The Transcendental Lord

Date: 2020-05-06 Author: Narahari das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gururdeva.

Today is the auspicious day of Narasimha Jayanthi and also the day in which our beloved Gurudeva accepted sannyasa order. The glories of Narasimha are explained in many of the scriptures such as Bhagavatam, purana and in the especially the Narasimha Tapaniya Upanishad of the Atharvadeva. In that Upanishad the meaning of the word Narasimha and speciality of the Narasimha form is given as follows. (Narasimha Purva Tapani Upanishad)

atha kasmāducyate narasimhamiti yasmātsārveṣām bhutānam viryatamaḥ śreśrṭathamaśca simho viryatamaḥ śreśrṭathamaśca tasmāt narasimha āsītparameshvaro jagad hitam vā etadroopam yadaksharam bhavati tasmāduchyate narasimham iti

“Why the Supreme Brahman is called 'Narasimha'? Of all beings, the lion is the most powerful and loftiest, considering power and loftiness together. So the Supreme Lord manifested the man-lion form. This imperishable spiritual form appeared to perform good deeds to the worlds. Hence He is called as Narasimha.”

Here we can see that the form of Narasimha is imperishable (aksharam). All material forms are subject to the power of time and hence perishable. But the Lord's form is non-material (constituted of bliss and knowledge) and hence imperishable. In the same Upanishad, it is stated that Lord Narasimha is ‘ānandarupa’ which means His form is full of bliss. So by remembering His form, one can develop the quality of goodness and attain lasting spiritual peace. The Lord manifested this form with the face of a lion because lion is the most powerful and majestic animal. And His form is for 'jagat hitam' for the benefit of all the worlds.

Now the whole world is going through an unprecedented crisis due to the virus and it is clear that there is no cure invented by human brain so far. The only shelter is to pray for the grace of Lord Narasimha who appeared for the benefit of all the worlds to get relief from this situation. Also Lord Narasimha appeared to protect the words of His dear devotee Prahlada and destroy His demoniac father Hiranyakasipu who was tormenting all the worlds. When Hiranyakasipu was killed, all the different kinds of devatas and other living entities offered their prayers. The Vidyādharas (advanced beings of the higher worlds) prayed as follows (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.8.46).

śrī-vidyādharā ūcuḥ vidyāṁ pṛthag dhāraṇayānurāddhāṁ nyaṣedhad ajño bala-vīrya-dṛptaḥ sa yena saṅkhye paśuvad dhatas taṁ māyā-nṛsiṁhaṁ praṇatāḥ sma nityam

The inhabitants of Vidyādhara-loka prayed: "Our acquired power to appear and disappear in various ways according to varieties of meditation was banned by that foolish Hiraṇyakaśipu because of his pride in his superior bodily strength and his ability to conquer others. Now the Supreme Personality of Godhead has killed him just as if the demon were an animal. Unto that supreme pastime form of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, we eternally offer our respectful obeisances."

We can see here that Hiranyakashipu was proud of his superior bodily strength and ability to conquer others. On honest introspection, we can see that humanity was very proud of its scientific achievements and ability to control nature in this planet and also explore other planets. Because of that pride, we were least bothered about respecting nature and other species of life on this planet. We never realized that we are just a tiny spec in this creation and nature (controlled by God) is much more powerful than us. But the recent trouble caused by the virus has shown that our pride is completely unwarranted. We were boasting that we stepped into other planets but due to the global lock down we are not even able to step out of our house without fear, while we see animals freely roaming everywhere. So on this auspicious day we can pray for the grace of Lord Narasimha so that we will be able to get rid of this pride and realize that the earth is meant for peaceful co-existence of all species of life and not humans alone.

And in this verse it is stated 'māyā narasimham'. māyā means wonderful power, knowledge and also causeless mercy. So this form is very merciful and can bestow us the knowledge to peacefully co-exist in this world. Also on this auspicious day, our beloved Gurudeva accepted the sannyasa order of life to show his causeless mercy on us and to bless us with transcendental knowledge which can bestow the shelter of Bhagavan Narasimha.

So let us pray at the lotus feet of our Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada and Lord Narasimha so that we will get relieved of our pride and attain the Lord’s grace in the form of transcendental knowledge.

Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva, Narahari Krishna das Chennai.