Do You Read The Lyrics

“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

“You know what gave me pause the other day? The fact that we have phrases and sayings recorded from historical incidents that would make no sense to the younger generation. The people growing up today would not understand something that was said as recently as a few decades ago. I am not limiting the scope to an academic setting, either. Within pop culture. Within a venue that would be considered rebellious by the youth of the time. Let me explain.

“During a recent workout, my playlist consisted of a concert recording that I listened to a lot when I was young. For some reason, with this particular type of music, I enjoy the live renditions of the songs more so than the studio versions, as they were originally released. Perhaps because the guitars sound better. More distortion. A better mix with the bass. The vocals have more desperation in them. The energy is just different. The songs come alive, if you ask me.

“In between songs at these shows, there is something known as ‘stage banter.’ The singer will talk to the crowd. To perhaps pass the time, to introduce the next song, or to simply recover energy levels. One thing the singer would ask is if people had one of the older albums. Mind you, what they considered ‘older stuff’ was released only a few years prior. Then, the singer would ask a follow-up question. Did the people in the audience read the lyrics? If so, there is no excuse for not singing along to the upcoming song, as it will be played.

“Think about that for a moment. Who wouldn’t have an album today? Everything is available, for free, from streaming services. In my youth, it was unheard of to have in your possession the entire catalog of published music from a popular artist. Not unless you were a really big fan or had the money to purchase the physical items from the stores. I’m talking records, tapes, and CDs.

“Moreover, the reference to lyrics is really telling. It brings back a wonderful memory. I would open up the included sleeve in the CD or tape. I would read the lyrics from the songs. Not all artists included the lyrics, but this particular band did. I distinctly remember not knowing the words to most of the songs in a particular album. Not just being unable to make out the words from the singing, I literally didn’t know what the big words meant. We had not learned them yet in school. I would take a dictionary out and look up the definitions. I don’t think anyone really has to do that today.

“This is a long detour into getting to the issue of the language barrier in the culture of bhakti-yoga. Do you not think that prevents progress? Does it not push people away, when they would otherwise be open to hearing what you have to say? I get it that the maha-mantra is not difficult to pronounce, but the words are Sanskrit in origin. The same for many of the prayers that they sing in the temples. For instance, that song for Narasimhadeva is not easy to pick up. At least in my experience, it took me a while to understand what was going on.”

In the same way that the experience of looking up words to a song was blissful, at least in memory, so there is nothing to be lost in searching out, locating, understanding, and then assimilating teachings of the science of self-realization consisting of words that might be in a language foreign to the area. Sanskrit, Hindi, Awadhi, Bengali – there are even dialects specific to a genre of writing, like Braj Bhasha.

We might have a difficult time pronouncing the words, after they have been transliterated into a script that we can read. Nevertheless, there is the potential for so much meaning within a single word. A single string of Sanskrit words, for instance, presents a vivid picture of one of the more famous pastimes involving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The words are from Narasimha Purana, and we conduct the following review to see if the difficulty is worth it; is the juice at the end worth the squeeze.

Hari refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is a name for God the person. He is a distinct individual. He is not a collection or an abstract. He is not impersonal, though that can be one of His features. Hari refers to someone who takes away. In this case, He was arriving in the manifest realm to take away troubles of a persecuted child. He was also taking away the power temporarily on loan to one dastardly individual.

Suresho refers to the suras, who are the devas. These are gods, but they are not the summit of power and influence. The presence of Hari indicates the subordinate nature of the devas in that relationship. Naralokapujito refers to the fact that the men, naras, of this world, loka, worship, pujitah, the one who helps the suras. We are three terms in and we already have a wonderful understanding of God, who is Hari.

Hitaya refers to doing well or wishing well. Hari is hitaya for the characharasya of the lokasya. This world has both moving and nonmoving beings. Hari is wishing well to them both. He does not play favorites, though He is also the benefactor of the devas. This appears contradictory, but we are welcome to study the matter further.

Kritva virupam refers to the dreadful form that Hari was showing. He was able to accomplish this by His own energy, which is the original energy, puratma mayaya. This form, which was wishing well to everyone and simultaneously helping the suras, went against hiranyakam, which refers to the Daitya leader named Hiranyakashipu. Duḥkhakaraṃ says that Hiranyakashipu was creating distress for so many. It was not accidental. It was through intentional work.

This justifies what Hari then did with that dreadful form borne of His own energy. Nakhaish chhinat means that Hari tore apart the victim using only His nails. Hiranyakashipu was previously gifted boons by the best of the suras, Lord Brahma. In that sense, Brahma, through a brief interaction, was helping a Daitya. Hari wished well to all of the suras by taking the dreadful form of Narasimha. This means that when Hari intervenes, His decision supersedes any other agreements. He is like the final word. He is the highest court of appeals.

Hari only had to use His nails. Hari also refers to a lion, and so the name Narahari is appropriate for describing that dreadful form. Narasimha is a synonymous term; this was a part man, part lion tearing apart a victim with ease. Hiranyakashipu deserved this punishment, and this amazing feat by Hari has been celebrated ever since.

In Closing:

Back in time to go,
Recalled fondly so.

How the album lyrics to read,
Sometimes a dictionary to need.

Today for shastra same applying,
To understand Sanskrit trying.

Blissful in that Purana rendition,
Avatara of Narasimha edition.