata and it describes how Prahlad's brothers headed by Anuhrada and thousands of other demons "were led to the valley of death (yamalayam) by the lion produced from the body of man-lion" avatar. The same episode occurs in the Matshya Purana 179, several chapters after its version of the Narasimha advent.

The Bhagavata Purana further narrates: even after killing Hiranyakashipu, none of the present demigods are able to calm Narasimha's fury, not even Shiva. So all the gods and goddesses call his consort, Lakshmi, but she is also unable to do so. Then, at the request of Brahma, Prahlad is presented to Narasimha, and finally he is calmed by the prayers of his devotee. Before parting, Narasimha rewards the wise Prahlad by crowning him as the king.

Happy Reading.