Herren Nrisimhadeva

Sri Nrisimha Pranama

namas te narasimhaya prahladahlada-dayine hiranyakashipor vakshah shila-tanka-nakhalaye

ito nshimhah parato nrisimho yato yato yami tato nrisimhah bahir nrisimho hridaye nrisimho nrisimham adim sharanam prapadye

I offer my obeisances to Lord Nrisimha-deva, who is always giving bliss to His devotees like Prahlada Maharaja and chiselling at the hearts of demons like Hiranyakashipu. The devotee always sees Lord Nrisimha everywhere. Lord Nrisimha is within and without. Therefore let us all take shelter of Lord Nrisimha.

Prayer to Lord Nrisimha

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-sringham dalita-hiranyakashipu-tanu-bhringam keshava dhrita-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisha hare

O my Lord Nrisimha, Your hands are very beautiful like the lotus flower, but with Your long nails You have ripped apart the wasp Hiranyakashipu. Unto You, Lord of the universe, I offer my humble obeisances.



Idag är det Nrisimha Caturdasi, Herren Nrisimhadevas uppenbarelsedag. Herren Nrisimhadeva är kanske den kraftfullaste av Guds uppenbarelseformer. I denna form uppvisar Herren hela Sin vrede emot dem som försöker skada Hans kära hängivna, och också Sin stora kärlek och önskan att beskydda Sina tjänare från allt ont. Vaisnavas frambär ovanstående böner till Honom varje morgon och kväll.

En gång för länge sedan fanns det en mycket mäktig demon vid namn Hiranyakasipu. Tack vare sin stränga självtukt hade han lyckats uppnå enorma krafter, som han missbrukade för att göra ont och sprida fruktan överallt i universum. Hans lika ondskefulle bror hade dödats av Herren, och därför hyste Hiranyakasipu ett outsläckligt hat emot Herren Visnu, Gud. Men ödet bereder även mäktiga personligheter sina överraskningar, och till sin fasa upptäckte Hiranyakasipu att hans egen son, Prahlada, var en mycket stor hängiven till Herren.

Man hör ofta talas om nuförtiden hur demoniska föräldrar torterar och kanske t om dödar sina egna barn. Fenomenet är inte nytt; när Hiranyakasipu förstod att hans egen son var hängiven Gud, så beslöt han att döda det lilla barnet. Inga metoder var för avskyvärda för detta, och utan att tveka utsatte Hiranyakasipu sin lille son för många olika former av tortyr, dock utan något resultat.

Prahlada hade nämligen en tilltro till Gudomens Högsta Personlighet som inget kunde rubba, och Herren gav honom också allt beskydd. Prahlada förblev vid liv och oskadad trots alla försök att döda honom. Eftersom Prahlada var ett stort helgon blev han aldrig arg på sin demoniske fader, tvärtom önskade han honom allt väl och försökte övertyga honom om att överge sin ondska och i stället överlämna sig till Herren Visnu.

Men det sägs att om man ger en orm mjölk så blir den ännu giftigare, och en avundsam person blir bara ännu argare om man försöker ge honom goda råd. Så Hiranyakasipu blev än en gång rasande på Prahlada och skrek: Om din Gud nu finns överallt så finns han väl i den här pelaren också?! Och i samma ögonblick slog Hiranyakasipu till en massiv pelare som fanns palatsets tronsal.

Då hördes ett kraftigt rytande inifrån pelaren, och ut steg Herren i en av Sina mest fantastiska former, som Herren Nrisimhadeva, till hälften man, till hälften lejon. En våldsam kamp följde mellan de båda, och den slutade med att Herren satte sig på Hiranyakasipus tron, med Hiranyakasipu utsträckt i Sitt knä, och med Sina kraftfulla klor slet Herren ut Hiranyakasipus tarmar och lindade dem som en girland runt Sin hals. Och så ändades den store demonen Hiranyakasipus liv.
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Herren Nrisimhadevas vrede var så oerhörd att även universums alla fromma halvgudar blev rädda för Honom. Inte ens Brahma, universums skapare, vågade gå fram till Honom för att frambära sina böner.

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Det fanns dock en som inte var det minsta rädd: Prahlada Maharaja, Hiranyakasipus lille son. Brahma bad honom försiktigt att gå fram och försöka blidka Herren Nrismhadeva, och Prahlada gick sakta fram till Herren och föll ned på marken för att betyga sin vördnad.

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"När Herren Nrisimhadeva såg den lille pojken Prahlada Maharaja utsträckt vid Hans lotusfötter, upprymdes Han av stor extatisk kärlek till Sin hängivne. Herren lyfte upp Prahlada och lade Sin lotushand på hans huvud, ty Hans hand är alltid beredd att orsaka frihet från fruktan hos alla Hans hängivna."(S.B 7.9.5)

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Prahladas hjärta fylldes av kärlek och hans ögon av tårar, och sedan började han frambära kärleksfulla böner till Herren. Några välsignelser för egen del ville han inte ta emot, däremot bad han för sin demoniske far. Detta är typiskt för gudshängivna; de är helt fria från all egoism. I stället tänker de alltid på andras välfärd, till och med sådanas som vill göra dem illa. En gudshängiven är alltid beredd att förlåta och ha överseende med andras misstag.

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A C Bhaktivedanta Swami förklarar i sin kommentar till den här berättelsen att för att kunna rädda sig själv så måste man ta sin tillflykt till sådana här rena gudshängivna. Om man önskar bli fri från den materiella naturens angrepp, vilka uppkommer på grund av den materiella kroppen, måste man bli Krishnamedveten och försöka att till fullo förstå Krishna.

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Man måste grundligt förstå att alla materiella tillgångar är förgängliga. Till och med våra kroppar, genom vilka vi försöker uppleva så många olika slags sinnliga njutningar, kan förgås vid vilket ögonblick som helst. Andesjälen är emellertid evig. Andesjälen förstörs inte ens när kroppen förintas. En intelligent människa bör därför intressera sig för andesjälens lycka och inte kroppens.

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http://www.krishna.com/en/node/1341
One of the most awe-inspiring of Lord Krishna’s forms is Sri Nrisimhadeva, His half-man, half-lion incarnation. Lord Nrisimha descended to protect His devotee Sri Prahlada Maharaja from the atheistic king Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada’s father.

The Boy Saint Prahlada

Sri Prahlada Maharaja was a devotee of Lord Krishna from birth, having acquired knowledge of devotional service in the womb. Once, during the absence of Hiranyakashipu, his enemies the demigods, servants of the Supreme Lord responsible for universal management, kidnapped his wife to kill her embryo. They feared that the embryo might later develop into another terrible enemy. Srila Narada Muni rescued the mother and child after convincing the demigods that the boy to be born was an exalted devotee of Lord Krishna.

While still in the womb during his mother’s stay at Narada Muni’s ashram, Prahlada overheard Narada’s transcendental discussions on the glories of the Lord and became fearless, fully surrendered to the infallible shelter of Lord Krishna. Later, though only a child of five years, he had firm faith in the Lord’s protection and invoked this same pure devotion to the Lord in the hearts of his schoolmates at the atheistic school of Sukracharya, the guru of the daityas, or atheistic descendents of Diti. Enraged at his son’s undeviating devotion to his worst enemy—Lord Vishnu, the four-handed form of Lord Krishna—Hiranyakashipu sentenced Prahlada to death. Hiranyakashipu’s henchmen tried everything to kill Prahlada. He was starved, poisoned, cursed by spells, beaten by fiends, stomped by elephants, encaged among virulent pythons, hurled from mountain peaks, and attacked with stones, fires, and blizzards. Despite all of Hiranyakashipu’s attempts, Prahlada remained untouched, and the evil king’s anger grew.

Hiranyakashipu’s Plans to Become God

Hiranyakashipu’s enmity toward Lord Vishnu had begun when the Lord in His form as a giant boar had slain Hiranyakashipu’s twin brother, Hiranyaksha, who had upset the earth’s equilibrium by greedily mining for gold. Upon the death of his brother, Hiranyakashipu had charged Lord Vishnu with partiality toward the demigods: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given up His natural tendency of equality toward the demons and demigods. Although He is the Supreme Person, now, influenced by maya [illusion], He has assumed the form of a boar to please His devotees, the demigods, just as a restless child leans toward someone.”

Factually the Lord is never partial to anyone: samo ‘ham sarva-bhuteshu na me dveshyo ‘sti na priyah (Bhagavad-gita 9.29). He simply reciprocates with every living entity in accordance with the living entities’ desires. Lord Sri Krishna instructs in the Bhagavad-gita (5.11):
ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy ahammama vartmanuvartante manushyam partha sarvashah

“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” Thus the Lord appears as death for the atheist and as the loving savior for His devotee. And He Himself is beyond any material affinity.

To take revenge for his brother’s death, the mighty daitya Hiranyakashipu vowed to satisfy his brother’s soul with Vishnu’s blood. In his quest for immortality and the power to defeat Vishnu, he performed humanly impossible penances through which he acquired boons from Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. Hiranyakashipu thought he could become God by his own austerity and penance. He foolishly concluded that since Lord Vishnu was favoring the demigods, He must also be an ordinary conditioned living entity (influenced by partiality and hatred) who became God by austerities. This mentality is characteristic of Mayavadi philosophers, who maintain that every soul is God deluded by maya and that once the illusion is dispelled, the soul once again realizes its identity with God. This theory, however, is unacceptable when we consider the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna’s supremacy, as He states in the Bhagavad-gita (9.10):

mayadhyakshena prakritihsuyate sa-caracaramhetunanena kaunteyajagad viparivartate

“This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” The material energy, maya, is one of the many potencies of the Supreme Lord. Since maya is completely submissive to the Lord, there is no possibility of the Supreme Absolute Lord being overpowered by its influence. The living entities, however, being minute parts of the Lord, can be deluded. The Mayavada theory that after liberation the soul merges with God is refuted in the Bhagavad-gita (15.7, 2.12), where Krishna declares all jiva souls to be His parts eternally, remaining always distinct individuals.

The Mayavadis also assert that the highest conception of God is of the transcendental, impersonal, and all-pervading nirguna-brahma (Absolute Truth devoid of quality, attribute, or form), which assumes a material conditioned body like ours whenever it descends to this world. Thus for the Mayavadis, Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna are saguna-brahma, Brahman with attributes and form, which to them means material illusory entanglement, for they just cannot imagine transcendence with qualities and form.

Frustrated with the suffering caused by the material body, the impersonalist philosophers conceive of transcendence and liberation as free from qualities and attributes. The Lord, however, clearly defies this notion:

avyaktam vyaktim apannahmanyante mam abuddhayahparam bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam

“Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.24) Thus from the Bhagavad-gita we learn that Lord Krishna never worked to achieve Godhood. He is eternally the Supreme Absolute Truth, and the individual souls are eternally His parts.

Nrisimhadeva Kills Hiranyakashipu

Just as the Mayavadis maintain the false theory that by enough penance a soul can become God, Hiranyakashipu considered that he could achieve immortal dominance over all and vanquish Lord Vishnu with his own prowess. But Prahlada challenged his power.

The arrogant Hiranyakashipu cursed him and inquired, “Where do you obtain the power to defy my supremacy?”

“The source of my strength is Lord Vishnu,” replied the fearless Prahlada. “He is the source of everyone’s strength, including yours.”

To hear that his strength was the grace of Vishnu, his worst enemy, was the greatest insult for Hiranyakashipu, who challenged Prahlada, “O most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always described an all-pervading supreme controller beyond me. If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar? If he does not appear from this pillar, then today your head will be severed with my sword.”

With these words, Hiranyakashipu struck his fist at the pillar, from which emanated a sound that seemed to crack the covering of the universe.

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To prove true the statement of His devotee Prahlada, the Supreme Lord appeared from the pillar in a form never seen before, a form neither man nor lion, the form of Sri Nrisimhadeva.
Though Hiranyakashipu looked like a moth entering a fire when he attacked Lord Nrisimha, he ridiculously thought he would be able to defeat the Lord just as he had conquered all his other enemies. Long before, when his brother had been slain, this same Hiranyakashipu had angrily rushed to the Lord’s residence with a trident. The Lord had then disappeared and entered Hiranyakashipu’s nostril. Unable to find the Him, Hiranyakashipu had considered that God was dead.

Now Hiranyakashipu confronted the Lord, who played with him as a cat plays with a mouse. When the sun began to set, Lord Nrisimha lifted Hiranyakashipu onto His lap and dug His nails into Hiranyakashipu’s torso.

The daitya cried out, “Alas, my chest, which is being ripped open by Nrisimhadeva at this moment, is the same chest that broke the tusks of Airavata, Indra’s elephant. It is the same chest that stayed free of scars despite being struck by Lord Shiva’s ax.” (Nrisimha Purana 44.30)

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Nrisimhadeva ripped open the stonelike chest of Hiranyakashipu with His diamondlike nails. The Lord wore the intestines of the king as His victory garland, and to convince the demigods of Hiranyakashipu’s death, the Lord tore out the daitya’s heart. As another aspect of His divine play, the Lord was suddenly surprised to see that Hiranyakashipu’s body had disappeared. When He shook His hands, however, the torn pieces of Hiranyakashipu’s body fell out of His nails onto the ground. (Nrisimha Purana 44.32–35) From this we understand that Hiranyakashipu was an insignificant insect compared to the transcendental lion Lord Nrisimha. As Jayadeva Goswami confirms:

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-shringamdalita-hiranyakashipu-tanu-bhringamkeshava dhrita-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisha hare

“O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half man, half lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasplike demon Hiranyakashipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on Your beautiful lotus hands.”

Lord Nrisimha destroyed Hiranyakashipu without violating the boons granted by Lord Brahma, who had blessed Hiranyakashipu to not be killed:

inside or outside any residence (the Lord killed him in the doorway)
during the day or night (the Lord killed him at twilight)
on the ground or in the sky (the Lord killed him on His own lap)
by any human being or animal (Lord Nrisimha is half man, half lion)
by any demigod, demon, or great snake (the Lord is beyond any of these categories)
by any weapon or any entity, living or nonliving (Lord Nrisimha pierced the daitya with his nails, which are not considered weapons and are neither living nor dead)

Finally, Hiranyakashipu was not be killed by any living being created by Brahma or not created by Brahma. Hiranyakashipu was cautious to ensure that he would also not be killed by Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, and Lord Vishnu, the three presiding deities of the universe (the only three living entities within the universe not created by Brahma). Lord Nrisimha is a lila-avatara, or pastime incarnation of Lord Krishna, and is not of the category of Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu, who are the three guna-avataras, or deities in charge of the three modes of material nature.
Hiranyakashipu, the universal tyrant, wished to reverse the system of piety. He wanted the impious to be rewarded and the pious to be punished. Thus upon the death of Hiranyakashipu, all the demigods and inhabitants of various planets offered their prayers to Lord Nrisimha, expressing their gratitude for the Lord’s slaying the daitya, who had usurped all their riches, wives, and shares of sacrificial offerings. Only Prahlada Maharaja, however, could pacify with loving prayers the transcendental wrath of Lord Nrisimha, who is prepared to even appear as half-man, half-lion for the sake of His pure devotees.

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Lord Nrisimha was overjoyed upon beholding the firm faith of Prahlada, and He repeatedly requested him to ask for a boon. But the utmost compassionate Prahlada, who was more concerned for the welfare of others, only requested the Lord to liberate his demoniac father. The Supreme Lord guaranteed the liberation of twenty-one generations of Prahlada’s dynasty.
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I denna materiella värld är allas medvetanden fyllda av fruktan, och det enda sättet att bli fri från fruktan är att bli Krishnamedveten. När Herren Nrisimhadeva uppenbarade Sig befriades alla gudshängivna från fruktan. De gudshängivna blir fria från fruktan genom att sjunga Herren Nrismhadevas heliga namn: yato yato yami tato nrsimhah. "Varhelst vi går, måste vi alltid tänka på Herren Nrisimhadeva." På så sätt blir den gudshängivne fri från fruktan.

(S.B 7.9.5)

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Jag önskar alla en fin Nrisimha Caturdasi.

Mafuka