Narasimha Kavacha 1 – Verses 1-8 – Meditate on the Lord without and within to invoke his protection

Narasimha Kavacha Stotra

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna today we will discuss the narsimha kavacha stotra from the brahmanda purana set of 30 verses that are offered by prahalad maharaj to narsimhade and they occur in the brahmanda purana actually kavacha means shield shield that is very close to the body sometimes when a person is fighting the sword there will be a shield which is held in the hand but kavacha refers to that shield which is very close to the body, armour we can say more precisely an armour also acts as a shield so now people think of an armour as primarily referring to something which is physical and which protects from physical wounds that is because today the conception of reality is largely reduced to the physical in fact there is spiritual reality there is mental reality spiritual level of reality is mental level of reality and there is physical level of reality so even material consciousness is considered undesirable but material includes physical and mental in today’s society largely the consciousness is not just material but physical and so that’s why people think in terms of physical dangers and physical armours to protect themselves from those physical dangers but the vedic wisdom tradition understands that actually there can be dangers at many levels beyond the physical world that we see there are dangers which can come at the subtle level now we do know that there are troubles at the level of the mind this is a serious problem but troubles at the subtle level can also include troubles from ghosts and other such entities so the does not have to be gross for offering protection gross or physical for offering protection so of chanting prayers, chanting mantras invokes the protection of the lord by subtle spiritual means so that means that just as some of the mantras some of the weapons that are used often the weapons are discharged using arrows but in when Arjuna appeases lord Shiva and gets from him the Pashupatastra it is described that this Pashupatastra can be chanted and discharged even using the mind so normally an arrow is used to discharge it but it can be discharged directly also from the mind so the physical medium may sometimes be used but it is not necessary for the astras and similarly for the Kavachas also a physical medium may not be always necessary so there is in the Srimad Bhagavatam in the sixth canto the Narayana Kavacha so Indra got that Kavacha and used it to fight against the Asuras especially Vritra Asura so like that there can be various Kavachas so here there is Narasimha Kavacha so we will recite these verses one by one and we will discuss their meaning briefly so Shri Narasimha Kavacha Stotram Narasimha Kavacham Vakshe Prahladheno Dithampara Pura Sarvarakshakaram Punyam Sarvopadravanashanam so this is in the Brahmanda Purana and the narrative is going on now so Narasimha Kavacham Vakshe so Vakshami Krishna is in the Bhagavata I speak it Vakshe so now it is being recited Prahladheno Dithampura Pura in the past this was spoken by Prahlad Maharaj and then what is described further Sarvarakshakaram Punyam so two primary benefits are described and these will be elaborated in various ways in subsequent verses Sarvarakshakaram Punyam so all kinds of dangers are one is protected from them Sarvopadravanashanam so basically we have today many kinds of dangers in this world but whatever dangers are there one is protected from them and then Sarvarakshakaram so three points are described here Rakshakaram all kinds of protection is offered and Punyam it’s pious and Sarvopadravanashanam impediment so when we are marching on a path sometimes something may come and attack us so that is we need protection from that and then sometimes something may come as an obstacle in the path which which impedes our progress so that something may just attack to destroy something may not attack to destroy but may just obstruct us so that is Upadrav so Upadravanashanam so when Hanumanji was going across Lanka so the Mainak Parvat came and Mainak Parvat obstructed his way Mainak Parvat had no intention to destroy him but still it was a Upadrava then there was later Simhaka Rakshasi she actually wanted to destroy by eating so there can be different kinds of dangers and Narasimha Kavach protects from that then second verse Sarvasampadkaram Jaiva Swargamoksha Pradayakam Dhyatvanarsimha Devesham Hemasimha Sanastitam so normally the prayers are offered in a way that they can appeal to everyone so the pure devotees or those who are aspiring for pure devotion see the prayers in a way that enhances their pure aspirations those who are not so pure and those whose conscious is at the material level the prayers often contain promises and benefits for them also so here it is Sarvasampadkaram Jaiva Sarvasampadkaram so here in Sampath one will get all kinds of wealth by chanting these prayers and then Swargamoksha Pradayakam so if somebody wants wealth in this world one can get that, somebody wants wealth in the next world in terms of attainment of Swarga one can get that also and if somebody wants to go beyond this and get liberated Moksha Pradayakam so it can provide these things and how does one go about chanting these prayers and invoking the Narasimha Kavacha so that’s described now so actually we will see that there is a brief, very brief this glorification of the stotra that is coming before and there will be a longer glorification that will come at the end which will be the Phalashruti so we see that Krishna also uses this strategy sometimes right at the start of the chapter he will describe how rare this knowledge is for example 7th chapter describing the knowledge first he says once knowing this there is nothing more to be known and those who know it, only one in thousands and millions knows it or 14th chapter also he says that most confidential knowledge, 10th chapter also he says that and then at the end also he gives Phalashruti where in 18.68 onwards till 18.71 he describes in various ways benefit for those who share this message those who study this message and those who hear this message so we will see this sort of glorification in the beginning as well as at the end so Dhyatva so to recite this mantra and to invoke the Kavacha, Dhyatva meditate Narasimhadevesham this lord Narasimhadev is the lord of all the gods Devesham, what none of the Devatas could do overpowering and destroying and delivering Narasimhadev he did that and all the Devatas in the 8th and 8th chapter of the 7th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam various Devatas offering prayers to Narasimhadev are depicted so he is Devesham and then how is he said Hemasimhasanasthitam now this is Prahlad Maharaj, these are not the prayers Prahlad Maharaj chanted when Lord Narasimhadev, so we have the 9th canto, 9th chapter prayers which chanted immediately after the lord was, lord delivered Hiranyakashipu, so to pacify, these are different prayers, so in this the vision is, we will see what the vision is lord is sitting on the golden throne Hemasimhasanasthitam so the devotee wants to glorify the lord the devotee envisions the lord in full opulence and the envision doesn’t mean the imagination, envision can also be a result of a revelation, so the lord reveals himself the lord is like that and the devotee is able to see him like that, so now so first is where he is situated is described, where he is seated now the focus goes more on a close up on him and his form is described now Vibhuti Bhirupashitam so Vivruttasyam Vivruttasyam so his mouth is wide open and that can indicate anger that can indicate pleasure it can indicate various emotions now we know that a lion, when the lion is roaring, its mouth is open when the lion is about to attack and devour, so it devours the mouth is open, so Vivruttasyam Trinayanam he has three eyes and normally Trinayanam refers to lord Shiva, he has two normal eyes and one third eye which he opens when he gets extremely angry now lord Shiva describes in his prayers to Narasimhadev that the anger which he manifests at the time of destruction of the universe is a fraction of the anger potency of the supreme lord that is lord Narasimhadev especially so Sri Prabhupada said that if you feel very angry then meditate on lord Narasimhadev and meditate on his anger so that way we can connect our anger with Krishna and by remembering how now we want to whenever we get angry we get a sort of sense of power, by my anger I can beat, I can punch, I can shout but if we remember, if we use that our anger to remember Narasimhadev’s anger then we can see what is his power that his power was such that just with his bare nails he ripped open that demon Hiranyakashipu whose body could not even be scratched by the thunderbolt of Indira, thunderbolt which had power to just by one crash reduce giant mountains to powder so that was the power of lord Narasimhadev and he was so angry, he could do such things so his anger could lead to such power, so what is my anger in front of it, there is no need for me to get worked up by anger, instead of trying to exude my power through my anger let me meditate on the lord and seek his power his power to control my anger and his power to deal with the problem so Trinayanam so the lord is the original manifestation of the anger and he is having three eyes over here Sharadindu Samaprabham so Sharadindu Indu is moon in the autumn, the moon is considered very attractive, Krishna also performed his Raas Neela so at that time Sharadindu Samaprabham means effulgent like a moon so here in this particular pose lord Narasimhadev is manifesting beauty, of course he is beautiful even when he is angry he is the ferociously beautiful lord, but in this case he is manifesting a very soothing beautiful forms, normally when someone is angry, their face is compared to a to a blazing sun, so when the Vishwaroop is revealed by Krishna so that is compared to a sun so here but when Nityanand Prabhu is very merciful, his face is compared to a Koti Chandra Sushithala, is compared to a moon, so here lord Narasimhadev is in a very soothing graceful mood, he is effulgent like a moon and next to him is Lakshmidevi on the left side of him so he is holding on to Lakshmidevi, in south Indian temple this pose is there, lord Narasimhadev is there and Lakshmidevi is held by him, that indicates that actually the goddess of fortune who is the source of all fortune is held by him is in his control and she is happily in his control that indicates that he is the reservoir and the source of all good fortune and in case that is not clear, that’s made even more clear, that actually all Vibhutis, all opulences rest in him so whatever opulence, material or spiritual it may be so we have this opulence can simply mean wealth, opulence can mean the six opulences and opulence can mean love so all of these are present in him he is the ashray of everything that is attractive, of every opulence he is the ashray he is the shelter so then, now this particular form of Narasimhadev is Chaturbhujam that’s mentioned, Chaturbhujam, Komalangam, Swarnakundalashobhitam Sarojashobhito Raskam, Ratnakeyur Amudritam so Chaturbhujam forearms, Komalangam and normally Lord Narasimhadev, we would think a lion, we would not glorify a lion as very soft bodied, but we know Sridhar Swami prays how the Lord is he is like a ferocious lion for an invader or a predator for anybody hostile and that same lioness is very sweet and gentle for her own cub so here the devotee is invoking the presence of the Lord and the devotee sees the Lord’s body not as thunderously powerful which can rip apart another body merely by nails, he sees Komalangam, so the Lord reciprocates with the devotee’s desires and manifests himself accordingly so the devotee sees the Lord as beautiful, tender, the reservoir of love Komalangam and this gentle, soft body and we see this the devotees understand the Lord’s features according to what will enhance their rasa the most, the gopis when they are praying to Krishna they say at one level that O Krishna, your feet your feet, you offered them to Kali and they crushed his crushed him by pounding his hooves, but then the same gopis are praying Krishna they are praying that actually they are so tender that actually when pebbles, thorns, twigs pierce those feet we feel that they are piercing our heart and ripping our heart apart, we can’t tolerate it this is the mood of a devotee the devotee knows the power of the Lord but the devotee focusses on those features of the Lord which will enhance the love so Lord Narasimhadev is no doubt powerful but and then here it’s so Lord the purpose and perfection of all beautiful ornaments and all beautiful things is to be used in the service of the Lord so he does not need any ornaments but the purpose and their perfection is to be used to serve him now Uddhava say is in the Bhagavatam that actually you you become the ornament of the ornaments it is you who beautify the ornaments the ornaments don’t beautify you so here the Lord is not beautified the ornaments are beautified and perfected by their contact with the Lord so here he is wearing earrings so golden earrings are there now his chest is considered to be expansive and beautiful like a lotus and normally the chest is considered to be like people beat their chest so it is considered heavy and solid so why would we consider compared to a lotus now we know that Lakshmidevi takes shelter at the chest of the Lord she is there as a Srivatsa as the hare and the idea is the chest is also where the Lord offers shelter and this is a lotus is soothing lotus is cooling similarly the Lord’s chest is also soothing, cooling, comforting and then further it is described so his arms he has got also arm decorations armlets we can say they are ornaments which are studded with Naratna, jewels so the Lord is in this way majestically and artistically decorated normally we use this to refer to Srimati Radharani, complexion is like molten gold so here is described the Lord, his Vasasam, his dress is Peetha Nirmala it is spotlessly yellow and how is it like? like molten gold Narasimhadeva is adorned in a Peethambara which is it is like that so it is beautiful, yellow is considered to be a very beautiful curl, gold naturally attracts our eyes and the golden colour actually further enhances the beautiful vision that the devotee is having of the Lord and then this Lord who is he? Indra the Surya Maulishta Indra is the greatest of the gods and there are other gods Maulishta, he is their origin he is their head, he resides above them in terms of power, in terms of position, in terms of everything in terms of origin so he exists in an entirely different sphere entirely superior in the supreme dimension and and he is decorated with Manikyas Manikyas, jewels, rubies which are which are effulgent, blazingly effulgent itself captivating so it is a double describer so effulgent itself signifies a vase but when they are so extraordinarily beautiful that a double describer is used over here then sixth so means attractive, beautiful so he is now as the vision is moving from the beautiful face of the lord downwards so normally when a devotee is so normally it is recommended that the devotee take the darshan from the feet upwards but in some cases when one is overcome by ecstasy one’s eyes may go directly to the face of the lord and if the intention is devotional then that is considered pleasing to the lord so that’s what is described over here so the vision is going from the face downwards so he is so it was described he had four arms so now he has the four normal four normal paraphernalia the lord has in his hand so like that he has the conch he has the mace he has the lotus and he has the disc chakra and then Garutmata refers to Garuda so Garuda is so powerful, he is extremely powerful once Indra hurled his thunderbolt at Garuda and it had no effect on Indra on Garuda but Garuda just to ensure that Indra is not disgraced he allowed a small part of his feather to get cut off and Garuda was so powerful that he defeated even all the gods and the demons in order to get nectar it’s a long story which comes in the Mahabharata but he is extremely powerful but he is Vinayat, he is extremely humble, he humbly becomes the carrier of the lord and right now when the lord is seated on the throne he doesn’t have to carry him so he is humbly offering prayers tuyamanam mudanvitam and he is joyful his joy is not in exhibiting his own prowess or even doing powerful things, serving the lord, he gets joy in that but here simply by glorifying the lord also he is getting overwhelmed with joy swarit kamala samvasam so now the kavacha is beginning so this is the vision of the lord that is described by Prahlad Maharaj and now he is thinking this lord is there not just on the throne, this lord is there in my heart also, so actually that is how the prayers are to be done in the Uddhav in the chapter on deity worship so it is described that we meditate on how the lord is present in our heart and that same lord is present in the deity swarit kamala samvasam swarit kamala so in our heart the vision that there is a lotus, the lord wherever he is present, he is normally present on the lotus so that is how he is that’s how his transcendence is honoured by the devotee so he is always transcendental but we express honour for his transcendence by placing him on a lotus, just as a lotus is maybe in a dirty place but is untouched by the dirt, similarly the lord is, we depict him in honour of his transcendental position as on a lotus, so similarly in the heart there is a lotus, swarit kamala samvasam, krittvasam so meditate the lord is present in the heart seat him on the lotus of the heart and then kavacham patet, start reciting this kavacham so now the whole purpose of a kavacham is to seek protection so now the protection is being besieged so may he protect my head so just as there was the vision of the lord from the head downwards, now the protection is also being invoked now in these prayers actually the protection will be invoked by remembering the lord’s limbs and correspondence with our limbs the idea is that we want to remember the lord and as Rupa Goswami says somehow or the other fix the mind on Krishna, so we are normally bodily conscious and we may worry about our different bodily limbs and their protection, so here Prahlad Maharaj offers us in this Narasimha Kavacha Stotra a means by which we can connect our normal bodily consciousness with Krishna consciousness Narasimha consciousness so whatever limbs we think about, we worry about we meditate on the lord’s limbs and then we pray lord, my dear lord, protect this so the protection rather than being just self-centred, please protect my hand please protect my legs, it is in this way made Krishna centred this is how the bridge from self-centredness to god-centredness is made self-centredness means we are only thinking about ourselves and if god at all exists and matters it is only to the extent that he protects me, so Krishna centredness means Krishna is all that matters and my existence is for his service, so we want to move from self-centredness to Krishna centredness and the way is, there is this intersection, so we are concerned about ourselves and we are concerned about Krishna also, so it’s like there is one circle, there is another circle, we find the intersection point and gradually through that, by being in that intersection point, we purify ourselves and then we rise towards Krishna centredness this is the mood of this prayer, we seek bodily protection by meditating on the lord’s body so lokarakshartha sambhavaha, so that lord who is always planning so the head is the centre of thinking and planning, so that lord who is always meditating on the protection of all the worlds, that lord, may he protect my head, lokarakshartha sambhavaha, let him protect my, since he protects the whole, all the worlds, let him protect my head, and then further is described, sarvagopistambhavasah phalamme rakshatudhvanim narsimhome trishavapatu somasurya agnilochanah so sarvagopi he is all-pervading but still, when Prahlada Maharaj was challenged, is he everywhere? is he there in this pillar? stambhavasah, he said yes, he is everywhere and he is in this pillar, so he is everywhere but in this particular pastime, the lord manifested through a pillar, and phalamme rakshatudhvanim and how was his presence manifested? it was manifested through dhvani, the Bhagavatam describes, 8th chapter, 7th canto that, this dhvani was so terrifying so devastatingly loud, it appeared as if the coverings of the universe would crack apart, it appeared as if even the abodes of Brahma they would also be shaken and shattered, that was the power of the sound and we sometimes hear a sound as being very powerful so when something is very shattering, but you know what can shatter what sound can shatter? some abode which is so far away so that lord who can produce such dhvani let lord protect my dhvani, that means he protects my speech so actually our speech is a very great power by speech we can communicate by speech we can share wisdom by speech we can chant mantras, by speech we can glorify the lord so that lord who can produce such dhvani let him protect my power of dhvani and then narsimho me drishopatu let that lord protect my eyes and what is the characteristic of his eyes? soma surya agni lochanha so his eyes are like surya that is sun and soma is moon agni is fire so whatever are the sources of illumination those sources of illumination are described and he says our eyes illuminas these objects illumin provide illumination to the world krishna also talks about these three twice in the bhagavad gita in 15.6 first and then again in 15.12 first he says that these are not required for illumination in the spiritual world and then he says that these give illumination in the material world but that illumination comes from me so here the description is that these you just as you illumine the world through this similarly my eyes illumine the path of my life for me so please protect my eyes and this way the various bodily limbs are connected with the supreme lord and in this way the lord the meditation on the lord is enhanced so we will continue discussing the narasimha consciousness right in our next session thank you