19850504_Srimad_Bhagavatam.7.8.1-25_Lord_Nrsimhadeva_Appearance_Day_Then_why_He_not_Present_Befor_Literal Version The following is a lecture given His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on May 4th, 1985 at New Orleans, Loisiana. The class begins with a reading from the Srimad Bhagavatama, Canto 7, Chapter-8, text 1-25. Today is a very important day. Today Lord Narasinghdev appeared in the world. Lord Narasinghdev is a very dear form of the Lord for the devotees because the Lord assumed this form simply to protect his devotees. Krishna has got unlimited forms and each of those forms has their own pastimes and qualities and the different forms also have their own devotees. So in this form of Narasinghdev Krishna is specially known as the protector of his devotees. So naturally all the preaching devotees find Lord Narasinghdev very dear. Also Lord Narasinghdev was worshipped by Ganesha, the son of Lord Siva, the great demigod. Ganesh gives benediction that by his mercy whatever one embarks upon, if they first worship Ganesh then their success by the blessings of Ganesh that is assured, he is the incharge of success. So Ganesh has got his potency by worshipping the lotus feet of Lord Narasinghdev. Lord Narasingdev gives the blessings whereby all obstacles in the path of devotional service can be destroyed. We get the sixth canto on the… the Narayan kavach, that also has a nice verse about… to Narasinghdev. So the son of Hiranyakashipu, to give a little background. Hiranyakashipu was a great ah… demon, that means that he was a very ambitious person but who had no… who was against, but that’s this type of … we are human beings. There are another form of entities known actually as asuras. They are a race of entities who are by their nature, they are generally speaking atheistic and they are very powerful beings. They are almost as powerful as demigods and amongst them Hiranyakashapu was the king. So he had performed great tapasya where he fasted and meditated to such a point that ah… he was able to attract the attention of even Lord Brahma, and so then he asked Lord brahma the benediction of immortality. So Lord Brahma said that it is not possible for him to give immortality because he himself is not immortal. That was quite shocking to Hiranyakashipu because he always thought that since Lord Brahma was known as amar or deathless, that he was actually immortal. So Lord Brahma explained that he is known as deathless because compared to the ordinary living entities his life span is so long, literally millions and millions of years. One of his days four million, three hundred million thousands years times a thousand, that’s four billion three hundred thousand years is his one day and he lives three hundred … he lives 30 days in a month, twelve months in a year, equally long night, and his life span is more or les hundred years. So a life span like that compared to ordinary human beings or something, they consider him to be deathless or immortal, but even he said that one day I will also die. So by my calculation my life is only a hundred years, but by your calculation I am deathless. So kind of like if an ant want to calculate the living… the life span of a human being, they may consider human beings to be practically immortal but ah… or some of those micro-ogranisms, compared to them we live for ever but actually we don’t… from our own point of view we know we only live for maximum 100 years…may be for 60-70-80 years. So somehow or another then Hiranyakashipu he thought, “well ! so if I cannot get immortality then what do I get?” So then asked for the benediction, he wouldn’t be killed during the day or during the night, he wouldn’t be killed on the land, in the air, in the sea, he couldn’t be killed by any weapon, he wouldn’t be killed by ah… a man or by a animal or by demigod, that he couldn’t be killed by see…. It goes like that… I don’t remember… anyway there were so many conditions he gave. So basically with all of these conditions he was practically invincible. It’s said that as a result he was easily able to defeat the demigods and he just took charge of the entire universe. Lord Brahma stays kind of aloof from the day to day activities of the universe. So ah… Hiranyakashipu took over the kingdom of Lord Indra. So in this way, while he was ah… doing his tapasya his wife was pregnant and the demigods captured his wife and were going for the child to be born, to kill the child, even though they considered that the son of Hiranyakashipu, the great demon must be their enemy number one, they would never consider killing the child while in the womb of the mother. According to the law of karma to abort the child is such a grievous sin that they would, even though they are going to kill the child as soon as it was born, the very second they wouldn’t do it while it was in the womb of the mother. But Narada Muni came and said that his son was a great devotee, you give ah… the mother to the and I will take the responsibility that this boy would not cause you any harm, he is a great devotee of Visnu, of Krishna. So because they had implicit faith in ah… Narada Muni, so they gave the son to him. So while Prahlada Maharaj was in the womb of his mother, Narada Muni was instructing the mother of Hiranyakashipu and Prahlad could hear all of the instructions, so he became self-realised even before he was born. His mother subsequently forgot everything more or less, but Prahlad never forgot. So when he was born, right from his birth he was 100% Krishna conscious, purely liberated and his father of course was totally inimical to any supreme being. So he hated his son because just wanted his son to say that he was god, wanted his son to worship him that he was the supreme, that there was no one higher but ah… his son wouldn’t do that. So therefore he became very inimical to his son and tried to assassinate him to keep his own name, didn’t want to kill his own son, so he tried to do it indirectly by poison, by so many different means but ah… because ah… Prahlad Maharaj was transcendentally situated, he was ah… unable to be destroyed by all of those means. So finally he put the son in the school, and just like the modern educational institutes of the world today have been organized simply for teaching the people economic development and atheism. Similarly Hiranyakashipu’s educational institution was totally void of any kind of instructions on God and rather they taught the children that there was no higher reality, that creation… ah…that existence came simply by the product of ah… accident and sex ah… desire and that there was a… no higher truth, simply the goal of life was to earn money and to be happy in this way, much the same way as the modern education, practically identical. So Prahlad Maharaj, when he went into the educational institute, as soon as there as recess or there was any kind of break, he would start to preach to the other boys but actually what is the use of this type of education, we are actually eternal and we have eternal relationship with Krishna and he would engage them in chanting Hare Krishna. So finally all of these students who were trying to be very trained, to be very useful demons ah… in the society of Hiranyakashipu who would simply work hard without any consideration of any higher reality ah… they were all becoming devotees. So the teachers they came and gave a report to Hiranyakashipu that his son was turning everyone into pure devotees of the Lord. sri-narada uvaca atha daitya-sutah sarve srutva tad-anuvarnitam jagrihur niravadyatvan naiva gurv-anusiksitam Narada Muni continued: All the sons of the demons appreciated the transcendental instructions of Prahlada Maharaja and took them very seriously. They rejected the materialistic instructions given by their teachers, sanda and Amarka. Purport states that how this is the effect of the preaching of a pure devotee like Prahlada Maharaja. If a devotee is qualified, sincere and serious about Krisha consciousness and if he follows the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master, as Prahlada did… Maharaja did when was preaching the instructions he had received from Narada Muni, his preaching is effective. As it is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.25.25):

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah

If one tries to understand the discourses given by the sat, or pure devotees, those instructions will be very pleasing to the ear and appealing to the heart. Thus if one is inspired to take to Krisha consciousness and if one practices the process in his life, he is surely successful in returning home, back to Godhead. By the grace of Prahlada Maharaja, all his class friends, the sons of the demons, became Vaisnavas, pure devotees. They did not like hearing from their so-called teachers sanda and Amarka, who were just only teaching them about diplomacy, politics, economic development and similar topics meant exclusively for sense gratification. athacarya-sutas tesam buddhim ekanta-samsthitam alaksya bhitas tvarito rajña avedayad yatha Translation: When Sanda and Amarka, the sons of Sukracarya, observed that all the students and the sons of the demons, were becoming advanced in Krisha consciousness because of the association of Prahlada Maharaja, they were afraid. They approached the King of the demons and described the situation as it was. Purport is that: The word buddhim ekanta-samsthitam indicates that as an effect of Prahlad Maharaj’s preaching the students who listened to him became fixed in the conclusion that Krishna Conscious is the only objective of the human life. The fact is that anyone who associates with a pure devotee and follows his instructions becomes fixed in Krishna consciousness and is not disturbed by materialistic consciousness. The teachers particularly observed this in their students, and therefore they were afraid because the whole community of students was gradually becoming Krishna conscious. In other words students were no longer being disturbed by all the material situations that were coming up, they were becoming very fixed and peaceful in their mind and they were engaging very spontaneously in devotional service. When the demoniac teachers saw that they became very concerned that if this continues there will some frightful situation for atheism in the world. The same thing was observed in ah… Russia by their leaders, that ah… their people were practicing Krishna consciousness ah… and as a result although India is their ally in so many ways their friends, but because they saw that Krishna consciousness was ah… very effectively making the people give up atheism and become God conscious in a… in a very dynamic way that ah… they clamped down so bad that even highly placed people who were being Krishna conscious like editors of newspapers and others were all put into their re-conditioning chambers and psychiatric ah… help, that’s what they call, kind of prisons, torture chambers that they have. Very sorry for those devotees that have to endure this types of trials. Can only pray that Lord Narsinghdev protect them. That we know that in the long run they will not be able to stop the progress of Krishna consciousness although they are doing their best, just trying to do something… kopavesa-calad-gatrah putram hantum mano dadhe ksiptva parusaya vaca prahradam atad-arhanam aheksamanah papena tirascinena caksusa prasrayavanatam dantam baddhañjalim avasthitam sarpah padahata iva svasan prakrti-darunah Translation: When Hiranyakasipu understood the entire situation, he was extremely angry, so much so that his body trembled. Thus he finally decided to kill his son Prahlada. Hiranyakasipu was by nature very cruel, and feeling insulted, he began hissing like a snake trampled upon by someone’s foot. His son Prahlada was peaceful, mild and gentle, his senses were under control, and he stood before Hiranyakasipu with folded hands. According to Prahlada’s age and behavior, he was not to be chastised. Yet with staring, crooked eyes, Hiranyakasipu rebuked him with the following harsh words. Purport by Srila Prabhupada: When one is impudent toward a highly authorized devotee, one is punished by the laws of nature. The duration of his life is diminished, and he loses the blessings of superior persons and the results of pious activities. Hiranyakasipu, for example, had achieved such great power in the material world that he could subdue practically all the planetary systems in the universe, including the heavenly planets (Svargaloka). Yet now, because of his mistreatment of such a Vaisnava as Prahlada Maharaja, all the results of his tapasya, tapasya means austerities diminished. In other words he had done so many austerities to get those ah… blessings to be able practically be immortal, but now the results of all his austerities had diminished because of his offences against a great vaisnava, Prahlada Maharaja. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.4.46): ayuh sriyam yaso dharmam lokan asisa eva ca hanti sreyamsi sarvani pumso mahad-atikramah Translation: “When one mistreats great souls, his life span, opulence, reputation, religion, possessions and good fortune are all destroyed.” sri-hiranyakasipur uvaca he durvinita mandatman kula-bheda-karadhama stabdham mac-chasanodvttam nesye tvadya yama-ksayam Translation: Hiranyakasipu said: O most impudent, most unintelligent disruptor of the family, O lowest of mankind, you have violated my power to rule you, and therefore you are an obstinate fool. Today I shall send you to the place of Yamaraja. Yamaraja is the superintendent of death. Viswanath Chakraborty Thakur, he has taken the thing word by word, and shown how all the things that Hiranyakashipu said in one which was very offensive, derogatory statement were actually ah… can be understood in a different perspective and he got a blessing from the goddess of learning, Saraswati to be able to understand the meanings of the word, ah… they are like esoteric meaning how actually in the sense of Prahlada Maharaja whatever was said about him was true if you see them from that perspective, he was ah… accused as being durvinita or ungentle , uncivilized or impudent. So if you divide the word up, dhu means the material world which is called dukhalayam or the place of material suffering and vi means visesh or specifically, nita means brought in. So by the mercy of the supreme Lord, Prahlad Maharaj was especially brought to this material world to teach people how to get out of the material condition, durvinita, you divide up Sanskrit words they have different meanings. So the root meaning, durvinita is one who has come to this material world of suffering in order to deliver the people but the obtruse meaning is ungentle, uncivilized, impudent. Then the next mandatma. So this is sloka, manda means very bad or slow in spiritual realization. In the bhagavatam the sloka manda sumanda matayo manda bhagya… it’s actually what this means is that those who are very ah… slow in spiritual life or manda, for them Prahlada Maharaja is the perfect guide, mandatman actually means he is the guide of those who are manda, in other words he had delivered those who are otherwise are very unfortunate. kula-bheda-karadham is ah… kula-bheda-karadham literally means ah… or bringing about a destruction in the family. So what they mean is that Prahlad is so great that even great personalities who establish big, big families compared to him are very insignificant because he was so great, ah… because normally people are very interested in their own families, and they want to make their own dynasties very famous but Prahlad Maharaj was so liberal, he didn’t care distinction between one living entity and another, he actually had ah… his mercy on everyone. So therefore he is greater than those people who are concerned about their dynasties because he was universal in his outlook. Stabdham means obstinate, so they agree with that, they say that since a devotee doesn’t care for the instructions of the asuras or demons, when they get such instructions the devotees remain silent because a devotee only cares about the instructions of Krishna, not the instructions about demons or non- devotees. So even though his father, so he sai… Prabhupada said he does not even give any respect to a demon even though the demon be his father. mac-chasanodvrttam, Prahlad Maharaj was disobedient to the orders of his demoniac father, that’s already explained in yamakshyam, every conditioned soul is under the control of Yamaraja but Hirankyashipu said that he considered Prahlada Maharaj as delivered, for Prahlada would stop Hiranyakashipu’s repetition of birth and death. Actually Hiranyakashipu wanted to be immortal but by his material intelligence he couldn’t become immortal but because he is going to be killed by Krishna himself in his form as Narasingha, ah… when you get killed by the Lord you get liberation, so in that way he becomes immortal. That’s simply by the mercy, so it says here that Prahlada Maharaj would stop Hiranyakashipu’s repetition of birth and death. So in this way Sri Viswanath Chakraborty Thakur explained all these word’s in a very interesting way, as that they can be inte… interpreted by the side of Saraswati, the mother of learning. Hiranyakashipu goes on with his… saying, “my son Prahlad, you rascal, you know that when I am angry all the planets of the three worlds tremble along with their chief rulers by whose power has a rascal like you become so impudent that you appear fearless.” Demons can’t stand it if people appear fearless, they want people to cow down and to shake before them. So he is saying that how is it that you have become so impudent that you appear fearless and overstep my power to rule you? Hiranyakashipu was perplexed how his five years boy could be so fearless that he didn’t care for the order of his great and powerful father. The devotee cannot execute the order of anyone accept the supreme personality of Godhead. This is the position of a devotee. Hiranyakashipu could understand that his boy must have been very powerful since the boy didn’t heed his ah… orders. So Hiranyakashipu asked his son, “King Bala, how have you overcome my order, by whose strength have you done this.” Remember that he had tried to have other people kill Prahlad in so many ways and to dominate him but Prahlad… he was very… he went to school, he did everything that was not in contravention with his devotional service but nonetheless Hiranyakashipu could understand that he was somehow or another always avoiding coming under his absolute dominion. So he was puzzled, “where did this power come from?” Prahlad Maharaj said na kevalam me bhavatas ca rajan sa vai balam balinam caparesam pare ’vare ’mi sthira-jangama ye brahmadayo yena vasam pramnitah Prahlad Maharaj said, “my dear King, the source of my strength which you are asking is also the source of yours.” Indeed the original source of all kinds of strengths is one. He is not only your strength or mine by but the only strength for everyone. Without him no one can get any strength, whether moving or not moving, superior or inferior, everyone including Lord Brahma is controlled by the strength of the supreme personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavat Gita it is also ah... Krishna said that, “Know that all beautiful, glorious and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.”, everything is coming from Krishna, all strength is coming from him. sa isvarah kala urukramo ’sav ojah sahah sattva-balendriyatma sa eva visvam paramaj sva-saktibhih srjaty avaty atti guna-trayesaTranslation:

Translation: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme controller and time factor, is the power of the senses, the power of the mind, the power of the body, and the vital force of the senses. His influence is unlimited. He is the best of all living entities, the controller of the three modes of material nature. By His own power, He creates this cosmic manifestation, maintains it and annihilates it also. Purport: Since the material world is being moved by the three material modes and since the Lord is their master, the Lord can create, maintain and destroy the material world. jahy asuram bhavam imam tvam atmanah samam mano dhatsva na santi vidvisah rte ’jitad atmana utpathe sthitat tad dhi hy anantasya mahat samarhanam Translation: Prahlada Maharaja continued: My dear father, please give up your demoniac mentality. Do not discriminate in your heart between enemies and friends; make your mind equipoised toward everyone. Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world. When one sees everyone on the platform of equality, one then comes to the position of worshiping the Lord perfectly. dasyun pura san na vijitya lumpato manyanta eke sva-jita diso dasa jitatmano jñasya samasya dehinam sadhoh sva-moha-prabhavah kutah pare Prahlad Maharaj continued, In former times there were many fools like you who did not conquer the six enemies that steal away the wealth of the body. These fools were very proud, thinking, “I have conquered all enemies in all the ten directions.” But if a person is victorious over the six enemies and is equipoised toward all living entities, for him there are no enemies. Enemies are merely imagined by one in ignorance. sri-hiranyakasipur uvaca vyaktam tvam martu-kamo ’si yo ’timatram vikatthase mumursunam hi mandatman nanu syur viklava girah Hiranyakasipu replied: You rascal, you are trying to minimize my value, as if you were better than me at controlling the senses. This is over-intelligent. I can therefore understand that you desire to die at my hands, for this kind of nonsensical talk is indulged in by those about to die. Purport: It is said in Hitopadesa, upadeso hi murkhanam prakopaya na santaye. If good instructions are given to a foolish person, he does not take advantage of them, but becomes more and more angry. Prahlada Maharaja’s authorized instructions to his father were not accepted by Hiranyakasipu as truth; instead Hiranyakasipu became increasingly angry at his great son, who was a pure devotee. This kind of difficulty always exists when a devotee preaches Krishna consciousness to persons like Hiranyakasipu ( hiranya means “gold,” and kasipu means soft bed)…. He already explained it here (who are interested… a person like Hiranyakasipe who are interested in money and woman), the word hiranya means gold and kashipu refers to cushion, good bedding.) Moreover, a father does not like to be instructed by his son, especially if the father is a demon. Prahlada Maharaja’s Vaisnava preaching to his demoniac father was indirectly effective, for because of Hiranyakasipu’s excessive jealousy of Krishna and His devotee, he was inviting Nrsinghadeva to kill him very quickly. Thus he was expediting his being killed by the Lord Himself. Although Hiranyakasipu was a demon, he is described here by the added word sri. Why? The answer is that fortunately he had such a great devotee son as Prahlada Maharaja. Thus although he was a demon, he could… he would attain salvation and return home, back to Godhead. yas tvaya manda-bhagyokto mad-anyo jagad-isvarah kvasau yadi sa sarvatra kasmat stambhe na drsyate Translation: O most fortunate Prahlad… o most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar? Purport: Demons sometimes declare to a devotee that they cannot accept the existence of God because they cannot see Him. But what the demon does not know is stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita “I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by my yoga-maya.” The Lord is open to being seen by devotees, but the nondevotees cannot see Him. so ’ham vikatthamanasya sirah kayad dharami te gopayeta haris tvadya yas te saranam ipsitam Translation: Because you are speaking so much nonsense, I shall now sever your body from your head, excuse me, sever your head from your body. Now let me see your most worship able God come to protect you. I want to see it. Purport: Demons always think that the God of the devotees is fictitious. They think that there is no God and that the so-called religious feeling of the devotee is… devotion to God is quite an opiate, a kind of illusion, like the illusions derived from LSD and opium. Hiranyakasipu did not believe Prahlada Maharaja when Prahlada asserted that his Lord is present everywhere. Because Hiranyakasipu was a typical demon… as a typical demon, was convinced that there is no God and that no one could protect Prahlada, he felt encouraged to kill his son. He challenged the idea that the devotee is always protected by the Supreme Lord. Cursing him again and again Hiranyakashipu took up his sword, got up from his royal throne and with great anger struck his fist on the column. tadaiva tasmin ninado ’tibhisano babhuva yenanda-kataham asphutat yam vai sva-dhisnyopagatam tv ajadayah srutva sva-dhamatyayam anga menire Translation: Then from within the pillar came a fearful sound, which appeared to crack the covering of the universe. O my dear Yudhisthira, this sound reached even the abodes of the demigods like Lord Brahma, and when the demigods heard it, they thought, “Oh, now our planets are being destroyed!” Purport: As we sometimes become very much afraid at the sound of a thunderbolt, perhaps thinking that our houses will be destroyed, the great demigods like Lord Brahma feared the thundering sound that came from the pillar in front of Hiranyakasipu. sa vikraman putra-vadhepsur ojasa nisamya nirhradam apurvam adbhutam antah-sabhayam na dadarsa tat-padam vitatrasur yena surari-yutha-pah Translation: While showing his extraordinary prowess, Hiranyakasipu, who desired to heard… kill his own son, heard that wonderful, tumultuous sound, which had never before been heard. Upon hearing the sound, the leaders of the demons were afraid. None of them could find the origin of that sound in the assembly. In Bhagavad-gita (7.8), Krishna explains Himself by saying: Ah… sabdah khe paurusam nrsu “I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” Here the Lord exhibited His presence everywhere by the tumultuous sound in the sky (sabdah khe). The tumultuous thundering sound was proof of the Lord’s presence. The demons like Hiranyakasipu could now realize the supreme ruling power of the Lord, and thus Hiranyakasipu became afraid. However powerful a man may be, he always fears the sound of a thunderbolt. Similarly, Hiranyakasipu and all the demons who were his associates were extremely afraid because of the presence of the Supreme Lord in the form of sound, although they could not trace out the source of the sound. satyam vidhatum nija-bhrtya-bhasitam vyaptim ca bhutesv akhilesu catmanah adrsyatatyadbhuta-rupam udvahan stambhe sabhayam na mrgam na manusm To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlada Maharaja was substantial — in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall. Srila Prabhupada explained that When Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada Maharaja, “Where is your Lord? Is He present in this pillar?” Prahlada Maharaja fearlessly replied, “Yes, my Lord is present everywhere.” Therefore, to convince Hiranyakasipu that the statement of Prahlada Maharaja was unmistakably true, the Lord appeared from the pillar. The Lord appeared as half lion and half man so that Hiranyakasipu could not understand whether the great giant was a lion or a human being. To substantiate Prahlada’s statement, the Lord proved that His devotee, as declared in Bhagavad-gita, is never vanquished Prahlada Maharaja’s demoniac father (kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati), Prahlada Maharaja’s demoniac father repeatedly threatened to kill Prahlada, but Prahlada was confident that he could not be killed, since he was protected by the Supreme Lord. By appearing from the pillar, the Lord encouraged His devotee, saying in effect, “Don’t worry. I am present here.” By manifesting His form as Nrsimhadeva, the Lord also preserved the truth of Lord Brahma’s promise that Hiranyakasipu was not to be killed by any animal or by any man. The Lord appeared in a form that could not be said to be fully a man or a lion. sa sattvam enam parito vipasyan stambhasya madhyad anunirjihanam nayam mrgo napi naro vicitram aho kim etan nr-mrgendra-rupam While Hiranyakasipu looked all around to find the source of the sound, that wonderful form of the Lord, which could not be ascertained to be either a man or a lion, emerged from the pillar. In amazement, Hiranyakasipu wondered, “What is this creature that is half man and half lion?” In some of the purport the demon cannot calculate the unlimited potency of the Lord. For a demon it is certainly wonderful that form of a lion and a form of a man can be united. Since a demon has no experience of the inconceivable power for which the supreme Lord is called “all powerful” Demons cannot understand the omnipotence of the Lord. They simply compare the Lord to one of them Mudhas think that Krisha is an ordinary human being who appears for the benefit of other human beings. Fools, rascals and demons cannot realize the supreme potency of the Lord, but He can do anything and everything; indeed, He can do whatever He likes. When Hiranyakasipu received benedictions from Lord Brahma, he thought that he was safe, since he received the benediction that he would not be killed either by an animal or by a human being. He never thought that an animal and human being would be combined so that demons like him would be puzzled by such a form. This is the meaning of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s omnipotence. mima? So Translation: Hiranyakasipu studied the form of the Lord, trying to decide who the form of Nrsinhadeva standing before him was. The Lord’s form was extremely fearsome because of His angry eyes, which resembled molten gold; His shining mane, which expanded the dimensions of His fearful face; His deadly teeth; and His razor-sharp tongue, which moved about…about like a duelling…dueling sword. His ears were erect and motionless, and His nostrils and gaping mouth appeared like caves of a mountain. His jaws parted fearfully, and His entire body touched the sky. His neck was very short and thick, His chest broad and His waist thin, and the hairs on His body as white as the rays of the moon. His arms, which resembled flanks of soldiers, spread in all directions as He killed the demons, rogues and atheists with His conchshell, disc, club, lotus and other natural weapons. mimamsamanasya samutthito ’grato nrsimha-rupas tad alam bhayang…bhayanakam pratapta-camikara-canda-locanam sphurat sata-kesara-jrmbhitananam

karalada-damsram karavala-cañcala- ksuranta-jihvam bhrukuti-mukholbanam stabdhordhva-karnam giri-kandaradbhuta- vyattasya-nasam hanu-bheda-bhisanam

divi-sprsat kayam adirgha-pivara- grivoru-vaksah-sthalam alpa-madhyamam candramsu-gaurais churitam tanuruhair visvag bhujanika-satam nakhayudham durasadam sarva-nijetarayudha- praveka-vidravita-daitya-danavam prayena me ’yam harinorumayina vadhah smrto ’nena samudyatena kim evam bruvams tv abhyapatad evam bruvams tv abhyapatad gadayudho nadan nrsimham prati daitya-kuñjarah Hiranyakasipu murmured to himself, “Lord Vishnu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt? Who can fight with me?” Thinking like this and taking up his club, Hiranyakasipu attacked the Lord like an elephant. In the jungle there are sometimes fights between lions and elephants. Here the Lord appeared like a lion, and Hiranyakasipu, unafraid of the Lord, attacked Him like an elephant. Generally the elephant is defeated by the lion, and therefore the comparison in this verse is appropriate. alaksito ’gnau patitah patangamo yatha nrsimhaujasi so ’suras tada na tad vicitram khalu sattva-dhamani sva-tejasa yo nu purapibat tamah Just as a small insect falls forcefully into a fire and the insignificant creature becomes invisible, when Hiranyakasipu attacked the Lord, who was full of effulgence, Hiranyakasipu became invisible. This is not at all astonishing, for the Lord is always situated in pure goodness. Formerly, during creation, He entered the dark universe and illuminated it by His spiritual effulgence. Thereafter, the great demon Hiranyakasipu, who was extremely angry, swiftly attacked Nrsinhadeva with his club and began to beat Him. Lord Nrsinhadeva, however, captured the great demon, along with his club, just as Garuda might capture a great snake. O Yudhithira, O great son of Bharata, when Lord Nrsimhadeva gave Hiranyakasipu a chance to slip from His hand, just as Garuda sometimes plays with a snake and lets it slip from his mouth, the demigods, who had lost their abodes and who were hiding behind the clouds for fear of the demon, did not consider that incident very good. Indeed, they were very… they were perturbed. The demigods were worried because Hiran ah… Hiranyakashipu could see that they are all hiding, they are looking very eagerly to see him die. So if he escaped from Narasinghdev who is going to take revenge on him. When Hiranyakashipu was freed from the hands of Narasinghdeva he falsely thought that the Lord was afraid of his prowess. Therefore after taking a little rest from the fight he took up his sword and shield and again he attacked the Lord with great force. Purport: When a sinful man enjoys material facilities foolish people sometimes think, how is it that this sinful man is enjoying whereas the pious man is suffering. By the will of the supreme, a sinful man is sometimes given the chance to enjoy the material world as if he was not under the clutches of the material nature, just so that he may be fooled. A sinful man who acts against the laws of nature must be punished but sometimes he is given a chance to play exactly like Hiranyakashipu when he was released from the hands of Narasimhadev. Hiranyakashipu was destined to be ultimately killed by Narsinghadev but just to see the fun the Lord gave him slee… a chance to sleep from his hands. tam syena-vegam sata-candra-vartmabhis carantam acchidram upary-adho harih krtvatta-hasam kharam utsvanolbanam nimilitaksam jagrhe maha-javah Translation: Translation: Making a loud, shrill sound of laughter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, who is extremely strong and powerful, captured Hiranyakasipu, who was protecting himself with his sword and shield, leaving no gaps open. With the speed of a hawk, Hiranyakasipu moved sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the earth, his eyes closed because of fear of Nrsimhadeva’s laughter.

Otherwise Hiranyakashipu had mystic powers, so he didn’t… he could also fly in the sky, but hearing Narasimhadev laughter he is very afraid. As a snake captures a mouse, a garuda captures a very venomous snake, Lord Narasimhadev captured Hiranyakashipu, he cou… could not be piereced even by the thunderbolt of King Indra. As Hiranyakasipu moved his limbs here, there and all around, very much afflicted at being captured, Lord Nrsimhadeva placed the demon on His lap, supporting him with His thighs, and in the doorway of the assembly hall the Lord very easily tore the demon to pieces with the nails of His hand. Hiranyakashipu had been exactly like a fever or meningitis in the head of the three worlds. Thus when the wives of the demons… demigods in the heavenly planets saw that the great demon had been killed by the personal hands of the supreme personality of the Godhead, their faces blossomed in great joy, the wives of the demigods again and again showered flowers from heaven on Lord Narasinghadev like rain. So this is how Lord Narasinghdev appeared in this universe. In the previous age Lord Narasinghadev is glorified by Prahalada Maharaj. vidiksu diksurdhvam adhah samantad antar bahir bhagavan narasimhah prahapayal loka-bhayam svanena sva-tejasa grasta-samasta-tejah Translation: Prahlada Maharaja loudly chanted the holy name of Lord Nrsinhadeva. May Lord Nrsimhadeva, roaring for His devotee Prahlada Maharaja, protect us from all fear of dangers created by stalwart leaders in all directions through poison, weapons, water, fire, air and so on. May the Lord cover their influence by His own transcendental influence. May Nrsimhadeva protect us in all directions and in all corners, above, below, within and without. So actually those pes…persons who are very much in the bodily concept of life, they sometimes when they hear all this descriptions of violence by Narasimhadev, they get affected, they think what is this?, but ah… we should not be on the bodily concept of life, we should see things in the reality. Ah… on the transcendental platform the Lord is all good, because there are demons who are always out to try to harass and torture the devotees, so the Lord protects such devotees who are purely dedicated to him, but even in doing so the demons are also benedicted because anyone who leaves their body by the hand of the Lord doesn’t have to take birth again. So most demons, they are just part time demons, they blaspheme the Lord and they criticize but they also engage in so many other things, but Hiranyakashipu was very unusual demon in that he was completely obsessed in hatred towards god, so much so that he was able to attract the Lord Himself to kill him. So sometimes the person is so fixed in thinking of the Lord day and night, even in hatred and because the Lord is all good, even if a person thinks of the Lord in hatred it’s good for them in one sense, although it is not considered devotion. Devotional service is described as anukulyena Krishna anusilanam, anukulyena means favourably performed. So we should try to worship and think of the Lord constantly but not in anger or fear or hatred, but rather in devotion, love, faith and ah… servitude, then we can also enjoy the same type of protection that Prahlad Maharaj did, by the mercy of Prahlada Maharaj and Lord Narisinghadev. Also we can cross over the obstacles in the material world and ultimately reach the spiritual world. Ah… I heard that in one of the court cases against the Krishna conscious movement they brought in a picture of Narasimhadev and said here is their father killer, here is the Lord that they worship, they teach their children that the ah… parents should be killed, something like that. Ah… I know that when Prabhupada had devotees go to the court, he wanted that they should preach very dynamically but for some reason whoever was organizing the case, defence was a little bit shy, I think that if they are going to bring in some…they just objected that, this ah… is out of order, that… and they had the evidence taken out, but if they are going to introduce evidence like that, then at least the jury should have been exposed to two, three weeks of constant bhagavatam classes, understand, explaining the entire history and ah… you know with different people testifying and ah… explaining, different people giving bhagavat classes. Since the defence is allowed to bring as many witnesses as they want, I think if they had done that at least ah… would have been a very nice case record for all the appeal court to read in the future. Since every word has to be stenograph typed and ah… may be somewhere there was any devotee there in the jury or in the subsequent appeal court, they might be able to see that this is not the outlook of the Krishna conscious movement but this ah… the scripture which is ah… is the history of the world and we believe that this happened many millions of years ago and that the significance of this is nothing very horrendous but something that some very god fearing or god loving person could ah… appreciate the basic underlying principles and in every ah… tradition you find ah… a similar kind of instructions. I think in the bible that there were ah… statements where the Lord said that ah… wasn’t it Sadam and Gamora that they had leave their friends and relatives because they had become sinful and not look back, not be attached but be fully fixed in God, and when they left and I think it was sadama turned back out of attachment turned himself to a pillar or …56.30… something like that, isn’t that… Ha… one of them…anyway I don’t know, maybe I got the stories mixed up, I am not a real pandit on the bible but ah… but studying the vedas for so many years ah… but there are so many examples like that. I think that there was another thing… some David, there were some other tests where God tested ah… even the people in the Bible, that where was their devotion, was it more for their material ah… relation of was it for ah… him. So the traditions are there may be not so ah… detailed ah… explained in such great detail or something but the basic underlying principle is there that ah… if it is brought down to the bottom line are you going to accept me or God, then the devotee will accept God, will accept the supreme personality of Godhead and if because of that the devotee is going to be tortured well then he can still compromise that principle under any cause. I think it was even Jesus was ah… offered the entire world by Satan or something like that, there was another history like that, and of course he didn’t accept, he said so, Hiranyakashipu said, “You are my son, so I will give you the entire universe, you just surrender to me, you just do whatever I say, in a sense that it is not your universe to give, it already belongs to God, why do you keep saying this type of foolish things. And so of course his father became very inimical to his son. I don’t see how anyone in the God conscious context could find anything wrong with what Prahlad Maharaj did, but of course it’s like the anti-cult deprogramming people they play on the ignorance of the people and they only of course present the half-truth, and it’s unfortunate, and we hope that sometimes in the future, that ah… we don’t, we never hope for any such ah… antagonism from anyone but if it comes from that, at least we hope that if there is ever any kind of situation, that the Krishna conscious devotees would have an opportunity always present in it’s entirety what is the actual vedic viewpoint, what is the spiritual viewpoint. So at least anyone ah… who hears that would have, have at least the opportunity to be purified by hearing those transcendental lessons. So people shouldn’t be obsessed by the superficial, by the physical, sometimes the people they don’t like this type of violent expression but in the hands of Krishna it is not violent because there are criminals in the world, there are demons or people who are dedicated to their own sense gratification, even at the cost of being very cruel and violent against others. So there also has to be that counter ah… force of power which defends. In the spiritual world there is non-violence, and there is purity, there is no ah… discouraging word, there is no discord note, so this is the material world and there are two kinds of entities, those who are followed by the rule and those who try to make their own rules. So those who make their own rules step on other people’s toes and when they get too much out of hand they can be brought into line. If they can’t be brought into line by anybody else and if finally they also try to torture the devotee’s, then the Lord Himself takes an interest. Otherwise he doesn’t take any interest, such people are able to …1.00.32-1.00.34… up to the point where until their good karmas are worn out and again they have to take another birth according to their newly accumulated sinful karmas. One side of the story, the other side is of course that Lord Narasimhadev is so merciful to his devotee, that although he is so fearful for the non-devotees that he is actually very attractive and very merciful to the devotees, just like a police are hated by the criminals but if you are honest person in your house is being burglarised or something and if the police come in and actually save you, you don’t consider police to be very bad. So it simply depends on which side of the law you are on that the authority of the police would be considered to be relatively fearful or welcome. So if we get on the good side of Narasimhadev then He doesn’t appear to be very fearful at all, but if you are on the wrong side of Narasimhadev, He is very fearful for sure. Hare Krishna. So today Lord Narasimhadev appears at sunset, that’s the day when he appeared, neither in day nor in the night, it was between day and night twilight. Of course because of the daylight saving light and so many manipulations, because we are very far on the northern hemisphere, the sun twilight here is very late. So generally just as the international standard, if you follow that in some parts of Sweden you will probably have to fast for about three months during the midnight sun. (laughter) So ah… generally we kind follow the Mayapur meantime, which sun rises at this time of the year at 6’ O clock and observe a fast till that. Of course if someone has to do preaching or service and starts to feel dizzy due to fasting, then ah… for doing your service they could ah… take some fruits or some ah… juice or some nut or something like that, just to ah… so that they don’t ah… keel over anything. Service is more important. This is the general procedure that is followed, than after Lord Narasimhadev appears, then the devotees take ah… in Mayapur we have Shaligram Shilas, we perform abhisekh on the Saligram Silas today, we have Narasingha silas, that is the normal system we do, we observe a fast up to the period, to the point when the Lord appeared, because Lord Krishna appears at midnight we fast till midnight, because Radharani appears at noon, we fast till noon. Because Lord Nityananda appeared at noon, Lord Ram appeared at noon, we generally fast at noon. If Lord Caitanya appeared at moonrise we fast until the moon rises because Lord Narasimha appeared at twilight, we generally fast until twilight. Like this it’s not…it’s a rhyme to the… the method to the madness as they say, there is a system why we fast at a different time or a different incarnations. So actually it’s because Lord Narasimhadev is one of the incarnations of Krishna we could glorify all of the incarnations like Varaha, Kurma, Matsya, it’s not that ah… we see there are many Gods, one Lord but has many forms. Narasimhadev is one of those forms of the Lord. The same Lord, but just like we have different moods, he has different forms, and the forms that he can assume are unlimited. This is the meaning of omnipotent, all powerful. Not that he can have no form but that he can have unlimited forms and each one of them can be as good as the other and yet none of them are subject to the limitations that material forms have. Materialist like to think, “well, how can God be a person, be a form?”, because they think that people are all limited, they are all imperfect, so therefore God is perfect, therefore he has no form. But that’s imperfect conclusion by an imperfect mind. That the Lord is formless in the sense that he has no material form. He is nirguna in the sense that he is above material qualities but he has his own spiritual form which is unlimited, omnipotent, omnipresent. So in this pastime of Lord Narasimhadev many of the glories and mysteries of the Lord are revealed, that how he is simultaneously present everywhere, how is all-knowing and understanding, how is all-powerful, how he is the protector of his devotees. Are there any questions? JPS: He could figure out, no he knew he was Visnu but he thought that he could kill Visnu also. Hiranyakashipu’s brother was Hiranyaksha who was killed by Visnu. He knew that there was Visnu but just like so many people think that Krishna is the eight avatar, Visnu is… Visnu is one of the demigods, yes of course he thought Visnu was another living entity, he didn’t recognize that Visnu was the supreme Lord, he knew that He was the most powerful of all living entities but he thought the he himself was more powerful. …. When Narasimhadev appeared, he suspected that he is Visnu but he has come in disguise to trick me but I will kill him. Yes. Question: JPS: Yea the days are mentioned, they are mentioned according to lunar calender, they are mentioned that like Lord Narasinhadev appeared on the caturdasi gaur paksha, that means that the fourteenth day of the ri… rising moon, lunar cycle and that will give the month in which this occurs. So because the days , actually the full moon day, a lunar cycle day as I mentioned earlier this morning to someone who is less than 24 hours. So sometimes one entire lunar tithi of lunar day, ah… falls within ah… 24 hour period and they calculate which solar day, because we live in solar days, but for the sake of these religious programs we follow the lunar days, lunar calendar, for the sake of knowing ah… which day, which solar day do we observe it. At the time of the sunrise, whatever lunar day it falls within, that’s what we observe. So yesterday it happened that it was 13th because at sunrise, it was the 13th day of the lunar cycle but immediately after the 13th day, the 14th day began and then today started on the 15th day or the full day, so like the 14th disappeared. So as a result we are observing Narasingha Caturdasi the day after, that is the rule, it mentioned in the calender. Yesterday technically it showed up as the 13th, today it is the 15th, before that 15th means full-moon, just 30 days a cycle but it is mentioned, just like Lord Ram Navami, He came on the… it usually even on the name, it’s Narasinha Caturdasi, Catur means four, dasi means ten, fourteen, just like katorsha in Spanish, caturdasi. Ram Navami, Navami means the ninth, Radhaasthami, Asthami means the eight. So right in the name, every body remembers, it’s like Krishna asthami, Janmasthami, the eight day, Vijoy dasami, the tenth day when Lord Ram had victory over Ravana. Every festival it is always described by the lunar day that it falls on. So everyone knows that Narasimhadev appears on the Caturdasi. Nityananda Tryodasi, Triodasi means trio means three, dasi means ten, triodasi, the 13th day. So that 13th day in the lunar calendar where Lord Nityananda’s appearance was celebrated, that is called Nityananda Triyodasi, Nityananda 13th. Manarupa? Question: JPS: Now Prabhupada said in one purport that we should think that ah… only a devotee can become a demon to fight with the Lord. It’s not like that a devotee has to fall down and become a demon so that the Lord can kill him. Although sometime for some pastime that might happen but that is not the rule, that is the exception, but somehow they got the good forutune. Yes. Question: JPS: I am sure there is one, but I don’t know…. the kavachas are for devotees who are not pure devotees, generally they use the kavacas because by mantra then they are ah… invoking the protection of the Lord even though they are not 100% pure but for pure devotee even without kavaca they are pure, they are protected, they don’t need to invoke kavacas. Kavacha means shield or armour. So it is type of mantra armour. By mantra a person can be like… like protected by armour. Yes… Why not, Hare Krishna.

Transcribed by: Sadananda Krishnaprem Das Dibrugarh, 07-07-2016