SrI:
Dear Sri Nrusimha BhakthAs
:
Let us reflect on
the NINTH Paasuram of Kaliyan on AhobilaKshEthra Naathan , Sri Lakshmi Narsimhan . This is a moving
one :
nallai nenjE naamm thozhuthum
nammudaya namperumAL
alli mAthar pulha ninRa aayiram thOLan-idam nelli malhik-kalludaippap-pul
ilai aarntu atharvaay
silli sill
yenRu oll aRAtha SingavEL KunramE
Introductory Comments
******************************
Lord Narasimhan has completed His
avathAra Kaaryam .
He sat on the throne of HiraNyan to
cleanse it of its dhOshams
and to consecrate it for the coronation
of PrahlAdhan as the next
asura king . Brahma and Siva concluded
their sthuthis of the Lord .
Our Lord's anger had still not subsided
. DevAs requested
MahA Laskshmi to appear before the Lord
to calm Him
down .
She saw Her Lord in a form that She had
not heard about or seen
before and wondered what this
gigantic form with the head of
a lion and the body of a human was .
Out of wonderment and fear ,
She did not choose to go near the angry
Narasimham sitting on
the throne . Srimad BhAgavatham
describes this scene as :
SaakshAth SrI: prEkshithA
dEvai: dhrushtvA tanmahadhadhbhutham
adhrushta-asrutha
poorvathvAth Saa nOpEyAya sankithA
Srimath BhAgavatham :
7.9.2
Brahma was now at his
wit's end . He thought of an idea . PrahlAdhan
was standing next to him
and told PrahlAdhan : " Oh dear Child ! Go near
and
appease
the Lord , who is still mighty angry at your deceased father
".
The child PrahlAdhan
responded positively and slowly came close to
the Lord and prostrated
before the Lord with folded hands .
The most compassionate
Lord lifted the child that was prostrating
before Him and
embraced the dear one and placed His lotus soft
hands
on the child's head in
benediction . PrahlAdhan was now rid of all his sins
from the Lord's kara
sparsam and shed tears of happiness . He
meditated
on the sacred feet of the
Lord in his heart lotus. With a trembling voice
choked with emotions,
PrahlAdhan began to praise the Lord . Here are
some slOkAs
from Srimath
BhAgavatham (Translations are from
Sri P.N.Krishnaswamy
Iyengar of Coimbatore ) :
Srimath BhAgavatham :
7.9.9 " Oh Lord Narasimha ! I think that mere
riches
(dhanam),
family
(abhijanam) , beauty (roopam) , penance (Tapas) ,
skils (Srutha) ,
strong will ( Ojas) and bodily appearance (dEha Kaanthi) ,
fame (PrabhAvam) , strength of body (Pourusham) ,
Balam , bravery ,
intelligence (Buddhi) and
yoga practise -- all these twelve are not
useful for the worship of
You ,the Lord , if wanting in Bhakti . Was it not
You , the Lord , pleased
with the worship offered by a wild elephant
(GajEndhra)
which was
devoid of all these ?
SlOkam 7.9.10: " Oh Lord
! I think that a chandaaLa , with Bhakti , is far
superior to a Brahmin ,
who is possessed of all of the above 12 attributes
but wanting in Bhakthi .
For that ChaNdaaLa with Bhakti , he purifies
himself and his whole
clan ., whereas that proud brahmin does not
purify even his own self
" .
Portion of SlOkam 7.9.14 : " Oh Lord !
Please control Your anger !
Let this avathAra of Yours be hereafter
the object of meditation for
men to get rid of all fears in their
lives ( roopam Nrusimha vibhayAya
janA:
samaranthy) ."
Portion of SlOkam 7.9.15: " Oh Lord !
You are invincible . I am not
afraid of Your appearnace ....
These Brahma and other gods may be
afraid of seeing You in this form after
samhAram of my father . But ,
I am not afraid
".
SlOkam 7.9.24: " Oh
Lord ! Knowing as I do that all the long life
,
wealth and
prosperity that are enjoyable from Brahma
downwards
are transient and
fleeting . Those worldly pleasures are all subject
to
You . Hence ,
please take me in the assembly of Your servants
(nijabhruthya
paarsvam maamm upanaya) ".
SlOkam 7.9.50: " Oh
Lord ! There are six ways to attain that
Bhakti
towards You ,
(Viz)., (1) Prostration (2) Praising You
(3) performing
aarAdhanam for You
(4) keeping dharmAs (5) Meditation of Your
sacred feet
(6)Hearing stories about You . These are the ways of
real
devotes or BhaktAs
or SanyAsis . Except by such sevA , it is
not
possible to reach
the path of such sanyAsis or to become Your BhakthA
."
Lord Narasimha was immensely pleased
with the delightful and yet
humble eulogy of PrahlAdhan and spoke
to the child with bent knees
in front of
Him:
Vathsa PrahlAdha
bhadhram tE preethOham tE
asurOtthama
varam vruNeeshva
abhimatham kaamapUrOasya aham
nruNAm
Oh Child PrahlAdha
! All auspiciousness to You ! Ask me of any boons
.
I am immensely
pleased with thee . I am the fulfiller of all the prayers
of
the devotees of
Mine .
PrahlAdha Sthuthi concludes with Sukha
Braham's statement that PrahlAdha ,
even though tempted by the Lord Himself
with the choicest of boons ,
which would have naturally enticed
comonfolk did not desire any such
boons even from the Lord Himself ,
since all his concentration and
dhyAnam was on Lord Bhagavaan
Himself and not on any other .
Lord Narasimhan
was touched by the great bhakthi displayed by
PrahlAdhan and became
completely tranquil and approachable to
MahA Lakshmi and the Deva
samooham .
Thirumangai covers what
happened thereafter at Ahobilam
in this ninth Paasuram
.
( To be
continued)
Sri Lakshmi
Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE Nama:
Srimath Azhagiya Singar
Thiruvadi ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil
VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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