“Shri Hari, who is the Lord of the demigods, who is worshiped by the people of the world, for benefiting the moving and nonmoving beings of the world took that dreadful form through His own energy and tore apart Hiranyakashipu, who caused suffering to so many, with His nails.” (Narasimha Purana, 44.43)

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हरिः सुरेशो नरलोकपूजितो हिताय लोकस्य चराचरस्य
कृत्वा विरूपं च पुरात्ममायया हिरण्यकं दुःखकरं नखैश् छिनत्

hariḥ sureśo naralokapūjito hitāya lokasya carācarasya
kṛtvā virūpaṃ ca purātmamāyayā hiraṇyakaṃ duḥkhakaraṃ nakhaiś chinat

In one sense, we should be thankful to Hiranyakashipu, the famous leader of the Daityas described in many Puranas. We owe him a debt of gratitude, for the average person might not have been so obstinate. They would have given up long before it was too late. They might not have been so staunch in their refusal to accept what is obvious before them. They might not go to such great lengths to harass the innocent and the pious, who are always aligned with the interests of Vishnu, such that Vishnu Himself feels compelled to appear. But that is exactly the extreme to which Hiranyakashipu travelled, and on the occasion of Narasimha Chaturdashi we meditate on that dreadful form, virupam, which was shown at just the right moment, for the benefit of all beings.

If we are not advanced in our approach towards analysis, if we lazily insist that something be handed to us rather than working through the problem scope on our own, we might become impatient with this idea of Divinity. If God really existed, He would show Himself to us. If He is real, why not appear right now? At this very moment, in front of me; do something amazing. Only then will I believe.

The bhagavata perspective is that the very nature of existence is evidence of a higher being. In other words, if we acknowledge that life exists, we are indirectly agreeing that there is a God. The entire universe, with its component objects, with its varieties of forms of life, of all shapes and sizes, is like the body of the Supreme Lord. Everyone follows Him in all respects; whether they know it or not.

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते
तांस् तथैव भजाम्य् अहम्
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते
मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

“All of them – as they surrender unto Me – I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.11)

Aside from the collective life that is the universe, which appears to operate autonomously, with no fixed maintenance schedule or downtime to apply patches and upgrades, there is further evidence of God in the many supposed miracles that take place. These “miracles” are steady and predictable. There is a section within Bhagavad-gita where Shri Krishna explains how He is the life of various important factors, people, and energies. The very fact that there is something like strength, for instance, proves that God exists.

बलं बलवतां चाहं
काम-राग-विवर्जितम्
धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु
कामो ऽस्मि भरतर्षभ

balaṁ balavatāṁ cāhaṁ
kāma-rāga-vivarjitam
dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu
kāmo ‘smi bharatarṣabha

“I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O Lord of the Bharatas [Arjuna].” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.11)

To someone like Hiranyakashipu, such evidence is insufficient. Their refusal inadvertently leads to a plethora of evidence. They develop a sort of rivalry with someone who is on the opposite side, who does not require visual evidence to believe. Prahlada Maharaja was a saint since the time of birth. He accepted the wisdom of the bhagavata through the descending process. He heard from Narada Muni. That hearing, shravanam, was sufficient for reaching realization of the self. Amazingly, that hearing took place while Prahlada was in the womb.

Hiranyakashipu was the best of the atheists. He refused to acknowledge the existence of God, who the whole world referred to as Vishnu. This Vishnu was the enemy to Hiranyakashipu. This Vishnu should always be put down, mocked, and considered inferior. The fact that Prahlada was spontaneously and affectionately worshiping this Vishnu was too much to tolerate.

The stubbornness of the son was such that the father felt compelled to resort to lethal measures. He tried to kill Prahlada in so many ways. None of them worked. Each failed attempt should have been a “light bulb” moment for the leader of the Daityas. He was receiving direct evidence of the protection of God afforded to His devotees. Hiranyakashipu was seeing Vishnu through the amazing survival of Prahlada, who remained intact despite being fed to snakes, being thrown off a high cliff, and being tossed into the ocean.

Rather than continue to outsource the task to subordinates, Hiranyakashipu finally had enough. He was ready to attack Prahlada personally. But first, he gave the son one last chance. If Vishnu truly existed, then He should magically emerge from the pillar. The pillar that was right next to the father and the son. The pillar that would be struck by the sword held in the mighty arm of that feared ruler of the world. That pillar should turn into a womb, if Vishnu were indeed the source of strength in everyone.

We have an occasion like Narasimha Chaturdashi precisely because Hiranyakashipu chose to temp fate. Vishnu did emerge from the pillar. Except this wasn’t a peaceful form or something resembling an object of worship in a temple. Rather, this form was terrifying. The Sanskrit word is virupam.

Narasimha Purana says that Vishnu took that form through His own energy, which is maya. That energy is puratma, which means that it is as old as we can imagine. Vishnu is infinite through both directions of time. He is the beginning of the beginning and also the end of the end. Vishnu appeared as Narasimha to benefit the entire world, which includes moving and nonmoving beings.

Do you really want proof? Do you really insist that Prahlada prove that the object of worship exists? Do you really want to test the strength of the person you otherwise considered to be a mythical character? Do you really want to see what Vishnu is capable of? That dreadful form tore apart the atheist king. Narasimha used His nails to kill Hiranyakashipu. This could have been avoided. Prahlada was the very embodiment of enlightenment, peace, tranquility, and auspiciousness. Nevertheless, Narasimha is still celebrated to this day, and even that dreadful form is worshiped on countless altars across the universe.

In Closing:

Worshiped on altars countless,
With auspiciousness timeless.

That one time to receive,
After refusing to believe.

Hiranyakashipu the father,
His son Prahlada to bother.

To beat out that devotion true,
But Narasimha protecting who.

Categories: feature, holiday, narasimha

Tags: feature, narasimha, narasimha chaturdashi, poem, poems, poetry