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Narasimha

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A monolithic statue of Narasimha at Vijayanagara.

Narasimha ("man-lion") (also known as Narasingh, Narasinga) (नरसिंह in Devanagari) is desribed as the fourth incarnation (Avatara) of Lord Vishnu within the Vedic/Puranic texts of Hinduism.

Origin

In a previous avatar, (Varaha), Vishnu killed the rakshasa Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha's brother Hiranyakashipu, greatly angered by this, starts to abhor Lord Vishnu and His followers. Further, he decides to put an end to Vishnu by gaining magical powers by performing a penance for Brahma. Brahma, pleased with his tough penance, appears before him and agrees to grant a boon. Hiranyakashipu asks for a tricky boon from Brahma: that he would not die on earth or in space, nor in fire or water, neither during the day nor at night, neither inside a building nor outside, not by the hand of a human, god, animal, nor by any animate or inanimate being. This virtually no-death boon to Hiranyakashipu makes him arrogant enough to conquer the entire world, not caring that it means severe trouble and torture for common people, munis and followers of Vishnu.

Meanwhile, while Hiranyakashipu is away for the penance, divine sage Narada preaches about the sweetness of reciting Vishnu's name to Hiranyakashipu's son, Prahlada, while he is still in his mother's womb. Thus, Prahlada is born a very devoted follower of Vishnu, the youngest ardent devotee of Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu fails in convincing his son to join him against Vishnu, and therefore tries to kill him in many ways, but each time Prahlada is protected by Vishnu himself. When asked, Prahlada refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is omnipresent. Once Hiranyakashipu points to a particular pillar and asks if Vishnu is in it; Prahlada answers, "He was, He is and He will be". Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar, and Vishnu in the form of Narasimha comes from it. In order to kill Hiranyakashipu, who cannot be killed by human, god or animal, Narasimha is partly all three: a god incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his lap (neither earth nor space). Using his nails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon.

Even after killing Hiranyakashipu, Narasimha cannot control his fury. He is finally pacified by Prahlada singing praises of Vishnu at the request of the divine sage Narada. Some believe that Prahlada was able to pacify Narasimha, but according to the Shiva purana, Narasimha's fury was still not under control and Lord Shiva appeared as Lord Sarabhesvara and trampled Narasimha to becalm him.

He is invoked by His devotees in danger and there are testimonies of people who were saved by Him.

Once He saved Adi Sankara from being sacrificed to goddess Kali by a Kapalika. Thus Adi Sankara composed Laksmi-Nrsimha stotra.

Symbolism

  • Narasimha indicates God's omnipresence and the lesson is that God is everywhere. For more information, see Vaishnava Theology.
  • Prahlada's devotion indicates that pure devotion is not one of birthright but of character. Prahlada, although born an asura, demonstrated greatest bhakti to God.

Significance

Killing Hiranykashyapu by incarnating as Narasihma is one of Vishnu's major exploits. In Indian tradition of festivity this episode is related with Holi, India's one of four most important festivals and hence the legend has a nation-wide popularity. In South Indian art - sculptures, bronzes and paintings, Vishnu's incarnation as Narsimha is one of the most chosen themes and in 'Avatara' cult next perhaps only to Ramavatara and Krishanavatara.

Places of Pilgrimage

The main places of pilgrimage associated with Sri Narasimha are those places where the events described above are reputed to have taken place. These are:

  1. Ahobilam
  2. Antarvedhi
  3. Kadiri
  4. Simhachalam
  5. Yadagirigutta
  6. Mangalagiri
  7. Namakkal
  8. Melkote
  9. Chintalvadi
  10. Ghatikachala (Known today as Sholingur, derived from Chola singa oor)
  11. Saligrama, Udupi Dist.

The first six are located in the present-day state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Namakkal, Ghatikachala and chintalvadi is located in the state of Tamil Nadu and Melukote, Saligrama in Karnataka.

Temples dedicated to Narasimha

  • Shri Yogananda Narasimha Swamy, Vedadri, near to Vijayawada
  • Shri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, Antarvedi, West Godavari District, AP
  • Shri Lord Lakshmi-Narasimha Swamy temple, Korukonda, near to Rajahmundry
  • Shri Narasimha temple, Malakonda, Prakasham District, AP
  • Shri Prasanna Narasimha Swamy temple, Singarakonda, Prakasham district, AP
  • At Ahobalam, mythologically known as the birth place of Lord Narasimha, there exists Navanarsimha (nine Narasimhas):
    1. Ugra Narasimha
    2. Krodha Narasimha
    3. Malola Narasimha
    4. Jwala Narasimha
    5. Varaha Narasimha
    6. Bhargava Narasimha
    7. Karanja Narasimha
    8. Yoga Narasimha
    9. Chhatravata Narasimha/Pavana Narasimha/Pamuleti Narasimha
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