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ABOUT LORD NARASIMHA - PAGE 1
The story of Lord Narasimha is a wonderful and fascinating narrative of one of the Incarnations of Lord Narayanaya. In order to fully understand and enjoy just how beautiful and remarkable this incarnation is we need to go back way before Narayanaya came down as Narasimha. This will help us understand how small pieces of a puzzle came together to give us this amazing lila.
Krishna and Narasimha are said to be the only two Avatars of Narayanaya that came down with all Narayanaya’s aspects. However their tales are different as the Build up to Krishna incarnating is short, but His Lord Krishna’s wonderful past times are many. Lord Narasimha’s build up to His incarnation is long and his past times are short. He came down with one purpose and that was to protect is bhakta, Bhakta Prahlada.
The story of Lord Narasimha is recounted in the Srimad Bhagavatam which is a text dedicated to the praise of Lord Narayanaya’s pastimes and incarnations. There are many on transcriptions of the Bhagavatam from Sanskrit into English and the one I have found to be the best is by Kamala Subramaniam (If you would like to order a copy the ISBN number is 81-7276-376-x).
Various chapters from the Bhagavatam are recounted here so you can fully understand Lord Narasimha’s incarnation. Each new chapter has a heading so you can come back any time and pick up where you left off.
So let us journey way back before bhakta Prahlada was born way back to the incarnation of the two Asura’s (demons) Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu.
JAYA AND VIJAYA ARE CURSED (THE ARROGANT DOORKEEPERS)
In her womb the sons of Diti were growing rapidly. The poor woman was afraid for the Devas and for the world. And so she tried to retain the children inside her and not let them be born. So they stayed inside her womb for a hundred years. Then a wondrous thing happened. The glow of the unborn children was so great that the world became lustreless. The heavens themselves were losing their splendour and even the Devas looked less like sons of light then they were wont to! Worried about the eclipse of their glory the Devas went to Brahma the Creator and asked him to explain the mystery. He smiled at them and said: “There is nothing here for you to worry, not just now, at any rate! I will tell you the reason for this.”
“Once my sons Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara went to Vaikuntha the abode of Narayanaya with a desire to worship Him. They crossed the six gates in a hurry and came to the seventh, and when they were about to enter Vaikuntha they were stopped. The Rishis were prevented from going inside by Jaya and Vijaya. These two were the doorkeepers and they stepped in front of the Rishis and said ‘you cannot enter.’” “The Rishis looked for a moment at these two who were so handsome, so well dressed and at the same time so arrogant.” “Unmindful of their words the Rishis walked towards the seventh gate and again tried to enter the sanctum.” “The keepers placed their staffs in front of them and said: ‘you cannot enter.’”
“The Rishis were now definitely annoyed. In their eyes could be seen traces of anger, the younger brother of desire.” “They looked at Jaya and Vijaya and said: ‘ Indeed it is strange that you, who have been in the presence of the Lord so long should have this undesirable quality in you.” We curse you to leave the presence of Narayanaya. You will be far away from Narayanaya whose nearness has blinded you to such an extent that you insult good men.”
“Overcome with horror at the fate awaiting them Jaya and Vijaya fell at their feet and prayed for forgiveness.” “The Rishis were sorry for them but they said ‘we cursed you since we felt that you both deserved it. But we will modify the curse. Your births will be such that The Lord will dwell in your hearts all the time because of your hatred for Him.’ The placed their hands on their ears saying: ‘Shantam papam’ and exclaimed ‘Hatred of the Lord? Hatred? How can that be possible?’, and tears rained from their eyes.
“Lord Narayanaya appeared there at that moment. The Rishis worshipped Him. The two young men held onto His Feet and would not get up. The feet of the Lord were drenched with their tears. He asked them to rise up. He looked at the young Rishis and said: ‘These servants of mine have insulted you unaware of your greatness. It is but right that you should have cursed them. I approve of your action. Any fault of the servant reflects on the Master and so on their behalf I beg you to pardon Me. No one is more dear to Me than a Bhakta and when that Bhakta is insulted I am very angry. Let them be born in the lower world as you have ordained and they will come to me later.’
Slightly ashamed of themselves for their short temper and the hasty curse which they had pronounced on the young men whom the Lord obviously loved so much, the Rishis were confused as to whether the Lord was reprimanding them for their lack of control. Knowing what was passing in their minds Narayanaya said: ‘Please do not be upset. I really do approve of this entire incident.’ “Relieved by the reassuring words of the Lord the Rishis worshipped him and went away. Narayanaya turned to Jaya and Vijaya and said: ‘I can retract the curse of the Rishis but I will do not do so. The curse of Brahmins should not be ignored. Both of you must be born in the world of men. You will have three janmas. In one, Krodha will be the cause of your downfall; in the next, Kama will overshadow your actions and in one Mada will rule your actions. But let me assure you of one thing. You will be killed by Me and only Me. You will finally come back to me. You will hate Me with an inordinate hatred. That is also yoga in which you will think more of Me than if you had been My bhakta’s. This Sambramha yoga will be your special privilege and you will be granted release from the three janmas which will last till the end of Dvapara, the third quarter of time’
“The Lord vanished from their sight and they descended to the earth. These servants of Narayanaya”, concluded Brahma, “are lodged in the womb of Diti and it is their glow which is eclipsing the glory of the earth and heavens. There is no other reason for it.”
After a hundred years, two sons were born to Diti: twins. Their father called them Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. Their birth was attended by several evil omens which indicated great calamity for the world.
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