SIMHA acronym – Glories of Prahlada and Narasimha

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Narasimhao Mahasimhao Ugrasimhao Mahabalaha Ugrasimhao Mahabalaha Ugrasimhao Mahadevaha Ugrasimhao Mahadevaha Hey! Hey! So, today I will be giving a lecture on the strange auspicious day of the previous year called the Simha day. And I will speak about the Simha day using a particular frame of reference.
I will use an acronym Simha Actually it is a long last term. Narasimha. It will take a long time.
So, I will take S-I-M-H-A and I will talk about five verses from the prayer that Prahlad Maharaj offers to Narasimha and how they reflect at one level the qualities of Prahlad. At the same time, these same verses also reflect the qualities of Narasimha. So, Vishwanath Bhagavatam in its 9th canto and 7th canto focusses primarily on discussing the glories of Prahlad Maharaj.
And while discussing the glories of Prahlad Maharaj, actually the past time of Narasimha day of appearance is primarily the 8th chapter of 7th canto. Prahlad Narasimha is obvious. And 9th chapter describes primarily his past time in terms of Prahlad Maharaj’s prayers.
So, I will start from 7.9.9 and they discuss how Prahlad Maharaj exhibits sublime qualities which reflect the qualities of the Lord Narasimha. So, the first prayer Prahlad Maharaj offers is in a very dramatic setting. He says Brahma Daya Surjana Munayodha Siddha Sattva Ikatam Natayodhya Sampradhari Naradhitam Purvanai Rathnapi Pitru Kirtosh Kumar Kisane Haridhukra Jyate So, he says that Brahma Daya Surjana and all these devatas like he said by Brahma Munayodha Siddha along with great Munis, great Siddhas perfectly Sattva Ikatam Natayodhya Sampradhari Sattva Ikatam.
They are situated in a pure mode of goodness. Sattva Ikatam Natayodhya Sampradhari. And they are spoken so eloquently of the Lord that words are in a flow of nature.
Naradhitam Purvanai Haridhukra Jyate But he does not even know who he is. And Kirtosh Kumar Kisane How could I possibly unsatisfy you? Haridhukra Jyate Haridhukra Jyate And I actually was born at a monarchy. So, this verse actually reflects Narad’s suffices.
So, S-I-M-H-E So, suffices. Now, if you look at the setting we are right to talk about the conclusion of the past. And we will do flashbacks as we move along by analysing.
But here, what had happened? Now, someday he appeared. He delivered him to Krishna. By ripping apart his stomach and garlanding himself with his garland in his hand.
Now, after that he was furious. And his anger was not at all pacified. And many devatas came and offered prayers.
And they offered prayers and not one of them was successful in pacifying the lord. Rajendra explained that Lord Narasimhadev was so angry because Prahlad had hit him that he felt even the devatas were responsible. He said, you neither protected Prahlad nor let him protest when he was being persecuted.
So, because you did nothing, now you are coming and offering great praise to me. What is the use of it? The lord was not pacified by their prayers. He felt that they had clearly made a mistake.
He was so angry. And all the devatas like Brahma, Indra, Shiva all of them they tried, none of them could pacify the lord. And even Lakshmidesh said, I cannot pacify him.
He was so angry. So, at that time when everyone had prayed, namaji asked Prahlad, why did you do that? I thought I am going to offer obeisances to the lord. And that lord was roaring ferociously like a lion.
Suddenly he came and said, you are like a cat. Sweetly. Bless Prahlad.
He was completely pacified. So, at that age, no one else was able to do namaji. And now this, for a normal human being, this is the time for exaltation.
I did something which nobody else was able to do. And normally, we would, most of us, we would be proud. No one saw what I did.
Nobody could do it. And Prahlad, small five year old boy, what is his consciousness? Although he succeeded in pacifying the lord, he is seeing it not in the sense of achievement. He is seeing it in the sense of wonder.
How could I do it? How was it possible? How could it be that I could satisfy the lord? So actually, devotees, if they are able to do something wonderful in Krishna’s service, they don’t feel proud. Oh, yes, see, what a wonderful thing I achieved. How was I able to do that? How was I able to do that? So Sri Prabhupada said that at times, that actually when I was amazed, the success of the Krishna Consciousness Movement, the sheer magnitude of the success, exceeded my expectations.
I was also amazed. Sri Prabhupada, who had worked so hard to do it, ah, it is Krishna, how is it possible? So the question that he raised in the first, how is it possible, oh lord, for me to satisfy you? These devatas could not satisfy me. So his subsequent prayers are actually his exploration of the answer to this question, the question which has left him wonder-struck.
Normally, if we achieve everything, our question is, how many people are appreciating what I am doing? Isn’t it? But this question is, how was I able to do it? So, the submission of a devotee is in that the devotee’s focus is on the Lord. It is not on oneself. The devotee, they will achieve something wonderful in Krishna’s service, but the devotee does not.
But the normal nature of the condition we go to is that we are sentient beings and we want to broadcast our own knowledge to them. Once we went to Bhopal, I was in Australia, and there was one person who looked like a some kind of a godman kind of person, you know. He was an elaborate king, like a superman, and he had a big cap, and at the end of the class, he told Bhopal, Swamiji, I am God, and I want to prove it next month.
Bhopal said, that’s alright. Everyone thinks like that. Bhopal was completely nonchalant about that.
What does it mean? Most people don’t claim explicitly that I am God, but the underlying idea that I am great, and people don’t know my greatness. I will prove my greatness to the world. Now, at one level, it’s a normal human tendency.
We all feel no need for appreciation, but where we seek that appreciation, how we seek that appreciation, that is important. So, even when he has achieved something that the devatas have not achieved, the devatas failed to do, he is not going to just see how great I am. He is going to, as his prayers go forward, he will realise that he sees his achievement not as a proof of his greatness, he sees his achievement as a proof of the Lord’s greatness.
That the Lord used even an instrument like him to do something like this. That instead of the Lord doing something to anyone else, he could have done it to anyone else, but the Lord chose to do it to him. And that was his amazement.
So, he draws the contrast and by contrast, he establishes that actually I am superior. That I am actually there is a pramana, there are devatas, I am pramana, I am born of pramana, I mean, what kind of relationship do I have. So, in bhakti, actually, the more we dwell on our glories, the less we can relish Krishna’s glories.
The more we are filled with ourselves, the less we can fill our heart with Krishna. So, Bhagavan Narayan, even when he has achieved something extraordinary, his mood is one of compensation. How could I have done it? He himself now, pachasam pravayi, that all the devatas, they offer their prayers in just one or two verses.
Now, what happens is, they are offering prayers to pacify the lord, but when they see that the prayers have no effect, they stop. They don’t know what to do. Sometimes somebody is angry and tries to pacify that person, that person gets angry and goes, they don’t know what to do.
He actually offers the longest series of prayers of all of them. He starts with 9th verse and goes on up to 50th verse. So, his life now starts with a mood of compensation.
And the lord, actually, I could not have done this. How could I do it? Struggled on my own self. And that mood of submission.
Now, normally, a devotee who has achieved something special, that devotee certainly has the lord’s mercy. But, the devotee desires not just the lord’s mercy. The devotee desires the other devotee’s mercy also.
Even when the devotee has achieved something special, the devotee needs to have others. The devotee doesn’t want others to feel that, oh, I have told, I have written, I am special. No, the devotee’s mood is, we are all together serving Krishna.
And this mood is there, actually, during the highest fast time of the day. When Indra asks his lord, he says, all the devotees, they come out and Krishna plays his flute and calls them. At that time, the gopis say, they tell Krishna, Udgeet wohi kahan, that, Abhisutanvaya bharat bandhavan, abhi naam dete, uncaptured aagat kahan.
So, he does everything. He plays the flute. He just calls us, he drew us, dragged us.
So, initially, Krishna called the gopis and then the gopis become proud. That’s what Indra said. And then, you go, Krishna uses only Adani.
And Brahmaji becomes proud and Krishna uses Adani also. In that, the gopis become proud in their external understanding. Indra’s understanding, he uses.
Actually, the gopis, they’re all Krishna. They’re all Krishna. The gopis are very delighted to be Krishna.
The pure feeling. We know, all of us, that Radhani was the greatest of Krishna. And, therefore, Radhani’s glory is to be established.
And so, the gopis, they allow, they act as if they are proud so that Krishna goes along with them. Initially, Radhani allows Krishna. She thinks, Oh, Krishna loves me so much.
Krishna is with me. But then, she starts thinking, what would be the kind of world without Krishna? Their hearts will be shattered if Krishna is with them. How can I live without Krishna? And so, Radhani tells Krishna, Krishna, you know, I’m tired.
I cannot walk anymore. Her hope is that Krishna will stop. And the gopis are searching for a way to find him.
And then, he will come back. And then, so, the gopis are thinking about where to find Radhani. Radhani is thinking about Krishna.
So, here, in the same mode, Brahmaji, he doesn’t think, I am the progenitor of the whole universe. And what is this small child? That’s all. And Prahlad, when he’s able to do something wonderful, he starts appreciating Radhani.
So, this mode of supplication is what actually endears the devotee to the knowledge. And where does the supplication come from? Because the devotee is focused on the Lord. The devotee does not need one’s own word of appreciation.
The devotee is delighted in the Lord’s words. And then, we go to the next verse. Actually, I’m going to not take all the verses.
There are two verses after that. There, I talk about inversion. So, I’m talking about S-I-N-G.
Inversion. It’s 7.9.9. Go 7.9.9. That is now. That question and answer is probing.
And he says, actually, in the middle verse, in the middle verse, he says, he has a list of many different devatas, many different devotees who satisfy the Lord. Inversion. He says, there is a great brahmana, Brahma, Vishnu, Guna, Yantar, that brahmana who is ornamented with 12 qualities of a brahmana.
Those qualities are described by Prabhupada in his parbho. He quotes from the Sanskrit, Samhita, and describes those qualities. Chanting.
So, this brahmana was brahmanical qualities. But, with the brahmanas, Vimukhaar. Why he is turned away from Arvindanama, that lord who has lotus navel.
Pada, Ravinda, Vimukhaar. From the lotus navel of that lord, a Brahma is turned away. Why was Brahma turned away? And then in contrast with that, Shobhacham Vrishcham Chobhacham.
Shobhacham means adorned. A low class person. It is such a person who is devoted oneself to the lord.
With the body, with the mind, with the words, with the life. Such a person will be able to deliver oneself from one’s dynasty. On the other hand, a Brahmana is proud, a Brahmana will not be able to deliver himself.
The speciality of Bhakti is that it inverts the conventional hierarchy itself. The conventional hierarchy is that a Brahmana is considered at the top of the social hierarchy. And a Shobhacham is always considered right at the bottom.
And this hierarchy is important. Why? Again, it is based on past karma. Some people by their past karma have got one Kailasa.
Some people by their past karma have got a lot of Kailasa. But Bhakti is not dependent on what you have done in the past. Bhakti is dependent on what is in the state of your heart.
And if somebody is trying to devote oneself to the lord, although the normal hierarchy is like this, Bhakti inverts the hierarchy. One who is devoted to the lord becomes greater than even the person who is considered the topmost. In fact, there are seven examples in the Bhagavatam of this inversion of the social hierarchy.
And I have a whole series of talks on this theme. I will just give a couple of examples to illustrate this. Of how in the Bhagavatam, it declares clearly that Bhakti is what is most important.
So, the most dramatic example of this comes in the 9th canto. Where we have Durvasa Muni, who is a Sanyasi and a Brahmana. And he is contrasted with whom? Ambarish Maharaj.
Who is a? Durvasa and a Kshatriya. Both these social hierarchies are considered global. But you know what happens? Actually, Ambarish Maharaj proves himself to be such a great devotee and Durvasa Muni succumbs to him.
And that Brahmana to whom the Kshatriya offers obeisances, that Brahmana is supposed to go all over the universe. He goes to Brahma, he goes to Shiva, he goes to Vishnu. And Vishnu also says, I cannot do this.
You have appointed my devotee to go across the universe. And he goes there. And he begs to Ambarish Maharaj.
Ambarish Maharaj will say, I forgive you. He says, why do you offer obeisances like this? Actually, it is a little counter-intuitive at all. Is it respectful? So, that social hierarchy is completely ignored.
Similarly, in the sixth canto, there is a story of Rudraasura and Indra. Rudraasura is a demon, Indra is a devata. And normally, the Vedas and the Puranas are filled with how the devatas depict the asuras.
But here, with Asura and Indraasura, who turns out to be a far greater devotee, then the devata comes in. Not just the devata, but they will, the Vedas and Puranas. So, in our spiritual life, in our bhakti practises, we also may have some particular mental situations, which we may be unable to overcome.
But we should know that there is no material situation that can stop us from practising bhakti. Actually, the Lord is always readily available for those who offer themselves with their heart. In the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, from verses 9.20 till 9.33, Krishna contrasts bhakti with other activities.
Bhakti to him, with the worship of devatas. And through four points of comparison, Krishna demonstrates the superiority, the glory of bhakti. It’s a verse in 9.20 where he describes how those who worship devata, they go to swarga, but they fall back.
But on the other hand, those who worship him, he says, I protect what they have, I provide what they lack. So, Krishna says, the results of any other form of worship, you can tell, but worshipping him, the results are eternal. So, he talks about the nature of the results first.
Then he talks about the facility of worship. He says, from devatas, one has to come up with elaborate yajnas. For worshipping him, he says, just a simple flower, just to be offered.
Gita Vachana describes that Krishna also mentions all these in Srila Yuga, not in Purva. He says, just one flower, one fruit, one leaf, that’s all Krishna asks for. So, for Krishna, when you are offering him, it is actually love that is the appetiser.
That we will talk about later. What is an appetiser, Krishna? So, whatever it is, you are not qualified. Bhakti rewards it all.
Bhakti is actually very subtle. Sometimes, that which will be a qualification in my real life, that which will be a qualification, even a religious piety, that can become a disqualification. So, for example, somebody can have a lot of knowledge.
Now, with knowledge, we can fix our mind on the Lord. But somebody can become proud of their knowledge. When they become proud of their knowledge, that great knowledge can become a disqualification.
Somebody can have a lot of renunciation. With renunciation, one can fix their mind on the Lord undisturbedly. But if one becomes proud of their renunciation, that renunciation can also become a disqualification.
Sometimes, you feel, oh, I am so fond of, I have this condition, I have that bad genetic, I have this problem, how can I solve this problem? I am so fond of it. Actually, yes, we want to rise. But we should know that actually, nothing is so subtle.
Sometimes, something which we see to be like a success, may turn out to be a failure. Suppose, I have some condition, and by the power of my willpower, I overcome that condition. Now, I have given up this impunity, I have become pure.
But, if that success has come simply by our willpower, and if that makes us proud, just see how self-controlled I am. See, all these people, that’s not all. I am self-controlled.
Then, there may be a success in self-control, but a success in self-control may be a failure in devotion. Why? Because, we have become more self-absorbed, not Krishna-absorbed. On the other hand, sometimes, there may be a failure in self-control.
We may be able to evolve our condition, but if that makes us more dependent on Krishna, we should like our individual. Please. And that failure in self-control may be actually success in life.
Now, we shouldn’t fail in self-control, we can’t succeed, but we should. The human mind is so perverse, that anything it may take for its own good. And interpret it for its own purpose.
Now, we definitely want to be self-controlled. We want to be pure. But, we have to know that, actually, Krishna has his own ways of purifying us.
Sometimes, we feel that, Krishna, I’m praying so much, I’m trying so much, but this condition is not going away. Why is it not going away? Actually, Krishna can remove the condition in one moment. But, sometimes, the condition goes away.
It may happen that, we may become paralysed. So, Krishna may not take away the condition, just so that, we don’t become paralysed. And eventually, when the condition goes away, eventually, we will become immortal.
Actually, it is not I who will be paralysed, it is Krishna who will be paralysed. So, eventually, we will get purity, along with ruining. Now, we may get purity, but that purity may take away our ruling.
And so, Krishna may not do it. But, there will be certain disqualifications. At some point, we may have.
At some point, we may have some qualifications. But, if we focus on bhakti, the principle of bhakti, is to try to serve Krishna and God as a capacity. Then, nothing else matters.
So, Prahlad Maharaj says over here, that actually, the brahmana, will get filled with wonderful works. But, the brahmana will not be able to do it by himself. So, bhakti.
In India, there is a caste system. And, especially in the western world, whenever India is portrayed, or Hinduism is portrayed, people say, oh, you have this terrible caste system. But, actually speaking, the bhakti movement, throughout its history, has been strongly protesting against the caste system.
In fact, it has been a movement, which has actually recruited everyone. And, if you consider, some people ask me, why do you support this caste? We don’t support the caste system. Rather than demonising the tradition, when we see that, there was reform from within the tradition itself.
And, the strongest expression of that reform from within the tradition was bhakti. There may have been modern Indian freedom fighters, or modern Indian social reformers, who tried to counter the caste system. And, they are often glorified.
But, even before they came about, within the Indian tradition itself, bhakti was a tradition of recognition, where it protested against the caste system. And, the greatest devotees are often people who are from the higher castes. In fact, they were persecuted by people from the higher castes.
There is an example of Vrindavan Sankar also, who was persecuted by, excuse me, the Muslims, who were persecuted because the Brahmins were coming. So, the point is, that actually, bhakti is a tradition, which revolves in the social hierarchy. And, Prabhupada himself, when he came to America, he focused primarily on attracting whoever was attracted, whoever was willing to be attracted, he invited all of them to participate.
And, his idea was that, that actually, bhakti is universal. It’s called tenet of bhakti. And, Maharaj, he himself, he was born in a low family.
Now, Prabhupada said, actually, you see, all of them came to him. He said, no. He said, it is not my glory that I am able to do this.
It is the glory of bhakti that I am able to do this. And then, the question may come up, does this mean Prabhupada is saying that, no, I am still a great devotee. Ok, I don’t have material qualifications, but I have bhakti.
And, because of that, that would imply that other devas don’t have bhakti. They don’t have bhakti, I have bhakti. So, Prabhupada, he is so humble, he did not think that, that good.
In the next verse, he says further, that actually, even if one worships your lord, you don’t need their worship. Actually, he says, So, he says that, Some people say, that, god likes to be flattered. People who are devotees, what are you doing? You are flattering the lord.
And when you flatter the lord, he gives you gifts. It is actually not flattering. The lord is self-satisfied.
The lord is calm, completely self-satisfied. Similarly, He is completely satisfied with himself. And, Somebody offers him some respect.
Hiranyakashipur. Let me apply that. Hiranyakashipur, he was actually wanting to be respected.
He wanted everybody to not, not, Everybody should offer respects to him. That was his desire. And, he got everybody to respect him.
But then, in his own family, his own son would not respect him. Now, there are nowadays people who are, they are very successful. When they go to office, they are bosses and everybody respects them.
When they come back home, they can’t manage their own shit. So, that is, Hiranyakashipur was like that. He was, all over the universe, everybody respected him.
And he found that, he is quite tolerated. How can my own son not respect me? So, although he had everything in the universe, he was not Nijlaab. He had everything, but still, when he did not have one thing, the one thing he did not have was, his son was about to offer, ready to respect him.
Actually, Panhala respected him. When, when his teacher, his mother brought him before Hiranyakashipur, he offered his respects. But, he respected Hiranyakashipur’s father.
Hiranyakashipur wanted respect from the superiors. Hiranyakashipur wanted that, that he should be considered the only object of worship. And, like in the Biblical tradition, they said, thou shalt not worship any other god other than me.
So, Hiranyakashipur had an idea that, nobody should worship anyone except me. And therefore, when Panhala said, what is the best thing that you learnt in school? And, when Panhala asked Hiranyakashipur, he said, the best thing I learnt is, that actually, you should become devotees of the Lord. Chavan, Kirtanam, Vishnu, Smaranam, Pada, Sevanam, Archanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atmani, Vedanam, Kirti, Om, Sadhita, Vishnu, Bhakti, Schena, Lakshanam, Priyeta, Bhagavad Gita, Talmanya, Nithyam, Uttamam.
See, the best thing that I have learnt is, we should simply devote ourselves to the Lord. Lord Vishnu, we are practising in 9th verse of the Bhagavad Gita. I mean, I wonder, actually, what was Panhala trying to do? Was Panhala trying to provoke Hiranyakashipur? It’s like, sometimes, we know, something makes somebody angry.
Now, we won’t speak that. So, as Panhala deliberately glorifying Vishnu in front of Hiranyakashipur. So, at one level, I was simply being honest.
I asked, what is the best thing you have learnt? So, now, Panhala left out the parties. He had not learnt this in school. He had learnt this in his mother’s womb when Narad Bhogi had taught him all.
What is the best thing you have learnt? He just honestly told, what is the best thing you have learnt? Now, later on, when he asked, Hiranyakashipur asked that, he said, I lift my, I just lift my eyebrows, but devatas tremble in fear. In front of you, even if I raise my hand, you don’t tremble. What is this? It’s like, sometimes, if you see, there is a big bodybuilder, there is a small child in the group, small child is challenging the bodybuilder.
As the bodybuilder asks, there is somebody behind you, otherwise, how are you honest? I said, I can just crush you. So, who is there behind you? Then, he said, Hiranyakashipur asked, where do you get your strength from? So, where do you get your strength from? So, he felt, he is my child, he doesn’t have strength, but he is defying me, he must be getting his strength from somewhere else. Now, again, Prahlad gives the most provocative reply.
He says, he could have said, my strength comes from Vishnu. Prahlad says, the source of my strength is the same as the source of your strength. It’s also the same as the source of the source of your strength.
The source of his strength was Prahlad Yudhavalli. He said, the source of my strength is the same as the source of your strength and the same as the source of the source of your strength also. That means, what is he doing? He is actually telling Hiranyakashipur, your strength is actually not your strength.
So, now this is outrageous. I am so powerful, this is my strength. Prahlad is telling him, this is not your strength.
Recently, I met Ambarish Prabhu, Prabhupada’s disciple, Alfred Ford. So, he tells that for the first time he met Prabhupada. When he met Prabhupada for the first time, he was introduced to him, he is Alfred Ford, he is the great grandson of Henry Ford.
Now, he was used to people offering him respect because he was so well-meaning. Prabhupada just looked at him straight in his eyes and there he looked at him and said, Prabhupada, so, you are the great grandson of Henry Ford? Where is he now? Where is he now? So, Ambarish Prabhu said that Prabhupada is at peace. Where is he now means? Prabhupada implied that, because he acquired Henry Ford, got so much wealth, all that wealth is left behind, he has got some balance.
So, Prabhupada saw the soul beyond the body and whatever a person may have had, along with it, he didn’t bother so much. He is not an emperor. He is an enlightened being.
He is graceful and he also saw the intention of Prabhupada. But actually, what Prabhupada is doing is, he is simply, innocently speaking from the level of spiritual vision and he is saying, actually, your strength, his compassion. And he is not simply trying to provoke.
Prabhupada is really becoming an experienced father. Actually, don’t take Vishnu’s name. Vishnu is telling everyone, this is the strength that you have.
It is he who has given it to you. You are only, only he is your uncontrolled and misguided mind, which makes you think that someone is your enemy. So, he actually in his own way, according to his own capacity, he is trying to help you.
So, he even though he proved, despite actually everything, he was not satisfied. He was not satisfied. The lord on the other hand, the lord was in nijlabhapuram.
He satisfied religion itself. In the same tilaka, he understood at different levels. And Krishna gives the gopis in the middle of the last tilaka.
So, he has not performed the last tilaka. The gopis have just come. At that time, and at that time, he is not, he is top of humility.
When he leaves them, in the same tilaka, actually, they demonstrate at one level the lord’s renunciation. Even he was in the, he was in a forest, in the middle of night, with so many beautiful women. He is nijlabhapuram.
He is nijlabhapuram. He doesn’t need anyone for his satisfaction. If he is reciprocating with someone, that is his purely reciprocation of love.
So, Krishna says that my dear lord, you are fully satisfied in yourself. … … … So, when some people are offering their respects, what is the point? What are they offering respects? Actually, they will be offering whatever is in due except, they call … It is also a compassion when he accepts his respect. There is a lord’s kindness.
So, Krishna, how will you know? So, he says, the whole of pranayama over here, is that my dear lord, it is not that I have devotion. It is that you are so kind that you accept service from me. Somebody has a desire to serve you, you accept service from that person.
So, he is shifting the glory entirely from him to the lord. First, so, although he has achieved something so glorious, first he said, actually I am not glorious. I am no more.
Then he said, how was I able to please you? Because you are dear lord, you are … So, is it the glory of bhakti? I have bhakti? He said, no. You don’t even need bhakti. You are actually satisfied.
People who don’t have emotion, you accept service even from them because you are so kind. He said this. In this way, that glory which was due to him, he completely transfers to the lord.
That is, so this was the this is the this is the motivation of the devotee. The devotee is actually concerned with glorifying the lord. The devotee motivation is pure.
Actually, you know, we may not have purity right now. We may not be pure. But the next verse is this, … Therefore, my lord, I glorify you for my own beauty.
So, we should know that actually, we may be unqualified, but we are never disqualified. We are unqualified in nothing, but Krishna never disqualified us. Krishna will open the doors of devotion for us to come to Him.
See, even if you don’t have devotion, you can practise devotion for the sake of purification. Then, afterwards, he moves on. Now, he is focussing on the lord.
So, a few words are needed. And this lord, the form of the lord was so beautiful. So, it was a beautiful form.
And then, he is completely attracted to this form. And everybody, even the devtas, they are afraid of that form. They are often placed from a distance.
But he says, he finds this form extremely attractive. So, S-I-M-H, which is the lord’s sublime attractiveness. What is attractiveness? He describes the form.
N-A-H-A-M-V-I-D-H-E-N-Y-A-J-T-E T-I-B-H-Y-A-N-A-K-A-S-Y-A J-I-V-H-A-R-K-B-H-U-T-I-R-G-H-N-O-T-A-V-A-S-O-N-A-T-A-M-S-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-S-V-A-J-A So, he describes that N-A-H-A-M-V-I-D-H-E-N-Y-A I am not afraid of lord. J-I-V-H-A-R-K-B-H-U-T-I-R-G-H-N-O-T-A-V-A-S-S-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-M-S-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A-T-A-N-T-R-A His eyes were glaring. His eyes were so, sometimes when people are angry, just we look at him and the eyes just shrink back and forth.
He looked so angry. His eyes were so hot with anger that actually the sign of the sun and the moon, the sign of the sun, it appeared thin in comparison. And obviously, his eyes were red, but also, along with that, blue cookie.
He was frowning. Frowning. Frowning accent causes, it has an unnerving effect.
So, the dhamshtra, on top of that, dhamshtra. Dhamshtra is steeper coming out. Andhra Sraja, he is garlanded with intestines.
He is garlanded with intestines. Now, you know, what is going on? How can, how can, the intestines, it’s a bloody thing, it’s a messy thing. How can, how can the lord garland him with the intestines? So, Acharya described that actually, when the lord did a open stomach surgery, he took out the intestine.
What is the reason? He is thinking that actually, it is from this intestine that such a wonderful devotee is Prahlad. So, he wanted to see, is there any other Prahlad in this? So, he took out the intestine. So, there is no other Prahlad.
This is the intestine that has actually given rise to Prahlad. So, therefore, I consider this intestine very dear to me. And that’s why he put the intestine around me.
So, externally it may appear to be like an act of, you know, extreme violence. But the same act, an act of great affection. Antya, Sraja, Chataikesh, Rashanku, Karnan, his hair, to get a mane of hair rising up.
You understand it? Normally, whenever the demons and devatas are there, whenever the lord appears, the devatas are usually, the lord appears in the incarnation when he is smaller than the asuras. You know, we have Krishna, we have Ram and Ravana. Ram became a small man.
Vamana, he is a small man. But similarly, he came in a form much bigger, much, much bigger than my head. When he would shake his head, the clouds would just fly away.
Such a big form he was. So, he had a big mane of hair. And on top of that, Karnan, his hair was completely wrecked in anger.
And his tears were completely wrecked in anger. Why is he not afraid? Because he is seeing beyond the anger to the love. See, anger can also be an expression of love.
It’s only when you care for someone or something, that you feel anger. It’s only when you care very strongly about something and that thing is going wrong, then you feel angry about it. That is just strongly emotionally resonating.
So, Prahlad is not just seeing the anger of the lord, he also feels it. Prahlad is seeing, why is anger coming? Because the lord loves him so much. Because he has no fear at all, no fear at all.
What does he feel? He feels affection. It’s a beautiful form. And in fact, he says, when I remember this lord, I become free from fear.
Not just become fearful, I become free from fear. That lord, Narasimhadeva, Narasimha, in a beautiful way, he says, sometimes, occasionally, he just says, a lioness, she is very fearsome for any bhandar who is coming to attack. But for the lioness, for her own cow, she is the embodiment of motherly love.
So, like that, for the demons, Narasimha is very fearful. Fearsome. But for the lord, he is also fearlessness.
And Prahlad Maharaj says, this way he sees the beauty of the lord. At one level, Narasimha’s form is not beautiful. It’s fearsome.
But, that fearsomeness, the devotee sees it beautifully. And the last, as we discussed this, that’s why he is so handsome, is the aspiration. What does a devotee aspire for? So, he says, my lord, I am not fearful of your fearsome form.
But what am I fearful of? So, he says, my lord, I am afflicted. Krupana Vatsala. A beautiful declaring of the global law.
In Tamil, we have the law of the bhaktas. He is a lover of the devotees. Krupana Vatsala.
You are not just a lover of your devotees, you are a lover of even the Krupanas. I will come back to this later. Dushyogra.
My lord, I am not even going to tolerate this. Samsara Chakra Kandana Vyasata Vrindaha. Samsara Chakra.
In this cycle of existence, I am lost. I am missing. Vyasata Vrindaha.
I am caught in this. And there is, he says, we eat terrible things and we are little bit terrible. Samsara Chakra.
It is Jivo Jiva Siddhi. The terrible struggle at the foundation of existence. And the human beings don’t live in a society of cannibals right now.
For an animal, the bodily conception is entirely there. Animals don’t understand the soul. And what happens to an animal like a deer? When a lion pounces on it, what does it feel? It is like, I am being eaten up.
I have been created. He wants to be consumed. It is a horrible existence of existence.
He says, I was born in a Rakshasa family. Rakshasa people. He says, I have passed karma.
I was born in a family like this. He says, my lord, I am free of this bodily existence. Bodily existence.
By my own karma, I am all alone. Pushyam Teyam Mumulam. On the command of the lord, Oh supreme being, Pritam Apabhaya Sharanam Mayase My lord, bring me back.
The aspiration of his heart is, at one level, he has just fallen in the lotus feet of the lord. He is offering obeisances there. The lord has placed his hand on his head.
He says, my lord, bring me back. That is the aspiration of the lord. He is not exalting the children.
Now I have proven my glory to everyone. Everybody has understood. How great is my devotion.
My lord, bring me back to your lotus feet. So a devotee, the test of our devotion is how much we long for the lord. This world, at one level, can seem to be a wonderful place.
With so many pleasures of life. At another level, it can seem like a dreadful place. Especially when we face sufferings, we face problems, we face miseries.
But, you know, the devotee doesn’t see oneself. He only sees the lord. That is the lord whom I want to serve.
And how can I come closer to the lord? Then, oh lord, you call me. How the lord calls us, he is not just asking for, you know, because I have become liberated from the materialistic, I have attained you. Yes, that is ultimately liberated.
You see, what happens at the end of it all? When the lord offers his prayers, then suddenly he gives you the full freedom. So, actually the lord says, my dear lord, I don’t want anything. I don’t want anything from you.
The lord offers all these prayers, and then, he says, ask for something. He offers you wonderful prayers. He says, my dear lord, I don’t want anything.
No, ask for something. He says, I am not a businessman. I don’t want you to get something from me.
He says, no, but it is not a business. It is simply out of affection. I want to give you something.
Please ask for something. Then the lord says, yes. If you want to give me something, then please give me one thing.
What is that? He will free my heart of the desire to ask for anything. He will free me from all these selfish desires. So, what happens is, the lord’s desire is, I don’t want anything, my lord.
I don’t want anything from you. But the lord tells him, that you rule the kingdom on my behalf. So, Hiranyakashyapu has the kingdom, and in one moment, everything was lost.
The lord said, I have seen with my own eyes that this material prosperity has not lost. So, a devotee, if he has material prosperity, he is in Krishna’s service. If he has material adversity, he sees it, and he puts his foot in the chair of Krishna.
So, in this world, sometimes, we will be pulled towards Krishna by the good things in this world. And sometimes, in this world, we get bad things. And we see bad things as we will be pushed towards Krishna.
And then some people lovingly say, you know what, sometimes, some devotees are so wonderful, and we start thinking that, now, why, oh, this devotee is so nice, how nice Krishna is. And then, what is happening? By their sweetness, by their kindness, we feel Krishna’s love. And we are pushed towards Krishna.
I want to go closer to Krishna. But sometimes, you will find, you are in a devotee community. Devotees make me feel, I am a terrible loser.
How can a devotee do like this? Rather than seeing that this devotee doing like this, you can see, Krishna sometimes pulls me to some devotees, towards them, and then Krishna pushes me towards them. So, rather than blaming those devotees, you can see, actually, it is Krishna who is acting like this. So, Prahlad saw it this way, that Narada pulled him towards Krishna and gave him instructions, by giving him knowledge.
And Hiranyakashipu pushed him towards Krishna. So, as a devotee, the whole, if we have to practise bhakti in this mundane world, the bhakti, it requires, the practise of bhakti requires the, requires the consistent re-interpretation of reality. Whatever happens, we need to interpret it in a way, that it is clear in the Purana.
Some devotees are kind to us, we see that actually, this Krishna magnanimously is kind to us. Some people are unkind to us, saying, actually, Krishna can be in this world, but we are not able to create Krishna. So, there is only one Krishna, so let me take Krishna with you also.
So, ultimately, in Bhagavatam, and in Prahlad’s pastimes, you know, the glory of Prahlad, what was his glory? Sometimes you may hear this kind of pastimes, and you may hear, I did not talk about that much. I am not going to do that, but let’s mention it. Prahlad was protected through so much, so much persecution, you know, he was, he was put into, practically, he was sent from one torture department to another torture department.
Nowadays, in the political circle, there is a lot of talk about how torture should not be used as a means of extracting. But Prahlad, in a way, he had no time for political directness. So, what he was saying, he tried to warn Prahlad, he tried to pierce Prahlad, he tried to throw Prahlad down a valley.
Now, through it all, Prahlad was protected. So, now, see, that is the miraculous protection of the Lord. But actually, the miraculous protection of the Lord, we would say, okay, that happened to the Lord, what is going to happen to me, I am not going to be protected.
No, the miraculous protection of the Lord was not just that Prahlad’s body was protected. The miraculous protection of the Lord was that Prahlad’s devotion was protected. Even when, you know, Prahlad is seen as the embodiment of Samarthanda, the nine forms of bhakti, amongst Paranagraha.
His remembrance is one of the rituals of Samarthanda. So, what was special about Prahlad Maharaj was not that that, okay, when he was being thrown down from a mountain, when he was put in the middle of a fire, when he was cast amongst snakes, at that time, he was protected. Yes, he was protected, that’s wonderful, but the speciality of Prahlad was that throughout it all, he was remembering the Lord.
That remembrance of the Lord was the protection. Externally, whether the protection came or not, that doesn’t matter so much. The same Bhagavatam, which depicts Prahlad being protected from so many dangers, that same Bhagavatam also depicts that Kanchipuram Maharaj was not protected at all.
The Bhagavatam, if you consider there’s a movie, he starts with declaring that, no, that particular hero, in seven days, he’s going to die. And at the end of the movie, at the end of the seven days, the hero dies. What is this? Something special should happen, a miraculous rescue.
But that doesn’t happen. Prahlad was cursed to die at the start of the Bhagavatam, at the end of the Bhagavatam, he dies. That’s the protection.
The protection is an absorption. He was absorbed in the Lord, and because of that, the event of death happened at the level of the Lord. But there was no experience of the trauma of death.
Because eternally he was sheltered in Krishna. So the real miracle, in the case of Prahlad, was not that his body was protected. Yes, that’s a great miracle and we appreciate that.
But the real miracle was that his faith in Bhakti was protected. Throughout it all, he was always remembering Krishna. So when we are practising Bhakti and we have problems, often what happens is, we pray to Krishna, Krishna, please help me.
But, we don’t have one eye open, is help coming or not? Once the eye is open, is help coming or not? When Draupadi called out to the Lord, now she just raised her hand, she closed her eyes and called out, she had not one eye open, is something going to happen or not? Completely subdued to the Lord. So when we, if we are practising Bhakti, is this problem going to be solved or not? When, you know, I will conclude with this last point, you know, problems should be an impetus towards Krishna. Krishna should be an impetus, not be an impetus towards the problems.
That means that problem consciousness will be the Krishna Consciousness. So when there are problems, that means this whole sense of probability, that means it is a problem. But instead, what happens is, we are Krishna Conscious, but actually a problem conscious.
Krishna, are you solving this problem or not? Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna. Even now, now, now. When you do that, Krishna can remove the problem, but one problem will go away.
The problem will go away, third problem will come. So, yes, it’s not that Krishna wants us to suffer from problems. It’s not that our problems are not, we have to deal with the problems.
Problems are here. But, the ultimate problem is that we are disconnected from Krishna. When we focus on that, disconnecting from Krishna, the nature of life is problems will come, problems will go.
So, what we can pray? That, actually, the way Lord Narasimha inspired Brahman Maharaj, we can completely absorb in, that we may get a fraction of that absorption. If we can be absorbed in the Lord, that absorption itself is the height of perfection. And through that absorption, we will get the strength to deal with the problem, to tolerate the problem if it remains.
And we will get the impetus to tackle the problem if it has to be removed. So, that Brahman Maharaj demonstrated the principle of absorption in the Lord. And Narasimha demonstrates his protection, not just through the miraculous way in which he protected Prahlada, or he gave him an equation.
His protection was, through it all, he was absorbed. So, actually, you could say, perhaps, you know, there is, when there is adversity, he said that, what is that, he is saying that when there is, when there is suffering, everybody remembers the Lord. Look me, look me.
Yeah. Yeah, it’s beautiful. Thank you.
So, in distress, you say, in distress, people remember the Lord, but in happiness, nobody remembers. In happiness, somebody remembers, then there will be no misery. What does it mean? Actually, in distress, Prahlada, he could say that, when he was persecuting him, at that time, what could he do? He had no alternative, so he remembered the Lord.
And that thing was definitely, and Prahlad’s devotion is definitely given to that same master. Now, here, when it is a moment of victory for him, and his devotion is proclaimed by everyone, the Lord has become pleased, this is one moment of victory. But even here, he is absorbed in the Lord.
So, he is not promoting the Lord, he is broadcasting his words. He is remembering the Lord. That is the solution.
So, if we can get the inspiration from Prahlad, remember the Lord amidst distress, and amidst happiness, amidst failure, and amidst success, then, and with a surefire way, sure shot way, he can transcend the misery of this world, and be united with the Lord in his eternal blissful abode. So, we conclude with the prayer which we offered in the beginning. Let’s keep on singing.
So, I spoke today about Prahlad Narsinghadev’s glory, and Prahlad’s devotion. I spoke on five points. S was? Salvation.
So, even when Prahlad has done something glorious, he is not filled with his own glory. He is submissive to his envoys to the Lord. And he is not delighted at all.
He is so amazed. How is he able to do this? How is it possible? So, then R is? Inversion. Inversion.
Bhakti. Invert the normal hierarchy. You may be disqualified, but if you focus on devotion, you can be disqualified.
And then, similarly, we can focus on the fact that whatever we are situated in, I am what? Motivation. That is what is motivation? I don’t have devotion, but that means that is bhakti. That is bhakti.
Prahlad, the Lord doesn’t need us. The Lord is self-satisfied. He gives the opportunity to serve me, and that is his magnanimity.
Prahlad achieved the glory. How was I able to satisfy you? My Lord, it is so fine. You are so fine that you became satisfied by my words, by my actions.
And H was? Transcendence. So, although Narasimhadev looks fearsome because of the anger, but Narasimhadev, beyond the anger, he is affectionate. And thus, he said, he is not out of fear.
In fact, he comes free from fear. And thus, we can also see the essential truth of the Lord, even when there are problems in our life. That is what? Aspiration.
When you go to the Aspires, not just for happiness and prosperity in this world, you can go to the Aspires, or fall in love with the Lord, and you will do it. If you do love the Spirit of the Lord, then you will have the absorption. So, the protection of Prahlad was not that he sees life also various times.
It was definitely miraculous protection. But ultimately, the actual protection was, it’s beautiful. The all-virtual protection is absorption.
So, in danger, in success, if you stay absorbed in Him, then you will be able to do it. Narasimhadev, Bhagwan. Jai.
Prahlad, Maharaj. Jai. Jai.
Jai. Jai.