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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00068 May 2002

 
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Respected Swamins and Bhagavathas,

Sri Narasimha Jayanthi falls on 25th May this
year and it will be celebrated in all important
temples of the Lord. I am presenting a write-up here
on the occasion of the celebration of the Jayanthi.
The State of Andhra Pradesh abounds in Nrusimha
Kshetrams. The most important of these is Ahobilam or
Singavelkundram. Ahobilam conists of nine
Nrusimhamurthis known as Jwala, Ahobila, Maalola,
Kroda, Karancha, Bhargava, Yoga, Chatravata and
Paavana scattered all over the hills of the Ahobilam. 
Other Kshetrams in A.P are Simhachalam, Yadagirigutta
and Paanaganarasimhan at Mangalagiri. The five
Nrusimhakshetrams mentioned by Sri Mukkur are
Mangalagiri, (already mentioned above)
Vedadri,Mattapalli, Vaadapalli and Kethavaram. Out of
these Mattapalli has gained more importance due to the
efforts of the late Sri Mukkur Swami. In Tamil Nadu
there are many Nrusimha Kshetrams like Sholinghur,
Namakkal, Singaperumalkoil etc. and all the important
Vaishnava temples contain Nrusimha sannadhis within
their precincts.

Chronologically Nrusimhaavataram is the 4th of the
Dasa Avatarams of the Lord. It is anterior to
Ramaavataram.Though almost all the Azhwars have
mentioned about the Avataram, Nammazhwar,
Tirumangaimannan and Periyazhwar have sung more
number of paasurams on this Avataram. This avataram
gets a special importance because of its adhyathbutha
roopam, because of His roopam which is neither of a
lion nor of a human being (na mrugam na maanusham) but
a combined one. Krishna avataram was called
adhbhutharoopam but this is adhyathbutharoopam. The
Sun, the Moon and Agni are the three eyes of Lord
Narasimha as described by Sri Desikan in his Kamasika
ashtakam. Also He is mruthyurmrthya. He is
worshipped as thapana-indu-agni-nayanaha.
Lions worshipping the Lion. Thirumangai Azhwar says
that the lions of Singavelkunram worshipped the
Lion-God by offering the tusks of elephants killed by
them.

Sri Mukkurswami says that the Lord took
Nrusimhaavataram not for killing Hiranyakasipu or for
saving Prahlada but for keeping up the words of
Prahlada. The father told "sthambe na dhrishyate", 
the son told "sthambena dhrishyate". This is
something like this, "Narayana is nowhere" and
"Narayana is now here" in this pillar. Let us see
what Periyazhwar says "alanthitta thoonai avan thatta
aange.......(6/9 Sappaniparuvam). The pillar was
constructed by Hiranyan himself and he was pretty sure
that it would not and could not contain anything but
bricks. In order to answer Prahlada's prayer the Lord
made all the pillars carry His image and each pillar
was Narasimhagarbham. Let us see what Nammazhwar
says--"angu appothe avan veeya thonriya en singapiran;
aaraayum seermaithe......(8th thirumozhi 9th paasuram)

When He killed Hiranyakasipu with His own Nakhaas
without the help of the divya aayudhaas the entire
universe was panic stricken. The extreme anger of the
Lord could not be brought down by the prayers of the
Devas, Brahma and Rudra. Only Prahlada was able to
pacify Him . The child prayed that his father should
be given Moksham whereupon the Lord granted his
request and promised that He would protect his vamsam
for 21 generations. To keep up His word the Lord
served as the watchman at the gate in Pathala at the
palace of Prahlada. Here we see the Soulabhyam of the
Lord and also the extreme care He took to preserve
Brahma's word. 

Seeing that the rage of the Lord could not be
brought down completely Mahalakshmi descended from
Heaven and embraced Him. See the paasuram
'allimathar pulga ninra' (Thirumangai Alwar)
The Lord was pacified and He became thousand
armed--aayiran tholan.
In Ramayana also we have got a sloka--Bhartharam
parishajwaje......that is Seetha Piratti embraced
SriRama-Raghavasimha when He killed Thrisiras, Khara,
Dooshana and 14000 rakshasas single handed. See also
Sri Desikan's Mahaaveera vaibhavam--mahita mahamritha
darshana, mudhita mythili drudathara parirambhana
vibhava,viropitha vikata,veeravranaa etc. All His
veeravranaas or injuries vanished when the piratti
embraced Him with great force.

The greatness of Nammudai Namperumal;-- It is
natural to describe Him as Namperumal for the Devas
and Nithyasooris, but at Singavelkunram He is perumal
not only for all Devas but also for all devotees in
His archaavataram. Hence the epithet Nammudai
Namperumal. He is called Periya Periya Perumal
because He was worshipped by SriRama and Sri
Srinivasaperumal at Ahobilam.

Azhagiyasingar at Srirangam:--When Kambar wanted
to do arangetram for his kaavyam i.e. official
recognition for his Raamaayanam there was objection
from a set of people. His Ramayanam contained Hiranya
Vadai Patalam which did not find a place in Valmiki's
original. When Kambar started singing his
composition, the Nrisimha Vighraham inside the
mantapam laughed loudly with a voice 'Naan erkiren',
meaning I approve. The popular saying is "sirithathu
sengatseeyam meaning:the red-eyed Lion (God) laughed.

We pray to Lord Nrusimha to shower His Blessings on
the entire Universe.

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,

T.S. Rajagopalan

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