Sri Nrisimha Caturdasi festival is one of the most magnificient festivals celebrated in Sri Mayapur. Sri Ugra Nrisimhadeva or Sri Sthanu Nrisimhadeva in Mayapur is the dear deity for many around the world as the supremely merciful Lord in Mayapur continues to manifest His wonderful pastimes protecting devotees worldwide
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“SRI NRSIMHAPALLI” or DEVAPALLI
AT “SRI GODRUMADVIPA“ ISLAND OF NAVADVIPA-MAYAPUR DHAMA
THE PLACE WHERE LORD NRSIMHADEVA CAME TO TAKE REST AND
WASH THE BLOOD FROM HIS HANDS AFTER KILLING HIRANYAKASIPU
Sri Nrsimhapalli is located on the eastern and southern boundaries of Navadvipa Dhama and is known by the names Nrsimha Puri and Devapalli (neighbourhood of the Devas). This temple is famous since Satya-yuga when Lord Nrsimhadeva came here to take rest and wash the blood from His hands after bestowing His mercy on Prahlada by killing his demoniac father Hiranyakasipu. Next to the temple is a lake left behind by the Mandakini River that flowed here at that time. When Lord Nrsimhadeva arrived here, He drank the sweet water of this river to refresh Himself and also washed the blood of Hiranyakasipu from His hands. Knowing that Lord Nrsimhadeva had come to take rest here, all the demigods followed Him, constructed large palaces and worshipped Him with great opulence. The changing course of the Mandakini River covered the demigod palaces and destroyed them and all that remains of them now are the hills that surround this area. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates used to come here regularly to discuss Lord Nrsimha-katha and perform Harinam Sankirtana.
The Lord appeared solely for His devotee
Jayadeva Gosvami is giving us his ‘dasavatara stotram’ and is describing the ten various incarnations of the Lord, who appear every millennium, every cycle of four yugas. And these are following the mission as is described in Bhagavad Gita,
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge,
They annihilate the demons and they establish the principles of religion, and Krsna also. Although Krsna has His other pastimes in Vrndavana- His personal pastimes, the pastimes in the spiritual world- but that killing of the demons is going on everywhere. So then we see that Srila Prabhupada points out that this Nrsimha Caturdasi is one of the main celebrations in the year. Lord Nrsimhadeva is one of the main principle manifestations of the Lord. Thinking about it, it came to my mind that when Lord Vamanadeva is doing His tricks, He tries to do so to reclaim the universe from the demons for the demigods (the devotees) so that the order in the universe will remain intact and so everyone is in his proper place. Ultimately, spiritual knowledge will remain protected within the universe. In other forms the Lord also does that: He helps to save the Vedic literature, the Matsya avatara and so on.
But in the appearance as Lord Nrsimhadeva, the Lord appears really for one devotee. Of course, extended for all devotees but in the actual incident, for one devotee only. That is His motive, that is the very reason why He appears. He is the most personal; He is very personally dealing with the devotees. It is then not surprising that Jayadeva Gisvami is writing, bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimhah, outside He is there stopping the demoniac forces undoubtedly and internally He is there within the heart as vigna vinasana, removing these obstacles from the heart. So He’s very personal with Prahlada and with all of us also. His whole appearance- His teeth like thunderbolts and all His nails and very harsh appearance- is a symptom of extreme soft heartedness because of His extreme anger when His devotee was in danger. So the hardness on the outside shows the depth of how deeply He cares for His devotees.
LORD NRSIMHADEVA FIGHTS TO SAVE HIS DEVOTEE
Hiranyakasipu was such a powerful demon that he controlled the whole universe, including the heavenly planets. He was virtually immortal because of a special denediction Lord Brahma had given him. Hiranyakasipu’s avowed enemy was Lord Visnu, but, much to the chagrin of Hiranyakasipu, his son Prahlada was amahabhagavata devotee of Lord Visnu. When threats failed to turn his son against Visnu, Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him by using wild elephants, poison, snakes, fire and even throwing him off a cliff. All of these attempts failed and Prahlada, being personally protected by Lord Visnu, was completely unharmed. Finally, in a fit of rage, Hiranyakasipu demanded that his son reveal where he got his powers from, for it was stronger than his own power. Prahlada told his father there is only one source of all the power - Lord Visnu.
Hearing the name of his sworn enemy from the lips of his son made Hiranyakasipu insane with anger. Screaming, “Where is your Visnu? Is He in this pillar? Will He come and protect you now?” Hiranyakasipu grabbed Prahlada and went to kill him with his own hands. Suddenly a thunderous clamour shook the palace as Nrsimhadeva burst out of the pillar and roared at Hiranyakasipu in great anger. Hiranyakasipu grabbed his sword and attacked Nrsimhadeva with all his might. A fierce battle ensued but ended wqhen Nrsimhadeva picked Hiranyakasipu up as if he was an insignificant insect, placed him on His lap, and bifurcated his chest.
The Lord says that His devotees are more dear to Him than His own self. Prahlada, a young boy, had remained fully dependent and faithful on the Lord’s love and protection throughout severe trials. Therefore, even after killing Hiranyakasipu, Nrsimhadeva’s fury was burning hot and would not be pacified. Everyone, including the demigods and even Laksmi Devi, Nrsimhadeva’s eternal consort, were too afraid to go near Him. Finally, Prahlada approached Nrsimhadeva and offered Him a garland. Seeing His dear devotee, Nrsimhadeva at once became placated and embraced Prahlada in great affection. Nrsimhadeva begged Prahlada to ask for any benediction he wanted. Prahlada did not want anything for himself, but he did want that the suffering souls in the material realm be released from their illusionary bondage to material enjoyment.
AT “SRI GODRUMADVIPA“ ISLAND OF NAVADVIPA-MAYAPUR DHAMA
THE PLACE WHERE LORD NRSIMHADEVA CAME TO TAKE REST AND
WASH THE BLOOD FROM HIS HANDS AFTER KILLING HIRANYAKASIPU
Sri Nrsimhapalli is located on the eastern and southern boundaries of Navadvipa Dhama and is known by the names Nrsimha Puri and Devapalli (neighbourhood of the Devas). This temple is famous since Satya-yuga when Lord Nrsimhadeva came here to take rest and wash the blood from His hands after bestowing His mercy on Prahlada by killing his demoniac father Hiranyakasipu. Next to the temple is a lake left behind by the Mandakini River that flowed here at that time. When Lord Nrsimhadeva arrived here, He drank the sweet water of this river to refresh Himself and also washed the blood of Hiranyakasipu from His hands. Knowing that Lord Nrsimhadeva had come to take rest here, all the demigods followed Him, constructed large palaces and worshipped Him with great opulence. The changing course of the Mandakini River covered the demigod palaces and destroyed them and all that remains of them now are the hills that surround this area. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates used to come here regularly to discuss Lord Nrsimha-katha and perform Harinam Sankirtana.
The Lord appeared solely for His devotee
Jayadeva Gosvami is giving us his ‘dasavatara stotram’ and is describing the ten various incarnations of the Lord, who appear every millennium, every cycle of four yugas. And these are following the mission as is described in Bhagavad Gita,
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge,
They annihilate the demons and they establish the principles of religion, and Krsna also. Although Krsna has His other pastimes in Vrndavana- His personal pastimes, the pastimes in the spiritual world- but that killing of the demons is going on everywhere. So then we see that Srila Prabhupada points out that this Nrsimha Caturdasi is one of the main celebrations in the year. Lord Nrsimhadeva is one of the main principle manifestations of the Lord. Thinking about it, it came to my mind that when Lord Vamanadeva is doing His tricks, He tries to do so to reclaim the universe from the demons for the demigods (the devotees) so that the order in the universe will remain intact and so everyone is in his proper place. Ultimately, spiritual knowledge will remain protected within the universe. In other forms the Lord also does that: He helps to save the Vedic literature, the Matsya avatara and so on.
But in the appearance as Lord Nrsimhadeva, the Lord appears really for one devotee. Of course, extended for all devotees but in the actual incident, for one devotee only. That is His motive, that is the very reason why He appears. He is the most personal; He is very personally dealing with the devotees. It is then not surprising that Jayadeva Gisvami is writing, bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimhah, outside He is there stopping the demoniac forces undoubtedly and internally He is there within the heart as vigna vinasana, removing these obstacles from the heart. So He’s very personal with Prahlada and with all of us also. His whole appearance- His teeth like thunderbolts and all His nails and very harsh appearance- is a symptom of extreme soft heartedness because of His extreme anger when His devotee was in danger. So the hardness on the outside shows the depth of how deeply He cares for His devotees.
LORD NRSIMHADEVA FIGHTS TO SAVE HIS DEVOTEE
Hiranyakasipu was such a powerful demon that he controlled the whole universe, including the heavenly planets. He was virtually immortal because of a special denediction Lord Brahma had given him. Hiranyakasipu’s avowed enemy was Lord Visnu, but, much to the chagrin of Hiranyakasipu, his son Prahlada was amahabhagavata devotee of Lord Visnu. When threats failed to turn his son against Visnu, Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him by using wild elephants, poison, snakes, fire and even throwing him off a cliff. All of these attempts failed and Prahlada, being personally protected by Lord Visnu, was completely unharmed. Finally, in a fit of rage, Hiranyakasipu demanded that his son reveal where he got his powers from, for it was stronger than his own power. Prahlada told his father there is only one source of all the power - Lord Visnu.
Hearing the name of his sworn enemy from the lips of his son made Hiranyakasipu insane with anger. Screaming, “Where is your Visnu? Is He in this pillar? Will He come and protect you now?” Hiranyakasipu grabbed Prahlada and went to kill him with his own hands. Suddenly a thunderous clamour shook the palace as Nrsimhadeva burst out of the pillar and roared at Hiranyakasipu in great anger. Hiranyakasipu grabbed his sword and attacked Nrsimhadeva with all his might. A fierce battle ensued but ended wqhen Nrsimhadeva picked Hiranyakasipu up as if he was an insignificant insect, placed him on His lap, and bifurcated his chest.
The Lord says that His devotees are more dear to Him than His own self. Prahlada, a young boy, had remained fully dependent and faithful on the Lord’s love and protection throughout severe trials. Therefore, even after killing Hiranyakasipu, Nrsimhadeva’s fury was burning hot and would not be pacified. Everyone, including the demigods and even Laksmi Devi, Nrsimhadeva’s eternal consort, were too afraid to go near Him. Finally, Prahlada approached Nrsimhadeva and offered Him a garland. Seeing His dear devotee, Nrsimhadeva at once became placated and embraced Prahlada in great affection. Nrsimhadeva begged Prahlada to ask for any benediction he wanted. Prahlada did not want anything for himself, but he did want that the suffering souls in the material realm be released from their illusionary bondage to material enjoyment.