Sri Narasimha Jayanti (Sri Narasimha Chaturdashi)
The Appearance of Lord Narasimha Dev
The Srimad Bhagavatam sings the glories of the Supreme Absolute Truth, Sri Krishna and describes Him as being unlimited and all pervading, having no beginning and no end (na cāntar na bahir yasya, na pūrvaṁ nāpi cāparam) and therefore He possesses unlimited names, fame, pastimes, forms and qualities, one among which is the quality of compassion and boundless love that The Supreme Lord has for all living entities, especially for His dear devotees. The three worlds had witnessed this unmeasurable love that resides within the heart of the Supreme Lord, when for the sake of a five-year-old boy, Sri Krishna who is the cause of all causes descended on this earth in the transcendental form of half lion-half man, Sri Narasimha Deva. This most auspicious day when The Lord appeared to protect his little devotee Sri Prahalad Maharaj on the fourteenth day of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Vaishakh is celebrated as Narasimha Chaturdashi.
Hiranyakashipu, the demoniac son of Maharshi Kashyap and Diti was filled with hatred and vengeance against the Supreme Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had killed his demoniac brother Hiranyaksha in His transcendental Varaha form because the demon had caused havoc in the entire creation by submerging the Earth planet within the depths of the Garbodhaka ocean. Hiranyakashipu performed tremendous austerity and pleased Lord Brahma. He received a boon from Lord Brahma that he could not be killed by any human being, demigod or animal or any other entities; he could not be killed by any kind of weapons, neither during day nor night. Thus, becoming extremely powerful, he overthrew the demigods from heaven and proclaimed himself as the ruler of the three worlds. He started atrocities against the devotees of Lord Vishnu and mercilessly killed all who opposed him and refused to consider him as God. Among the voices who did not agree to be subdued, there was one, whose immense dedication unto the service of the Lord at the age of five years, shook the hollow pillars of Godlessness, unrighteousness and madness of Hiranyakashipu who happened to be his own father. Sri Prahlad Maharaj who was initiated by Narada Muni had unflinching devotion towards Lord Vishnu and this was certainly not at all acceptable by his demoniac father. He made many attempts to kill his own sons but every time the divine protection of the Lord saved the child. Finally, the Supreme Lord Himself appeared as half-lion half-man, Sri Narasimha Deva in order to protect Prahalad Maharaj and killed the demon and thus re-established peace in the whole universe.
This historic narration of the pastime of Sri Narasimha Deva reminds us of the constant struggle between the theists and the atheists. In this material world where the conditioned living entities, out of their deepest ignorance have not only lost all interest to know their true self but in the attempt to enjoy indiscriminately, have degraded their consciousness even lower than animals. If a person becomes or attempts to become God conscious, the entire society and at times even our own relatives become our enemy, just as Hiranyakashipu could not accept his very own son to be a devotee of the Lord and went up to the extent to kill him. This is what the madness to enjoy our own senses by exploiting the material nature can do. The atheistically advanced Godless society desires to kill God but it is unaware of the fact that God cannot be killed but the demons are killed by God as declared by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, "I am also death in the shape of taking away everything, whatever you possess." The ones who are materialistic like Hiranyakashipu refuse to surrender and obey the instructions of the Lord. They are under the illusion that they are immortal and thus waste their entire human life in planning to fully enjoy and gratify the senses. But the Lord in the form of death finishes everything. We must be intelligent enough to follow the footsteps of the Mahajanas like Prahalad Maharaj who refused to be subdued by the atheists. Not only that, he even refused to listen to his own father because he was wrong. Prahalad Maharaj compares this material world to a dark well and instructs us all to get out of it by engaging in the selfless divine loving service unto the Supreme Lord by following the nine steps of devotional service. The Supreme Lord Narasimha Deva assures us that He is always protecting His surrendered devotees and is ready to kill the demons like Hiranyakashipu who attempt to obstruct the devotional service. One must completely surrender unto the lotus feet of Lord Narasimha Deva and pray for His ultimate protection so that we can engage ourselves unto His divine loving service and make our lives perfect.
|| Sri Narasimha Deva Bhagavan Ki Jai
Sri Prahlad Maharaj Ki Jai
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai ||