Narsimha Chaturdashi
What is Narsimha Chaturdashi?
तव कर-कमल-वारे नखम अदभुत-श्रृंगम
दलित-हिरण्यकश्यप-तनु-भृंगम
केशव धृत-नरहरि-रूप जय जगदीश हरे
Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasplike demon Hiranyakasipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on your beautiful lotus hands.
When lord appeared?
Narasimha Deva appeared at dusk on the Shukla Chaturdashi (the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight) in the month of Vaishakha.
Why lord appeared?
परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ८ ॥
To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
Prahlada Maharaja had to endure a lot of pain and sufferings from his father, Hiranyakashipu, who was a demon and atheist in nature and had prejudices against his son. Hiranyakashipu always tried to teach Prahlada Maharaja about atheistic philosophy and he would not appreciate it when Prahlada Maharaja used to recite slokas and hymns from Vedic literature. Hiranyakashipu was against the supremacy of the Lord as he was too absorbed in his pride of gaining victory over the Earth.
Hiranyakashipu also had a special benediction from Lord Brahma that he could not be killed by any human being, demigod or animal or any other entities; he could not be killed by any kind of weapons, neither during day nor night. So, the Lord appeared in half-man half-lion form and killed him with His nails at twilight, thus satisfying all the conditions.
Till WHEN DEVOTEES SHOULD FAST?
Devotees fast till dusk (6.57 PM IST) on this day.
HOW SHOULD WE BREAK FAST?
One may break fast with normal grain Prasadam at dusk
REFLECTIONS
The Lord provides special protection to His pure devotees in every circumstance. The pure devotees of the Lord also possess a strong faith in the Lord in every circumstance. We can learn from the exemplary character of Prahlada Maharaja, who always possessed a strong faith in the arrangements of the Lord, even when his father Hiranyakashipu tried to subject him to death innumerable times.
Even after killing the demon Hiranyakashipu, Lord Narasimha was very much turbulent. This made the demigods anxious, and they were even afraid to come nearer to the Lord because he was enraged and was in his colossal form. Afterwards, all the demigods requested the Prahlada Maharaja to pacify the Lord. We can see this is the power of a pure devotee. A pure devotee of the Lord can even control the Lord through his pure devotion, so we should try to serve a pure devotee or representatives of a pure devotee and attain the favor of Lord Narasimha.
In a world that is often chaotic and uncertain, Bhakti reminds us that we can find peace and clarity by surrendering to Krishna – The Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead in his transcendental form of Lord Narsimhadev is always ready to kill the demons who always create disturbances in the minds of honest devotees. To spread the Krishna Consciousness movement, devotees have to face many dangers and impediments all over the world, but a faithful servant who preaches with great devotion to the lord must know that Lord Narsimhadev is always his protector.
Narsimha Dev Bhagwan ki jai 🙏🙏
Thank you Prabhu ji for setting devotional environment on this auspicious occasion of Narsimha Chaturdashi. He looks very ferocious but at the same time very loving and caring to his pure devotees. Hence he also teaches us that do not only chase on appearance but the character within is more important(my own view might be wrong)..Dandvat Pranam and Hare Krishna.
Jai narshima dev.
Thankyou Prabhujee for covering all important details in such simple words. 🙏
Thank you Prabhuji for such knowledge packed details about Lord Narsimha. Unfortunately today’s generation knows little about Lord Narsimha, every parent and community should make deliberate attempts to educate our kids with this transcendental knowledge. Because of you we Parent gets lot of knowledge and Devotion toward Supreme personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, his Avatar and his Pastimes. Millions Thanks to you and the community, Big Hari Bol to You 👐 Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare….