Lord narasimha - The lion avatar of Lord Vishnu

Lord Narasimha – The lion avatar of Lord Vishnu

Lord Narasimha is a very mysterious avatar of Lord Vishnu. He is quite popular among the Hindu Gods and is being worshiped for over a millennium. Vishnu appears again and again on Earth to protect his followers from demons and evil spirits. There is a very interesting tale of Lord Narasimha on his appearance in the Hindu mythology. Narasimha is a half human god with a lion face and claws. Vishnu transformed in this avatar on the Himvat Mountain. Vishnu incarnated in this form to end the evil rule of Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu is considered to be an Asura (gods performing evil deeds) and gained magical powers by pleasing Lord Brahma (the God of Creation).

The Boon

Hiranyakashipu pleased Brahma, and in return, Brahma asked him to ask for a wish; he asked Brahma to bless him with immortality to which Brahma refused as immortality can’t be gifted to humans. He then negotiated with Brahma the terms of his death. He wished that he neither would die on earth, water, fire or space; nor inside or outside his home; neither by an animal nor by a human or god, not by animates or any inanimate being – to this Brahma accepted and blessed him with this boon.

After being consecrated by Brahma with virtual immortality, Hiranyakashipu started spreading his reign of terror. He declared himself as God and started pushing everybody to worship him and stop worshiping Gods. He was able to convince everybody, but his only son Prahlada, who was a firm believer of Vishnu. He never believed in the Hiranyakashipu and also worshiped Vishnu. Prahlada often argued that Vishnu is omnipresent and believed in it.

The appearance of Lord narasimha

Once, pointing to a pillar, Hiranyakashipu asked Prahlada if his omnipresent God was present in the pillar, Prahlada nodded. He took out his sword and slashed the pillar; Lord Narasimha emerged through the pillar, and as he appeared in the twilight at the door, he killed Hiranyakashipu with his nail and placed him on his lap before his death. So, in this way, he satisfied all the pre-conditions wished by him from Brahma for his death. Brahma’s boon was honored and the demon still killed. His death is celebrated as Holi (the festival of colours) as the good wins over the bad.

Controversies

What happened to Narasimha after he killed Hiranyakashipu is a controversial story. Some say that Narasimha was not able to control his anger and went on unleashing his wrath on the entire universe till Lord Shiva (the God of Destruction) appeared in another avatar and stopped him. There are again two different conclusions of this story. In the epic fight that happened between the two gods, one belief is that Narasimha was defeated by Shiva’s avatar while, the other is, that he could not stop him and Narasimha went on destroying the universe.

Conclusion

The Hindu mythology has lots of stories to tell, what is important is to judge the stories without being biased of the author’s view as the ancient scriptures have been translated by humans. There is no absolute information and one cannot be sure that the scriptures have been translated correctly and mean the same that was written. So, we should only believe what we seems logical to us and rest can be left to contemplation.

Narasimha jayanti 2017

In the year 2017, Narasimha jayanti is on 9th May 2017 (Tuesday). Narasimha Jayanti Puja Time will be between 16:21 to 19:00 (24 hours format) means total 2 Hours 38 Mins.

Narasimha Mantras

Narasimha Mantra To Remove Problems (आपत्ति निवारक नृसिंह मंत्र)

Narasimha bhagwan is known as the ‘Great savior’ who specifically defends and protects his devotees when they need him. Narasimha looks half-man/half-lion, having a human-like torso and lower body, with a lion-like face and claws. This Powerful Narasimha mantra removes the problems in life.