CONTENTS:
- Prahlad Maharaja and Lord Nrsinghadeva,
- Srila Prabhupada's Appreciation; and
- Guru Maharaja’s instructions.
1. PRAHLAD MAHARAJA AND LORD NRSINGHADEVA
Today is Lord Nrsinghadeva’s appearance day and Narsimha Caturdasi we will discuss Lord Nrsinghadeva’s pastimes. The seventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam from the second chapter begins to narrate the activities concerning Prahlada Maharaja and Nrsinghadeva. It starts off with Hiranyakasipu the King of the Demons and we can see that it is such an important chapter. It begins with Hiranyakasipu and his brother Hiranyaksa. Everything actually started from Lord Brahma, he had few sons from his mind, manasa putras and then they started the procreation and called prajapatis. Praja means subjects or subordinates and pati, the leaders or the Lord, very powerful personalities. In this way Kasyapa became one of the main progenitors, he was Brahma’s grandson, Atri, Pulasta, Marichi, Angira and from them came Kasyapa who had thirteen wives and from them different progeny came. One of the wives was Diti, one evening she became sexually agitated and compelled her husband to have sex with her. Her husband warned her that it was not an appropriate time but she was so overwhelmed with her urge that finally Kasyapa had to unite with her. As a result of that two sons were born and they became demons because they sons of Diti, they became known as Daityas. Similarly, Aditi Kasyapa’s other wife Aditi came the Adaityas or Demi-gods. This anecdote goes back once the four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat Kumara, they went to Vaikunta. They are actually the first four sons of Brahma but they are so absorbed in their spiritual identity and attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that when Brahma asked them to assist him in procreation they declined. They were the first four sons and they did not change their form, it’s like 5- year-old children. When they went to Vaikunta, the gatekeepers of Vaikunta whose business is not to allow just anyone and everyone to enter. They failed to recognize the exalted position of these four children, they actually the oldest people of this universe but they look like children. Jay and Vijay prevented them from entering and they became furious and cursed the gatekeepers. This history goes even further, the Lord in Vaikunta cannot experience one mellow.
There are five permanent 5 permanent relationships sthayi-bhava:
(1) Neutrality (santa), (2) servitude (dasya), (3) friendship (sakhya), (4) parental love (vatsalya), and (5) conjugal love (madhurya).
Seven secondary mellows: laughter, surprise, chivalry, wonder, ghastly, frightening, pathos. In Vaikunta the Lord cannot experience the mellow of chilavry and these gatekeepers just desire, “Oh we wish we could allow the Lord to experience that mellow.” In Vaikunta the Lord doesn’t get that the feelings the Lord will feel by fighting somebody. Because they desired that some arrangement was happening in this way and they were cursed and behind that curse was their desire to actually serve the Lord. You have to see they are guards very powerful people, warriors so they had that feeling and as a result of that all this happened. The four Kumaras came and cursed them and then the Lord realizing some very exalted personalities have been offended so He just came Himself and pacified them. He told his gatekeepers, “Since you have been cursed you have to fall down to the earthly planet.” That was the curse, “You don’t deserve to be in Vaikunta, you have not been able to become free from the concept of duality.” Material nature is a world of duality and duality means seeing good and bad, desirable and undesirable, heat and cold, love and hate, everything has duality here. They had to fall down, since they were cursed, the Lord gave them an option, “If you remain as a devotee you have to take seven births and then come back to Vaikunta and the other option is become my enemy and you will be there for three births and then you will return.” They opted for becoming the enemy, we can see they wanted to give the Lord the feeling of chivalry, and have to fight and in order to fight they had to become Lord’s enemy so in that way this actually was arranged.
In this way we can see that Vedic wisdom is so precise and accurate that when one goes into it under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master everything falls in the right slots it just fits in perfectly. It’s a pity due to the atheistic influence of this world people do not want to accept the wisdom of the Vedas, they are missing out on such a wealth. The thing is to see it in the right way you have to see the entire picture to get the right understanding and that is why we need the guidance of someone who has seen the entire picture and then he can explain to us and that person is the spiritual master who has seen the entire picture. It’s not possible to see the entire picture, it’s so vast therefore everyone needs a teacher even a Guru needs a teacher, her has a teacher who has seen the entire picture and his Guru has saw the entire picture from the right source and that is why there is disiplic succession, the chain is very important to receive this perfect knowledge. When we received the knowledge then our faith becomes fixed and that is why I always urge you all to read Srila Prabhupada’s books because when you read Srila Prabhupada’s books you get the perfect and clear picture. It has been mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam innumerable activities have been prescribed and unless and until one has studied the whole thing one cannot get the proper understanding, which actually means unless and until one has the total picture and then only can we understand the real message of the Vedas.
Anyway, Jay and Vijay came down to the earth planet as Diti’s two sons who were extremely powerful. We can see also the result of auspicious time and inauspicious time, we can say anytime is good I can do anything, NO, when you do something, we have to find out whether the time is right for this action or not. Three very auspicious times for spiritual activities, morning, afternoon and evening in a day when the night turns into day, the early morning, when the pre noon merging into afternoon, meridian, am and pm and then in the evening when day turns into night. These times are very good for auspicious activities. This sexual act can become very dangerous when it is performed at the wrong time. This is another aspect of the Vedic culture one gets the concept of time, influence of starts and planets, influence of demi-gods, these are all science so many branches of science given in the Vedas. Similarly, there is vastu, the science of architecture, not the whole architecture just the aspect like how the building should be which direction the different parts of the house, main thing is the Brahma staan, the center of the house. Vastu is seen as a personality, his head is in one direction, his feet and hands in another directions, this is how his body is and certain activities are conducive to the head so when the vastu person’s head is there so those activities should be there. It’s another science. The medical science Ayurveda, Dhanuveda, art of using weapons, not just shooting arrows that arrows are being empowered by very powerful means by chanting mantras, there are various weapons belonging to certain personalities. In today’s world we know fire-weapons, even nuclear are fire weapons, there are water weapons, sound weapons, demi-gods’ weapons, weapons of Brahma, Bramastra, weapon of Lord Shiva pasupastra. This is how advanced the Vedic culture is and people are missing out on that.
Both Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa became very powerful and Hiranyaksa caused the earth to fall in the lower region. Lower region is where the lower planetary systems are. the upper planetary systems are auspicious relative to purity and lower planetary systems are relative to impurity. The purer one becomes one is elevated to higher planets in the universe but those whose consciousness is impure and polluted they go to the lower planetary systems. Consideration of purity and impurity when the consciousness is more akin to the Supreme Personality of Godhead its pure, not directly to Supreme Personality of Godhead but His arrangement. For example, a law-abiding citizen may not be directly related to the King but if he abides by the law given by the King that will make him close to the King. Those who reject or deny the law of the King are far away from the King. In this universe those who abide by the laws of the Lord through the arrangement He has through demi-gods, those who abide are clean and close to Lord and those who do not accept are demons. Earth planet was in orbit, it moves but she lost the ability and she stays in the orbit because of gold. Hiranyaksa was so fond of gold Hiranya means gold and aksa means his eyes are always looking for gold and this is the characteristic of a mundane person always looking for money. It’s not just the eyes but they eye of the heart, the heart is saying, “Where is the money, where is the money?” Those days it was gold that determined the wealth now it’s the paper currency. He took all the gold away and as a result of that the earth fell. The Lord came as a boar to lift the earth and in the meantime Hiranyaksa was defeating everyone on the earth, he had a mace in his hand and was very powerful. These kinds of people look for somebody to fight, we see like championship one becomes the best and another challenges, boxing championship, heavy weights championship and accordingly they judge. He went to Varunadeva and he challenged and he said, “I am not a proper match for you. Hari is you match, it’s very difficult to find Him but search sincerely.” He then saw Varahadeva lifting the earth and was angry that who dares does such a thing without his permission. Hari as Varahadeva placed earth in orbit again and faced the challenge, a tremendous fight ensued, they fought for a long time. The demi-gods said, “looks like finally he met his match, is this Hari? We never seen a boar like that so huge and gigantic and the way He is fighting” They thought it has to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At one point the Lord fought with His mace and it fell from His hand and demi-gods cried out, “Lord as it is, we are in such anxiety please don’t put us in more anxiety please kill this demon.” So that Lord slapped him with His hand and Hiranyaksa fell and died and that is how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is, He doesn’t even need a weapon just one slap is good enough.
With Krishna and Kamsa as soon as Krishna jumped on an elevated platform Kamsa pulled out his shield and sword, protect with shield and strike with sword but he couldn’t strike Krishna and Krishna also just one slap and Kamsa started to wriggle and He dragged him to the arena. So, this is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, All Powerful! The person who has created everything and is maintaining everything who can be a match to Him? The Living entity is one insignificant atomic particle. We can see how he is one spark. If we consider the Lord to be the sun then the living entity is just one ray of the sun. How can a ray compete with the sun? Living entities coming to the material world become so puffed up that they think that they are greater than the Lord, that is the influence of false ego and the illusory energy of the Lord. We fail to recognize our identity due to our forgetfulness of Krishna. In seeing the material nature, we think we are most superior. Hiranyaksa was killed and the news reached Hiranyakasipu and the family and Hiranyakasipu advised all the members of the family with very exalted spiritual understanding. Then he decided to take revenge, “You killed my brother so I will kill you.”
It’s something like a man is standing there and a tiny little ant is saying to the man, “I will show you.” What can the ant do? The man may not even see the ant challenging him like that. The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart and knows how everyone is reacting to him. The Lord said, “Fine you want to fight with me, ok.” The ant says, “I will become so powerful I will defeat the man.” According to the ant calculation it was a terrible austerity he had to perform. The demoniac people performing austerity to gain power is something like that. From their own calculation it was so terrible, the ant’s whole body was eaten up by microbes even smaller living entities and the ant was so powerful he was standing there. Everything was eaten up only the shell was there, outer covering. Anyway, Hiranyakasipu performed severe austerity and Brahma came and Brahma is a demi-god and has to give things according to a person’s natural deserving. Brahma himself can’t make the arrangements, the Lord gives like when one acts in this way that will be the result and when one acts in that way this will be the result. According to his austerity Brahma benedicted him. He wanted to become immortal but Brahma told him it’s not possible so ask anything else. He said, “You won’t make me mortal fine, then no being created by you will be able to kill me, I won’t be killed by any weapon, I won’t be killed in the day or at night, I won’t be killed inside my house or outside my house, I won’t be killed in space, land or water.” All these benedictions he was asking and Brahma was saying fine. He became so powerful and finally Lord came to kill him and the Lord cannot be unfair, He also had to abide by the law He Himself created. When Hiranyakasipu started to chastise his son, who was a great devotee then the Lord came. That’s one thing the Lord cannot tolerate offenses to His devotee, so that made Hiranyakasipu qualified to be killed by the Lord. Finally, He came on this particular day, Narsimha Caturdasi. Hiranyakasipu tried to kill Prahlada in so many ways and asked him, “You are defying my authority so I will take out my sword and I will see how you will be protected. You say Hari is everywhere so is He in this pillar?” Prahlada’s response was yes in the pillar also. He struck the pillar with his hand and it broke and there was a sound was so terrible it seemed the entire universe started to shake. They could not see the source of where the sound was coming. They then saw an amazing creature coming out from there, head of a lion and body of a man Narasimha.
Half man half lion, NaraHari is another name of lion. Hiranyakasipu along with his soldiers attacked but who can stand in front of the Lord? Finally, at the time when the day is just about to turn into night, He got Hiranyakasipu just as Garuda catches a huge snake, when the snakes meet Garuda that’s the end of their life. When they even hear the name Garuda the snakes run for their lives. Snakes are Garuda’s eternal enemy. So, He caught Hiranyakasipu and He sat on the doorway which is not inside or outside, He placed him on His lap which is not sky or land and with His nails He tore his body apart, pulled out his intestines and wrapped the intestine around His neck the Lord was so angry. In that respect there is one point why the Lord wrapped the intestine around His neck? The answer to that is because the semen passes through the intestine and because Prahlada’s soul travelled through his intestine to come to his mother’s womb Nrsinghadeva considered Hiranyakasipu’s intestine to be glorious so He put it on as a garland. So, this is how merciful the Lord is. The intestine is so disgusting and that of a demon also but because Prahlada’s soul travelled through that intestine He considered it to be glorious. In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead killed Hiranyakasipu. Hiranyakasipu tried so many ways to make himself immortal but when it come to the Lord no one can stand a chance. Okay fine, I won’t be killed by any demigod, Gandarva, snake, animal, human beings and so forth, half man half lion is it a man or an animal? This is how intelligent and inconceivable the Lord and His potency is. He won’t be killed inside or outside the house, okay doorstep is not inside neither outside. He won’t be killed in the sky or land ok, the lap. He won’t be killed during the day or night, twilight, neither day or night. Brahmavaivarta Purana has another aspect of it he won’t be killed by anything that is wet or dry, this was also another consideration there but this has not been added in Srimad Bhagavatam. Nail is neither wet not dry so with that which is not weapon just nails He tore open His body. kesava dhrta-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare, jaya jagadisa hare, jaya jagadisa hare. Jaya Nrsinghadeva, Jai Nrsinghadeva, Jaya Nrsinghadeva, Jaya Nrsinghadeva. Jaya Prahalada Maharaja, Jaya Prahalada Maharaja, Jaya Prahalada Maharaja, Jaya Prahalada Maharaja. Jaya Prabhupada, Jaya Prabhupada, Jaya Prabhupada, Jaya Prabhupada.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
Srila Prabhupada is the founder Acarya of ISKCON and to understand this is not difficult. Srila Prabhupada founded, he created ISKCON. He is the one who made ISKCON. But what about the other half, the Acarya aspect? Prabhupada is not only the founder, he is the Acarya of ISKCON. What is the meaning of Acarya? Acarya means the spiritual master. So Prabhupada is not only the founder of ISKCON, but Prabhupada is also the spiritual master of everyone in ISKCON. (Srila Prabhupada realizations)
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
Had we not have come into contact with Srila Prabhupada or ISKCON, this good fortune would have not been there for us.
(The content of this E-magazine is based on a lecture given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami in ISKCON Ujjain on 3 May 2020)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Dasi)