SB 2.7.14

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven, “Scheduled Incarnation Specific Function,” 

TEXT 14

trai-piṣṭaporu-bhaya-hā sa nṛsiṁha-rūpaṁ
kṛtvā bhramad-bhrukuṭi-daṁṣṭra-karāla-vaktram
daityendram āśu gadayābhipatantam ārād
ūrau nipātya vidadāra nakhaiḥ sphurantam

TRANSLATION

The Personality of Godhead assumed the incarnation of Nṛsiṁhadeva in order to vanquish the great fears of the demigods. He killed the king of the demons [Hiraṇyakaśipu], who challenged the Lord with a club in his hand, by placing the demon on His thighs and piercing him with His nails, rolling His eyebrows in anger and showing His fearful teeth and mouth.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The history of Hiraṇyakaśipu and his great devotee-son Prahlāda Mahārāja is narrated in the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Hiraṇyakaśipu became very powerful by material achievements and thought himself to be immortal by the grace of Brahmājī. Brahmājī declined to award him the benediction of immortality because he himself is not an immortal being. But Hiraṇyakaśipu derived Brahmājī’s benediction in a roundabout way, almost equal to becoming an immortal being. Hiraṇyakaśipu was sure that he would not be killed by any man or demigod or by any kind of known weapon, nor would he die in day or night. The Lord, however, assumed the incarnation of half-man and half-lion, which was beyond the imagination of a materialistic demon like Hiraṇyakaśipu, and thus, keeping pace with the benediction of Brahmājī, the Lord killed him. He killed him on His lap, so that he was killed neither on the land nor on the water nor in the sky. The demon was pierced by Nṛsiṁha’s nails, which were beyond the human weapons imaginable by Hiraṇyakaśipu. The literal meaning of Hiraṇyakaśipu is one who is after gold and soft bedding, the ultimate aim of all materialistic men. Such demonic men, who have no relationship with God, gradually become puffed up by material acquisitions and begin to challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord and torture those who are devotees of the Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja happened to be the son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, and because the boy was a great devotee, his father tortured him to the best of his ability. In this extreme situation, the Lord assumed the incarnation of Nṛsiṁhadeva, and just to finish the enemy of the demigods, the Lord killed Hiraṇyakaśipu in a manner beyond the demon’s imagination. Materialistic plans of godless demons are always frustrated by the all-powerful Lord.

COMMENT

So in the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says:

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

“In order to deliver the devotees and to punish the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion, I appear millennium after millennium.” Srila Prabhupada explains that the Lord does not have to come personally to kill the demons. He has many agents who can kill the demons, but the real purpose for his appearance is to pacify his pure devotees who are eager to see him. So Hiraṇyakaśipu made the fatal mistake of harassing Sri Prahlada, who was a pure devotee, and the result was that the Lord came personally and killed the demon and thus delivered Prahlada and at the same time relieved all of the demigods from great fear.

The paribhāṣā-sūtra verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, mentions that the Lord appears in order to vanquish the enemies of Indra, for the enemies of the demigods, and thus Nṛsiṁhadeva fulfilled the purpose of the Lord. So Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is not our iṣṭa-deva as such as our worshipable Lords: Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai and Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, but Nṛsiṁhadeva is important to us because He protects our devotional service and He vanquishes the demon-like desires for material enjoyment within the heart. Therefore, we worship Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva as did Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who prayed to Nṛsiṁhadeva to protect his devotional service, to destroy all of anarthas, and to make his desire to serve Radha and Krishna.

So now we will just read one short passage from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā, Chapter Eight, Text Three.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaitacandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

TEXT 3

pūrva-rīte prabhu āge gamana karilā
‘jiyaḍa-nṛsiṁha’-kṣetre kata-dine gelā

TRANSLATION

According to His previous program, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went forward on His tour and after some days arrived at the place of pilgrimage known as Jiyaḍa-nṛsiṁha.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Jiyaḍa-nṛsiṁha temple is situated on the top of a hill about five miles away from Visakhapatnam. There is a railway station on the South Indian Railway known as Siṁhācala. The temple known as Siṁhācala is the best temple in the vicinity of Visakhapatnam. This temple is very affluent and is a typical example of the architecture of the area. On one stone tablet it is mentioned that formerly a queen covered the Deity with gold plate. This is mentioned in the Visakhapatnam Gazetteer. About the temple, there are residential quarters for the priests and devotees. Indeed, at the present moment there are many residential quarters to accommodate visiting devotees. The original Deity is situated within the depths of the temple, but there is another Deity, a duplicate, known as the vijaya-mūrti. This smaller Deity can be moved from the temple and taken on public processions. Priests who generally belong to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya are in charge of the Deity worship.

nṛsiṁha dekhiyā kaila daṇḍavat-praṇati
premāveśe kaila bahu nṛtya-gīta-stuti

TRANSLATION

Upon seeing the Deity of Lord Nṛsiṁha in the temple, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu offered His respectful obeisances by falling flat. Then, in ecstatic love, He performed various dances, chanted, and offered prayers.

TEXT 5

“śrī-nṛsiṁha, jaya nṛsiṁha, jaya jaya nṛsiṁha
prahlādeśa jaya padmā-mukha-padma-bhṛṅga”

TRANSLATION

 “ ‘All glories to Nṛsiṁhadeva! All glories to Nṛsiṁhadeva, who is the Lord of Prahlāda Mahārāja and, like a honeybee, is always engaged in beholding the lotuslike face of the goddess of fortune.’

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The goddess of fortune is always embraced by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. This is mentioned in the commentary on Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam written by the great commentator Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī. The following verse was composed by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary on the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.1):

vāg-īśā yasya vadane
lakṣmīr yasya ca vakṣasi
yasyāste hṛdaye samvit
taṁ nṛsiṁham ahaṁ bhaje

“Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is always assisted by Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, and He is always embracing the goddess of fortune to His chest. The Lord is always complete in knowledge within Himself. Let us offer obeisances unto Nṛsiṁhadeva.”

Similarly, in his commentary on the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1), Śrīdhara Svāmī describes Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva in this way:

prahlāda-hṛdayāhlādaṁ
bhaktāvidyā-vidāraṇam
śarad-indu-ruciṁ vande
pārīndra-vadanaṁ harim

“Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, who is always enlightening Prahlāda Mahārāja within his heart and who always kills the nescience that attacks the devotees. His mercy is distributed like moonshine, and His face is like that of a lion. Let me offer my obeisances unto Him again and again.”

TEXT 6

ugro ‘py anugra evāyaṁ
sva-bhaktānāṁ nṛ-keśarī
keśarīva sva-potānām
anyeṣām ugra-vikramaḥ

TRANSLATION

 “ ‘Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to nondevotees like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja.’ ”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This verse was composed by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary on the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.9.1).

TEXT 7

ei-mata nānā śloka paḍi’ stuti kaila
nṛsiṁha-sevaka mālā-prasāda āni’ dila

TRANSLATION

In this way Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recited different verses from the śāstra. The priest of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva then brought garlands and the remnants of the Lord’s food and offered them to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Sri Nṛsiṁhadeva ki jaya!
Prahlada Maharaja ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Nitai-Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!