Stories From The Bhagavatham - Narasimha Avatar (The Final Part)

 

Prahlada came and stood before Hiranya with folded hands. Hiranya’s anger knew no bounds.

“You are a fool!” He roared. “You are the son of a great king like me, and yet you talk highly about a Deva who has not the courage to even come before me. I have put up with your insolent behavior for too long. You are bringing ruin to my entire kingdom. Today I will send you to the abode of Yama Himself. Be prepared!”

“I only want to help you, father.” Prahlada said looking at his father with pity and compassion. “You can still save yourself. Lord Narayana is the most powerful of all Devas. The world is created by Him, sustained by Him and destroyed by Him as well. He is not your enemy. Rather it is your own mind which is your enemy. You may have conquered the ten quarters of the world but you have not conquered the six enemies of your own mind – Kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsara. You are your own enemy, father. Please conquer your mind.”

Hiranya furiously glowered at Prahlada. “You say that there is a force greater than me. Who is this power and where is he??”

“He is Lord Narayana, and He is everywhere.” The child said.

“Everywhere??” Hiranya asked him. His eyes, red with anger, fell upon a pillar in the hall. “Is he then inside this pillar?”

Prahlada bowed before the pillar and said, “Yes, He is inside this pillar as well.”

Hiranya looked at the pillar. “I am going to kill you now. Let your Lord Narayana, whose praises you keep singing day and night, come out of this pillar and rescue you from death.”

With a great cry, Hiranya struck the pillar with his powerful fist.

A terrible noise erupted, like the clap of thunder. The whole world trembled on hearing the noise but Hiranya stood there, staring at the pillar. Before his very eyes, the pillar split into two and out emerged the Lord.

Narayana had assumed a terrifying form. He stood there, shining like molten gold. His eyes glared at Hiranya from the face of a lion. An immense tongue, blood-red in colour, lashed out from the mouth of the lion. His mane was immense. From the face till His waist, He was a massive lion. From below the waist, He had the form of a man.

Let’s take a minute to remember this splendid and terrifying form of the Lord Narayana and to worship Him with the recitation of this Mantra:

ॐ उग्रं वीरं महाविष्णुं ज्वलन्तं सर्वतोमुखम् ।
नृसिंहं भीषणं भद्रं मृत्युमृत्युं नमाम्यहम् ॥

Everyone who saw Him cowered in terror, but not Hiranya. He looked at the lion and thought to himself, what a strange-looking creature this is!

Suddenly it all became clear to Hiranya as he got reminded of the boon he had acquired from Lord Brahma. He had asked that none of the Lord’s creations should be able to kill Hiranya. This part-lion, part-human – Narasimha - looked like none of Brahma’s creations. Could it be possible that this could be the moment of his death??

Hiranya chased the thought away and with his upraised weapon, rushed towards the Lord. He could not be even seen because of the glow that Narasimha was emitting. A fierce fight ensued between Hiranya and Narasimha but nothing could harm the later. Finally Narasimha caught Hiranya in His mighty arms and carried him to the threshold where He sat, placing Hiranya on His lap.

Hiranya looked around. The sky was darkening and it was neither day nor night. He smiled to himself, realizing that this was the end. It was neither day nor night, he was at a threshold where he was neither inside nor outside, he was at the mercy of a beast which was neither completely beast nor completely human, and the beast had placed him on His lap, which was neither in the sky nor in the ground. With a strange clarity, all his words and deeds came back to him and Hiranya looked at Prahlada, as if admitting that the child had been right all along, and there was indeed someone much stronger and powerful than Hiranya.

Thus, Hiranyakashipu lost his life at the hands of Lord Narasimha and the world saw another incarnation of Lord Narayana.

Even after killing Hiranya, Narasimha’s wrath did not end and the whole world trembled in fear of Him. The seas became turbulent and the sky and heavens lost their splendor because of Narasimha’s golden lustre. Clouds got scattered here and there and the planets suffered eclipses.

Narasimha walked to the throne of Hiranya and sat there. No one dared to go near Him – nor any Deva, nor Devi Lakshmi Herself.

The Devas, one by one, praised Lord Narasimha but they could not abate His anger against a man who had dared to hurt His devotee. The Devas requested to Devi Lakshmi but She refused to approach Him in His angered state.

Then Lord Brahma advised Prahlada to appease Lord Narasimha.

The child fell at Narasimha’s feet, tears falling from his face. The Lord looked at Prahlada and His anger melted. He placed His hand on the child’s head. A thrill ran over Prahlada at the tender touch of the Lord. In devotion and ecstasy, he composed and recited the Prahlada stuthi, a beautiful hymn praising the Lord Narasimha.

The Lord’s anger completely abated and He placed Prahlada on His lap. “I am very fond of you, child. You are the greatest and noblest among Asuras. Ask me any boon you desire. I will grant it to you.”

The child smiled. “Do not try to tempt me with materialistic objects and deny me a place by Your side, which is the only thing I want. I want your form in my heart forever. In this way, I will have no place in my heart for worldly desires if You are present there.”

Lord Narasimha now became a Shantimurthi and all the Devas assembled near Him. When Devi Lakshmi sat beside Him, the Lord became Lakshmi Narasimha. He said to Prahlada. “You will live till the end of this Kalpa, and you will lead a life free of all worldly desires. You will forever be free of the bondage of Karma and will eventually reach me.”

Prahlada bowed to the Lord. “Please be gracious and kind to my father. In his ignorance, he spent his whole life hating you. Please forgive him.”

“So be it. Because of your presence in Hiranya’s line, he and twenty one of his ancestral lines have been purified. He has reached Pitraloka. You can perform his final rites. All your descendants will be dear to me.”

Saying so, Lord Narasimha vanished from the site.

Many ages later, as Sage Narada narrated this incident to Yudhisthira, he pronounced that the one who listens to the story of Prahlada and the grace of Lord Narasimha will never again be born in this world.

Thus concludes the rendition of Narasimha Avatar. Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!