19850504 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.8.1-25

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on May 04, 1985 at New Orleans, Louisiana. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 7, Chapter 8, Text 1-25.

Jayapatākā Swami: Today is a very important day. Today when Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared in the world. Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is the very dear form of the Lord for the devotees, because the Lord assumed this form simply to protect His devotees.

Kṛṣṇa has got unlimited forms, and each of those forms has their own pastimes and qualities, and the different forms have their own devotees, So in this form of Nṛsiṁhadeva, Kṛṣṇa is specially known as the protector of His devotee . So, naturally all the preaching devotees find Lord Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva very dear. also Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva was worshiped by Ganeśa, the son of Lord Śiva the great demigod. Ganeśa gives his benediction that by his mercy what ever one embarks upon, if they first worship Ganeśa then their success by the blessings of Ganeśa that is assured, he is the incharge of success. So Ganeśa has got his potency by worshipping the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva gives the blessings whereby all obstacles in the path of devotional service can be destroyed.

We get the sixth canto on the Nārāyaṇa kavaca, that also has a nice verse about, to Nṛsiṁhadeva.

So the son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, to give a little background… Hiraṇyakaśipu was a great demon, that means that he was a very ambitious person, but who had no… who was against, but there is this type of… we are human beings, there are another form of entities known actually as asuras. They are a race of entities, who are by their nature, they are generally speaking, atheistic, and they are very powerful beings. They are almost as powerful as demigods. And amongst them Hiranyakaśipu was the King.

He had performed some great tapasyā, where he fasted, and meditated, to such a point that he was able to attract the attention even of Lord Brahmā. And so then he asked Lord Brahmā for the benediction of immortality. So Lord Brahma said that, it is not possible for him to give immortality, because he himself is not immortal. That was quite shocking to Hiraṇyakaśipu, because he always thought that since Lord Brahmā was known as amar or deathless, that he was actually immortal.

To Lord Brahmā explained that, he is known as deathless because compared to the ordinary living entities his life span is so long, literally millions and millions of years. One of his days is four million, three hundred thousand years times a thousand, that's four billion three hundred thousand years is one day, and he lives 30 days in a month, twelve months in a year, equally long night, and his life span is more or less hundred years. So with a life span like that compared to say ordinary human being or something, they consider him to be deathless or immortal. But even he said that, one day I will also die. So by my calculation, my life is only a hundred years, but by your calculation, I am deathless. So kind of like if an ant want to calculate the living… the life span of a human being, they may consider human beings to be practically immortal, but ah… or some of those micro-organisms, compared to them we live forever, but actually we don't… from our own point of view, we know we only live for maximum say 100 years, may be for 60-70-80 years.

So somehow or another then Hiraṇyakaśipu he thought, “Well! so if I cannot get immortality then what do I get?” So then asked for the benediction, he wouldn't be killed during the day, or during the night, he wouldn't be killed on the land, in the air, or in the sea, he couldn't be killed by any weapon, he couldn't be killed by ah… a man, or by a animal, or by demigod, that he couldn't be killed by... [Aside: See… anything else? like that… Devotee: inside or outside… Jayapatākā Swami: I don't remember there was one like that…] Anyway, there were so many conditions he gave. So basically, with all of these conditions, he was practically invincible. This as a result he was easily able to defeat the demigods, and he just took charge of the entire universe. Lord Brahmā stays kind of aloof from the day to day activities in the universe. So ah… Hiraṇyakaśipu took over the kingdom of Lord Indra.

So in this way, while he was doing his tapasyā, his wife was pregnant and the demigods captured his wife, and were going to wait for the child to be born to kill the child, even though they considered that the son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, the great demon must be their enemy number one, they would never consider killing the child while in the womb of the mother. According to the law of karma, to abort the child is such a grievous sin, that they would, even though they are going to kill the child as soon as it was born, the very second they wouldn't do it while it was in the womb of the mother.

But Nārada Muni came and said that, his son is a great devotee, you give the mother to me and I will take the responsibility that this boy would not cause you any harm, he is a great devotee of Viṣṇu, of Kṛṣṇa. Because they had implicit faith in ah… Nārada Muni, so they gave the son to him. So, while Prahlāda Mahārāja was in the womb of his mother, Nārada Muni was instructing the [mother] wife of Hiraṇyakaśipu and Prahlāda could hear all of the instructions, so he became self-realized even before he was born. His mother subsequently forgot everything more or less, but Prahlāda never forgot.

So when he was born, right from his birth he was 100% Krishna conscious, purely liberated, and his father of course was totally inimical to any supreme being. So he hated his son, because he wanted his son to say that he was God, wanted his son to worship him that he was the supreme, that there was no one higher. But his son wouldn't do that. So therefore, he became very inimical to his son, and tried to assassinate him to keep his own name, didn't want to kill his own son, so he tried to do it indirectly by poison, by so many different means. But ah… because ah… Prahlāda Mahārāja was transcendentally situated; he was unable to be destroyed by all of those means.

So finally, he put the son in the school. and just like the modern educational institutes of the world today have been organized simply for teaching the people economic development and atheism, similarly Hiraṇyakaśipu's educational institution was totally void of any kind of instructions on God, and rather they taught the children that there was no higher reality, that creation… ah…that existence came simply by the product of ah… accident and sex ah… desire and that there was a no higher truth, simply the goal of life was to earn money and to be happy in this way, much the same way as the modern education, practically identical.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he went into the educational institution, as soon as there was recess or any kind of break, he would start to preach to the other boys, but actually what is the use of this type of education, we are actually eternal, and we have eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and he would engage them in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So finally, all of these students who were trying to be very trained, to be very useful demons ah… in the society of Hiraṇyakaśipu, who would simply work hard without any consideration of any higher reality, ah… they were all becoming devotees. So the teachers they came and gave a report to Hiraṇyakaśipu that his son was turning everyone into pure devotees of the Lord.

śrī-nārada uvāca
atha daitya-sutāḥ sarve śrutvā tad-anuvarṇitam
jagṛhur niravadyatvān naiva gurv-anuśikṣitam
(ŚB 7.8.1)

Nārada Muni continued: All the sons of the demons appreciated the transcendental instructions of Prahlāda Mahārāja and took them very seriously. They rejected the materialistic instructions given by their teachers, Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka.

Purport states that, how,

This is the effect of the preaching of a pure devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja. If a devotee is qualified, sincere and serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness and if he follows the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master, as Prahlāda Mahārāja did when preaching the instructions, he had received from Nārada Muni, his preaching is effective. As it is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.25):

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ

If one tries to understand the discourses given by the sat, or pure devotees, those instructions will be very pleasing to the ear and appealing to the heart. Thus if one is inspired to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and if one practices the process in his life, he is surely successful in returning home, back to Godhead. By the grace of Prahlāda Mahārāja, all his class friends, the sons of the demons, became Vaiṣṇavas, pure devotees. They did not like hearing from their so-called teachers Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, who were interested only in teaching them about diplomacy, politics, economic development and similar topics meant exclusively for sense gratification.

athācārya-sutas teṣāṁ  buddhim ekānta-saṁsthitām
ālakṣya bhītas tvarito rājña āvedayad yathā
(ŚB 7.8.2)

Translation: When Ṣaṇḍa and Amarka, the sons of Śukrācārya, observed that all the students, the sons of the demons, were becoming advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because of the association of Prahlāda Mahārāja, they were afraid. They approached the King of the demons and described the situation as it was.

Purport is that,the words buddhim ekānta-saṁsthitām indicate that as an effect of Prahlāda Mahārāja’s preaching, the students who listened to him became fixed in the conclusion that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only object of human life. The fact is that anyone who associates with a pure devotee and follows his instructions becomes fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is not disturbed by materialistic consciousness. The teachers particularly observed this in their students, and therefore they were afraid because the whole community of students was gradually becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious.

In other words, students were no longer being disturbed by all the material situations that were coming up, they were becoming very fixed and peaceful in their mind, and they were engaging very spontaneously in devotional service. When the demoniac teachers saw that then they became very concerned that if this continues there will some frightful situation for atheism in the world. The same thing was observed, in Russia, by their leaders, that their people were practicing Krishna consciousness. And as a result, although India is their ally in so many ways, their friend, but because they saw that Krishna consciousness was very effectively making the people give up atheism, and become God conscious in a, in a very dynamic way that they clamped down so bad, that even highly paid people who were being Krishna conscious like editors of newspapers and others were all put into their re-conditioning chambers, and psychiatric help, that's what they call. Kind of prisons, torture chambers that they have. Very sorry for those devotees they have to endure these types of trials, can only pray that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva protect them. That we know that in the long run they will not be able to stop the progress of Krishna consciousness although they are doing their best, just trying to do something…

kopāveśa-calad-gātraḥ putraṁ hantuṁ mano dadhe
kṣiptvā paruṣayā vācā prahrādam atad-arhaṇam

āhekṣamāṇaḥ pāpena tiraścīnena cakṣuṣā
praśrayāvanataṁ dāntaṁ baddhāñjalim avasthitam
sarpaḥ padāhata iva śvasan prakṛti-dāruṇaḥ
(ŚB 7.8.3-4)

Translation: When Hiraṇyakaśipu understood the entire situation, he was extremely angry, so much so that his body trembled. Thus he finally decided to kill his son Prahlāda. Hiraṇyakaśipu was by nature very cruel, and feeling insulted, he began hissing like a snake trampled upon by someone’s foot. His son Prahlāda was peaceful, mild and gentle, his senses were under control, and he stood before Hiraṇyakaśipu with folded hands. According to Prahlāda’s age and behavior, he was not to be chastised. Yet with staring, crooked eyes, Hiraṇyakaśipu rebuked him with the following harsh words.

Purport: When one is impudent toward a highly authorized devotee, one is punished by the laws of nature. The duration of his life is diminished, and he loses the blessings of superior persons and the results of pious activities. Hiraṇyakaśipu, for example, had achieved such great power in the material world that he could subdue practically all the planetary systems in the universe, including the heavenly planets (Svargaloka). Yet now, because of his mistreatment of such a Vaiṣṇava as Prahlāda Mahārāja, all the results of his tapasyā (tapasyā means austerities) diminished.

In other words, he had done so many austerities to get those ah… blessings to be able practically be immortal, but now the results of all his austerities had diminished, because of his offences against a great Vaiṣṇava, Prahlāda Maharaja.

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.4.46):

āyuḥ śriyaṁ yaśo dharmaṁ lokān āśiṣa eva ca
hanti śreyāṁsi sarvāṇi puṁso mahad-atikramaḥ

Translation: When one mistreats great souls, his life span, opulence, reputation, religion, possessions and good fortune are all destroyed.

śrī-hiraṇyakaśipur uvāca
he durvinīta mandātman kula-bheda-karādhama
stabdhaṁ mac-chāsanodvṛttaṁ neṣye tvādya yama-kṣayam
(ŚB 7.8.5)

Translation: [Hiraṇyakaśipu said:] O most impudent, most unintelligent disruptor of the family, O lowest of mankind, you have violated my power to rule you, and therefore you are an obstinate fool. Today I shall send you to the place of Yamarāja.

Yamaraja is the superintendent of death. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, he has taken the thing word by word, and shown how all the things that Hiraṇyakaśipu said in one which was very offensive, derogatory statement were actually ah… can be understood in a different perspective, and he got a blessing from the goddess of learning Sarasvatī to be able to understand the meanings of the word, ah… they are like esoteric meaning how actually in the sense of Prahlāda Maharaja whatever was said about him was true, if you see them from that perspective.

He was accused as being durvinīta or ungentle, uncivilized or impudent. So if you divide the word up, du means the material world which is called duḥkhālayam or the place of material suffering, and vi means viṣeśa or specifically, nīta means brought in. So by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, Prahlāda Mahārāj was especially brought to this material world to teach people how to get out of the material condition. durvinīta, you divide up Sanskrit words they have different meanings. So the root meaning, durvinīta is one who has come into this material world of suffering in order to deliver the people. But the obtuse meaning is ungentle, uncivilized, impudent.

Then the next mandātman. So this is śloka, manda means very bad or slow in spiritual realization. In the Bhāgavatam the śloka manda sumanda matayo manda bhāgya, it's actually what this means is that those who are very ah… slow in spiritual life or manda, for them Prahlāda Maharaja is the perfect guide. mandātman actually means he is the guide of those who are manda. In other words, he had delivered those who are otherwise are very unfortunate.

Kula-bheda-karādhama is ah… Kula-bheda-karādhama literally means ah… or bringing about a destruction in the family. So what they mean is that Prahlāda is so great that even great personalities who establish big, big families compared to him they seem very insignificant because he was so great. Ah… because normally people are very interested in their own families, and they want to make their own dynasties very famous, but Prahlāda Mahārāja was so liberal, he didn't care distinction between one living entity and another, he actually had his mercy on everyone. So therefore, he is greater than those people who are concerned about their dynasties, because he was universal in his outlook.

Stabdham means obstinate, so they agree with that, they say that, since a devotee doesn't care for the instructions of the asuras or demons, when they get such instructions, the devotees remain silent, because a devotee only cares about the instructions of Kṛṣṇa, not the instructions about demons or non-devotees. So even though his father, so he sai… Prabhupāda said he does not even give any respect to a demon, Mac-chāsanodvṛttam, Prahlāda Maharaj was disobedient to the orders of his demoniac father. That's already explained in. Yama-kṣayam, every conditioned soul is under the control of Yamarāja, but Hiraṇyakaśipu said that he considered Prahlāda Mahārāja his deliverer, for Prahlāda would stop Hiraṇyakaśipu’s repetition of birth and death. Actually Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted to be immortal, but by his material intelligence he couldn't become immortal, but because he is going to be killed by Kṛṣṇa Himself in His form as Nṛsiṁhadeva, ah… when you get killed by the Lord you achieve liberation, so in that way he becomes immortal. That's simply by the mercy. So, it says here that Prahlāda Maharaj would stop Hiraṇyakaśipu's repetition of birth and death.

So in this way, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has explained these words in a very interesting way as they can be interpreted from the side of Sarasvatī, the mother of learning.

Hiraṇyakaśipu goes on with his… saying, “My son Prahlāda, you rascal, you know that when I am angry all the planets of the three worlds tremble, along with their chief rulers. By whose power has a rascal like you become so impudent that you appear fearless?”

Demons can't stand it if people appear fearless, they want people to cow down and to shake before them. So he is saying, how is it that you have become so impudent that you appear fearless and overstep my power to rule you? Hiraṇyakaśipu was perplexed about how his five-year-old boy could be so fearless that he did not care for the order of his very great and powerful father. A devotee cannot execute the order of anyone except the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the position of a devotee. Hiraṇyakaśipu could understand that this boy must have been very powerful, since the boy did not heed his orders. Hiraṇyakaśipu asked his son, kiṁ balaḥ: “How have you overcome my order? By whose strength have you done this?”

Remember that he had tried to have other people kill Prahlāda in so many ways and to dominate him, but Prahlāda… he was very… he went to school, he did everything that was not in contravention with his devotional service, but nonetheless Hiraṇyakaśipu could understand that he was somehow or another always avoiding coming under his absolute dominion. So he was puzzled, “Where did this power come from?”

Prahlāda Mahārāja said,

na kevalaṁ me bhavataś ca rājan sa vai balaṁ balināṁ cāpareṣām
pare ’vare ’mī sthira-jaṅgamā ye brahmādayo yena vaśaṁ praṇītāḥ
(ŚB 7.8.7)

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: My dear King, the source of my strength, of which you are asking, is also the source of yours. Indeed, the original source of all kinds of strength is one. He is not only your strength or mine, but the only strength for everyone. Without Him, no one can get any strength. Whether moving or not moving, superior or inferior, everyone, including Lord Brahmā, is controlled by the strength of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also ah... Kṛṣṇa said that, “Know that all beautiful, glorious and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.” Everything is coming from Krishna; all strength is only coming from Him.

sa īśvaraḥ kāla urukramo ’sāv ojaḥ sahaḥ sattva-balendriyātmā
sa eva viśvaṁ paramaḥ sva-śaktibhiḥ sṛjaty avaty atti guṇa-trayeśaḥ
(ŚB 7.8.8)

Translation: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme controller and time factor, is the power of the senses, the power of the mind, the power of the body, and the vital force of the senses. His influence is unlimited. He is the best of all living entities, the controller of the three modes of material nature. By His own power, He creates this cosmic manifestation, maintains it and annihilates it also.

Purport: Since the material world is being moved by the three material modes and since the Lord is their master, the Lord can create, maintain and destroy the material world.

jahy āsuraṁ bhāvam imaṁ tvam ātmanaḥ samaṁ mano dhatsva na santi vidviṣaḥ
ṛte ’jitād ātmana utpathe sthitāt tad dhi hy anantasya mahat samarhaṇam
(ŚB 7.8.9)

Translation: Prahlāda Mahārāja continued: My dear father, please give up your demoniac mentality. Do not discriminate in your heart between enemies and friends; make your mind equipoised toward everyone. Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world. When one sees everyone on the platform of equality, one then comes to the position of worshiping the Lord perfectly.

dasyūn purā ṣaṇ na vijitya lumpato manyanta eke sva-jitā diśo daśa
jitātmano jñasya samasya dehināṁ sādhoḥ sva-moha-prabhavāḥ kutaḥ pare
(ŚB 7.8.10)

Prahlāda Maharaj continued: In former times there were many fools like you who did not conquer the six enemies that steal away the wealth of the body. These fools were very proud, thinking, “I have conquered all enemies in all the ten directions.” But if a person is victorious over the six enemies and is equipoised toward all living entities, for him there are no enemies. Enemies are merely imagined by one in ignorance.

śrī-hiraṇyakaśipur uvāca
vyaktaṁ tvaṁ martu-kāmo ’si yo ’timātraṁ vikatthase
mumūrṣūṇāṁ hi mandātman nanu syur viklavā giraḥ
(ŚB 7.8.11)

Hiranyakasipu replied: You rascal, you are trying to minimize my value, as if you were better than me at controlling the senses. This is over-intelligent. I can therefore understand that you desire to die at my hands, for this kind of nonsensical talk is indulged in by those about to die.

Purport: It is said in Hitopadeśa, upadeśo hi mūrkhāṇāṁ prakopāya na śāntaye. If good instructions are given to a foolish person, he does not take advantage of them, but becomes more and more angry. Prahlāda Maharaja's authorized instructions to his father were not accepted by Hiranyakaśipu as truth; instead Hiranyakaśipu became increasingly angry at his great son, who was a pure devotee. This kind of difficulty always exists when a devotee preaches Kṛṣṇa consciousness to persons like Hiranyakaśipu (hiraṇya means “gold,” and kaśipu means soft beds.) (He already explained it here, who are interested.) Persons like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who are interested in money and women. (The word hiraṇya means “gold,” and kaśipu refers to cushions or good bedding.) Moreover, a father does not like to be instructed by his son, especially if the father is a demon. Prahlāda Mahārāja’s Vaiṣṇava preaching to his demoniac father was indirectly effective, for because of Hiraṇyakaśipu’s excessive jealousy of Kṛṣṇa and His devotee, he was inviting Nṛsiṁhadeva to kill him very quickly. Thus he was expediting his being killed by the Lord Himself. Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was a demon, he is described here by the added word śrī. Why? The answer is that fortunately he had such a great devotee son as Prahlāda Mahārāja. Thus although he was a demon, he would attain salvation and return home, back to Godhead.

yas tvayā manda-bhāgyokto mad-anyo jagad-īśvaraḥ
kvāsau yadi sa sarvatra kasmāt stambhe na dṛśyate
(ŚB 7.8.12)

Translation: O most unfortunate Prahlāda, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?

Purport: Demons sometimes declare to a devotee that they cannot accept the existence of God because they cannot see Him. But what the demon does not know is stated by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā: “I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My yoga-māyā.” The Lord is open to being seen by devotees, but nondevotees cannot see Him.

so ’haṁ vikatthamānasya śiraḥ kāyād dharāmi te
gopāyeta haris tvādya yas te śaraṇam īpsitam
(ŚB 7.8.13)

Translation: Because you are speaking so much nonsense, I shall now sever your head from your body. Now let me see your most worshipable God come to protect you. I want to see it.

Purport: Demons always think that the God of the devotees is fictitious. They think that there is no God and that the so-called religious feeling of the devotee is… devotion to God is quite an opiate, a kind of illusion, like the illusions derived from LSD and opium. Hiranyakaśipu did not believe Prahlāda Maharaja when Prahlāda asserted that his Lord is present everywhere. Because Hiranyakaśipu is a typical demon… as a typical demon, was convinced that there is no God and that no one could protect Prahlāda, he felt encouraged to kill his son. He challenged the idea that the devotee is always protected by the Supreme Lord.

Cursing him again and again Hiraṇyakaśipu took up his sword, got up from his royal throne, and with great anger struck his fist against the column.

tadaiva tasmin ninado ’tibhīṣaṇo babhūva yenāṇḍa-kaṭāham asphuṭat
yaṁ vai sva-dhiṣṇyopagataṁ tv ajādayaḥ śrutvā sva-dhāmātyayam aṅga menire 
(ŚB 7.8.15)

Translation: Then from within the pillar came a fearful sound, which appeared to crack the covering of the universe. O my dear Yudhiṣṭhira, this sound reached even the abodes of the demigods like Lord Brahmā, and when the demigods heard it, they thought, “Oh, now our planets are being destroyed!”

Purport: As we sometimes become very much afraid at the sound of a thunderbolt, perhaps thinking that our houses will be destroyed, the great demigods like Lord Brahmā feared the thundering sound that came from the pillar in front of Hiraṇyakaśipu.

sa vikraman putra-vadhepsur ojasā niśamya nirhrādam apūrvam adbhutam
antaḥ-sabhāyāṁ na dadarśa tat-padaṁ vitatrasur yena surāri-yūtha-pāḥ
(ŚB 7.8.16)

Translation: While showing his extraordinary prowess, Hiraṇyakaśipu, who desired to kill his own son, heard that wonderful, tumultuous sound, which had never before been heard. Upon hearing the sound, the other leaders of the demons were afraid. None of them could find the origin of that sound in the assembly.

In Bhagavad-gītā (7.8), Kṛṣṇa explains Himself by saying: śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu - “I am the sound in ether and ability in man.” Here the Lord exhibited His presence everywhere by the tumultuous sound in the sky (śabdaḥ khe). The tumultuous thundering sound was proof of the Lord’s presence. The demons like Hiraṇyakaśipu could now realize the supreme ruling power of the Lord, and thus Hiraṇyakaśipu became afraid. However powerful a man may be, he always fears the sound of a thunderbolt. Similarly, Hiraṇyakaśipu and all the demons who were his associates were extremely afraid because of the presence of the Supreme Lord in the form of sound, although they could not trace out the source of the sound.

satyaṁ vidhātuṁ nija-bhṛtya-bhāṣitaṁ vyāptiṁ ca bhūteṣv akhileṣu cātmanaḥ
adṛśyatātyadbhuta-rūpam udvahan stambhe sabhāyāṁ na mṛgaṁ na mānuṣam
(ŚB 7.8.17)

Translation: To prove that the statement of His servant Prahlāda Mahārāja was substantial — in other words, to prove that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, exhibited a wonderful form never before seen. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall.

Srila Prabhupada explained that, when Hiraṇyakaśipu asked Prahlāda Mahārāja, “Where is your Lord? Is He present in this pillar?” Prahlāda Mahārāja fearlessly replied, “Yes, my Lord is present everywhere.” Therefore, to convince Hiraṇyakaśipu that the statement of Prahlāda Mahārāja was unmistakably true, the Lord appeared from the pillar. The Lord appeared as half lion and half man so that Hiraṇyakaśipu could not understand whether the great giant was a lion or a human being. To substantiate Prahlāda’s statement, the Lord proved that His devotee, as declared in Bhagavad-gītā, is never vanquished (kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati). Prahlāda Mahārāja’s demoniac father had repeatedly threatened to kill Prahlāda, but Prahlāda was confident that he could not be killed, since he was protected by the Supreme Lord. By appearing from the pillar, the Lord encouraged His devotee, saying in effect, “Don’t worry. I am present here.” By manifesting His form as Nṛsiṁhadeva, the Lord also preserved the truth of Lord Brahmā’s promise that Hiraṇyakaśipu was not to be killed by any animal or any man. The Lord appeared in a form that could not be said to be fully a man or a lion.

sa sattvam enaṁ parito vipaśyan stambhasya madhyād anunirjihānam
nāyaṁ mṛgo nāpi naro vicitram aho kim etan nṛ-mṛgendra-rūpam
(ŚB 7.8.18)

While Hiraṇyakaśipu looked all around to find the source of the sound, that wonderful form of the Lord, which could not be ascertained to be either a man or a lion, emerged from the pillar. In amazement, Hiraṇyakaśipu wondered, “What is this creature that is half man and half lion?”

In some of the purport, the demon cannot calculate the unlimited potency of the Lord. For a demon it is certainly wonderful that form of a lion and a form of a man can be united. Since a demon has no experience of the inconceivable power for which the supreme Lord is called “all-powerful.” Demons cannot understand the omnipotence of the Lord. They simply compare the Lord to one of them, mūḍhas think that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary human being who appears for the benefit of other human beings. Fools, rascals and demons cannot realize the supreme potency of the Lord, but He can do anything and everything; indeed, He can do whatever He likes. When Hiranyakasipu received benedictions from Lord Brahma, he thought that he was safe, since he received the benediction that he would not be killed either by an animal or by a human being. He never thought that an animal and human being could be combined so that demons like him would be puzzled by such a form. This is the meaning of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's omnipotence.

mimam…

So translation, Hiraṇyakaśipu studied the form of the Lord, trying to decide who the form of Nṛsiṁhadeva standing before him was. The Lord’s form was extremely fearsome because of His angry eyes, which resembled molten gold; His shining mane, which expanded the dimensions of His fearful face; His deadly teeth; and His razor-sharp tongue, which moved about like a dueling sword. His ears were erect and motionless, and His nostrils and gaping mouth appeared like caves of a mountain. His jaws parted fearfully, and His entire body touched the sky. His neck was very short and thick, His chest broad, His waist thin, and the hairs on His body as white as the rays of the moon. His arms, which resembled flanks of soldiers, spread in all directions as He killed the demons, rogues and atheists with His conchshell, disc, club, lotus and other natural weapons.

mīmāṁsamānasya samutthito ’grato nṛsiṁha-rūpas tad alaṁ bhayānakam
pratapta-cāmīkara-caṇḍa-locanaṁ sphurat saṭā-keśara-jṛmbhitānanam
karāla-daṁṣṭraṁ karavāla-cañcala- kṣurānta-jihvaṁ bhrukuṭī-mukholbaṇam
stabdhordhva-karṇaṁ giri-kandarādbhuta- vyāttāsya-nāsaṁ hanu-bheda-bhīṣaṇam
divi-spṛśat kāyam adīrgha-pīvara- grīvoru-vakṣaḥ-sthalam alpa-madhyamam
candrāṁśu-gauraiś churitaṁ tanūruhair viṣvag bhujānīka-śataṁ nakhāyudham
durāsadaṁ sarva-nijetarāyudha- praveka-vidrāvita-daitya-dānavam
prāyeṇa me ’yaṁ hariṇorumāyinā vadhaḥ smṛto ’nena samudyatena kim
evaṁ bruvaṁs tv abhyapatad gadāyudho nadan nṛsiṁhaṁ prati daitya-kuñjaraḥ
(ŚB 7.8.19-23)

Hiraṇyakaśipu murmured to himself, “Lord Viṣṇu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt? Who can kill with me?” Thinking like this and taking up his club, Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord like an elephant.

In the jungle there are sometimes fights between lions and elephants. Here the Lord appeared like a lion, and Hiraṇyakaśipu, unafraid of the Lord, attacked Him like an elephant. Generally the elephant is defeated by the lion, and therefore the comparison in this verse is appropriate.

alakṣito ’gnau patitaḥ pataṅgamo yathā nṛsiṁhaujasi so ’suras tadā
na tad vicitraṁ khalu sattva-dhāmani sva-tejasā yo nu purāpibat tamaḥ
(ŚB 7.8.24)

Just as a small insect falls forcefully into a fire and the insignificant creature becomes invisible, when Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord, who was full of effulgence, Hiraṇyakaśipu became invisible. This is not at all astonishing, for the Lord is always situated in pure goodness. Formerly, during creation, He entered the dark universe and illuminated it by His spiritual effulgence.

Thereafter, the great demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was extremely angry, swiftly attacked Nṛsiṁhadeva with his club and began to beat Him. Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, however, captured the great demon, along with his club, just as Garuḍa might capture a great snake.

O Yudhiṣṭhira, O great son of Bharata, when Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva gave Hiraṇyakaśipu a chance to slip from His hand, just as Garuḍa sometimes plays with a snake and lets it slip from his mouth, the demigods, who had lost their abodes and who were hiding behind the clouds for fear of the demon, did not consider that incident very good. Indeed, they were perturbed. The demigods were worried because Hiran ah… Hiraṇyakaśipu could see that they are all hiding, they are looking very eagerly to see him die. So if he escaped death from Nṛsiṁhadeva he was going to take revenge on them.

When Hiraṇyakaśipu was freed from the hands of Nṛsiṁhadeva he falsely thought that the Lord was afraid of his prowess. Therefore after taking a little rest from the fight he took up his sword and shield and again he attacked the Lord with great force.

Purport: When a sinful man enjoys material facilities, foolish people sometimes think, “How is it that this sinful man is enjoying whereas a pious man is suffering?” By the will of the Supreme, a sinful man is sometimes given the chance to enjoy the material world as if he were not under the clutches of material nature, just so that he may be fooled. A sinful man who acts against the laws of nature must be punished, but sometimes he is given a chance to play, exactly like Hiraṇyakaśipu when he was released from the hands of Nṛsiṁhadeva. Hiraṇyakaśipu was destined to be ultimately killed by Nṛsiṁhadeva, but just to see the fun, the Lord gave him a chance to slip from His hands.

taṁ śyena-vegaṁ śata-candra-vartmabhiś carantam acchidram upary-adho hariḥ
kṛtvāṭṭa-hāsaṁ kharam utsvanolbaṇaṁ nimīlitākṣaṁ jagṛhe mahā-javaḥ
(ŚB 7.8.28)

Translation: Making a loud, shrill sound of laughter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, who is extremely strong and powerful, captured Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was protecting himself with his sword and shield, leaving no gaps open. With the speed of a hawk, Hiraṇyakaśipu moved sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the earth, his eyes closed because of fear of Nṛsiṁhadeva’s laughter.

In other words, Hiraṇyakaśipu had mystic powers, so he didn't… he could also fly in the sky but hearing Nṛsiṁhadeva laughter he is very afraid.

As a snake captures a mouse or Garuḍa captures a very venomous snake, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva captured Hiraṇyakaśipu, who could not be pierced even by the thunderbolt of King Indra. As Hiraṇyakaśipu moved his limbs here, there and all around, very much afflicted at being captured, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva placed the demon on His lap, supporting him with His thighs, and in the doorway of the assembly hall the Lord very easily tore the demon to pieces with the nails of His hand.

Hiraṇyakaśipu had been exactly like a fever or meningitis in the head of the three worlds. Thus when the wives of the demons… demigods in the heavenly planets saw that the great demon had been killed by the personal hands of the supreme personality of the Godhead, their faces blossomed in great joy, the wives of the demigods again and again showered flowers from heaven on Lord Nṛsiṁhadevadev like rain. So, this is how Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared in this universe, in the previous age.

Lord Nṛsiṁhadevadev is glorified by Prahlāda Mahārāja,

vidikṣu dikṣūrdhvam adhaḥ samantād antar bahir bhagavān nārasiṁhaḥ
prahāpayaḻ loka-bhayaṁ svanena sva-tejasā grasta-samasta-tejāḥ 
(ŚB 6.8.34)

Translation: Prahlāda Mahārāja loudly chanted the holy name of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. May Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, roaring for His devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja, protect us from all fear of dangers created by stalwart leaders in all directions through poison, weapons, water, fire, air and so on. May the Lord cover their influence by His own transcendental influence. May Nṛsiṁhadeva protect us in all directions and in all corners, above, below, within and without.

So, actually those piece and persons who are very much in the bodily concept of life, they sometimes when they hear all this descriptions of violence by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, they get affected, they think what is this? But ah… we should not be on the bodily concept of life; we should see things in the reality. Ah… on the transcendental platform, the Lord is all good, because there are demons who are always out to try to harass, and torture the devotees, so the Lord protects such devotees, who are purely dedicated to him, but even in doing so the demons are also benedicted. Because anyone who leaves their body by the hand of the Lord doesn't have to take birth again. So most demons, they are just part time demons, they blaspheme the Lord, and they criticize, but they also absorbed in so many other things. But Hiraṇyakaśipu was very unusual demon that he was completely obsessed with hatred towards God, so much so that he was able to attract the Lord Himself to kill him.

Sometimes the person is so fixed in thinking of the Lord day and night, even in hatred, and because the Lord is all good, even if a person thinks of the Lord in hatred, it's good for them in one sense, although it is not considered devotion. Devotional service is described as ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. ānukūlyena means favourably performed. So we should try to worship and think of the Lord constantly, but not in anger, or fear, or hatred, but rather in devotion, love, faith and ah… servitude. Then we can also enjoy the same type of protection that Prahlāda Mahārāja did. By the mercy of Prahlāda Mahārājaand Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, also we can cross over the obstacles in this material world, and ultimately reach the spiritual world.

Ah… I heard that in one of the court case against the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, they brought in a picture of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, and said here is their father killer, here is the Lord that they worship, they teach their children that the ah… parents should be killed, something like that. Ah… I know that when Prabhupāda had devotees go to the court, he wanted that they should preach very dynamically, but for some reason, whoever was organizing the case, defense was a little bit shy, I think that if they are going to bring in some…they just objected that, this ah… is out of order, that… and they had the evidence taken out, but if they are going to introduce evidence like that, then at least the jury should have been exposed to, two- three weeks of constant Bhāgavatam classes, understand, explaining the entire history, and ah… you know with different people testifying, and ah… explaining, different people giving Bhāgavatam classes. Since the defense is allowed to bring as many witnesses as they want, I think if they had would have done that at least ah… would have been a very nice case record, for all the appeal court to read in the future. (devotees laughs) Since every word has to be stenograph typed. And ah… may be somewhere there was any devotee there in the jury or in the subsequent appeal court, they might be able to see that, this is not the outlook of the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement but this the scripture which is the history of this world, and we believe that this happened many millions of years ago, and that the significance of this is nothing very horrendous, but something that any very god fearing or god loving person could appreciate the basic underlying principles.

And in every tradition, you find a similar kind of instructions. I think in the bible, that there were ah… statements where the Lord said that, wasn't it Sodom and Gomorrah, that they had to leave their friends and relatives, because they had become sinful and not look back, not be attached, but be fully fixed in God, and when they left, and I think it was Sodom turned back out of attachment turned into a pillar or salt something like that? Isn't that? Ha… One of them. Anyway, I don't know, maybe I got the stories mixed up, I am not a real paṇḍita on the bible, but, been studying the Vedas for so many years. But there are so many examples like that. I think that there was another thing with David. There were some other tests, where God tested, even the people in the Bible, where was their devotion, was it more for their material relation, was it for Him?

So the traditions are there, may be not so detailed or explained in such great detail or something, but the basic underlying principle is there that if it is brought down to the bottom line, are you going to accept me or God, then the devotee will accept God, will accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if because of that the devotee is going to be tortured, well, but he still cant compromise that pricipal. under any cause. I think it was even Lord Jesus was a offered the entire world by Satan or something like that. thers another history like that and ofcourse He didnt accept. he said, so...

Hiraṇyakaśipu said, “You are my son, I will give you the entire universe, you just surrender to me, you just do whatever I say.” And his son said that, “It is not your universe to give, it already belongs to God, why do you keep saying this kind of foolish things?” And so of course his father became very inimical to his son. I don't see, how anyone in a God conscious context could find anything wrong with what Prahlāda Mahārāja did. But of course, it's like the anti-cult deprogramming people, they play on the ignorance of the people, and they only of course present the half-truth, and it's unfortunate.

And so we hope that sometimes in the future, that ah… we don't, we never hope for any such antagonism from anyone. But if it comes from that, at least we hope that, if there is ever, any kind of situation, that the Krishna conscious devotees would have an opportunity always present in its entirety, what is the actual Vedic viewpoint, what is the spiritual viewpoint. what is the spiritual viewpoint. So at least anyone ah… who hears that would have at least the opportunity to be purified, by hearing those transcendental lessons.

So people shouldn't be obsessed by the superficial, by the physical, sometimes the people they don't like this type of violent expression, but in the hands of Kṛṣṇa, it is not violent. Because there are criminals in the world, there are demons or people who are dedicated to their own sense gratification, even at the cost of being very cruel and violent against others, so there also has to be that counter ah… force of power which defends. In the spiritual world, there is non-violence, and there is purity, there is no ah… discouraging word, there is no discord note.

ah… discouraging word, there is no discord note.

So this is the material world, and there are two kinds of entities, those who are followed by the rule, and those who try to make their own rules. So those who make their own rules, step on other people's toes, and when they get too much out of hand, they have to be brought into line. If they can't be brought into line by anybody else, and if finally, they also try to torture the devotees, then the Lord Himself takes an interest. Otherwise He doesn't take any interest, such people are able to be tyrant up to the point where until their good karmas are worn out, and again they have to take another birth, according to their newly accumulated sinful karmas.

This is one side of the story, the other side is, of course that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is so merciful to His devotees, that although He is so fearful for the non-devotees, that He is actually very attractive, and very merciful, to the devotees. Just like police are hated by the criminals, but if you are honest citizen, in your house is being burglarized or something, and if the police come in, and actually save you, you don't consider police to be very bad. So, it simply depends on which side of the law you are on, that the authority of the police would be considered to be relatively fearful, or welcome. So, if we get on the good side of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, then He doesn't appear to be very fearful at all, but if you are on the wrong side of Nṛsiṁhadeva, then He is very fearful for sure. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Hare Krishna!!

So today, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appears at sunset, that's the time when He appeared, neither in day nor in the night. It was between day and night twilight. Of course, because of the daylight-saving time and so many manipulations, because we are very far on the northern hemisphere, the sun twilight here is very late. So generally, just as the international standard, if you follow that in some parts of Sweden, you will probably have to fast for about three months during the midnight sun. (laughter) So, generally we kind of follow the Māyāpur mean time, which sun rises at this time of the year at six'o clock and observe a fast till then. Of course if someone has to do some preaching, or service, and starts to feel dizzy due to fasting, then for doing the service, they could take some fruit or some juice, or some nut, or something like that, just to, so that they don't keel over anything. Service is more important. This is the general procedure that is followed.

Then after Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appears, then the devotees take in Māyāpur. We have śālagrama-śilās, we perform abhiṣeka on the śālagrama-śilās today, we have Nṛsiṁhadeva śilās, that is the normal system we do. We observe a fast up to the period, when that point when the Lord appeared. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa appears at midnight,we fast till midnight. Because Rādhārāṇī appears at noon, we fast till noon. Because Lord Nityānanda appeared at noon, Lord Rāma appeared at noon, we generally fast at noon. If Lord Caitanya appeared at moonrise, we fast until the moon rises. Because Lord Nṛsiṁha appeared at twilight, we generally fast until twilight. Like this it's not, this is a rhyme to the, the method to the madness as they are saying, there is a system why we fast at a different time, for different incarnations.

So actually, because Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is one of the incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. We could glorify all of the incarnations like Varāha, Kūrma, Matsya. It's not that, we see there are many Gods. One Lord but He appears forms. Nṛsiṁhadeva is one of those forms of the Lord. The same Lord, but just like we have different moods, He has different forms, and the forms that He can assume are unlimited. This is the meaning of omnipotent, all powerful. Not that He can have no form, but that He can have unlimited forms, and each one of them can be as good as the other, and yet none of them are subject to the limitations, that material forms have.

Materialist like to think, “Well, how can God be a person, be a form?” Because they think that, people are all limited, they are all imperfect, so therefore God is perfect, therefore He has no form. But that's imperfect conclusion by an imperfect mind. That the Lord is formless in the sense that, He has no material form. He is nirguṇa in the sense that, He is above material qualities, but He has His own spiritual form, which is unlimited, omnipotent, omnipresent.

So in this pastime of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, many of the glories and mysteries of the Lord are revealed, that how He is simultaneously present everywhere, how He is all-knowing and understanding, how He is all-powerful, how He is the protector of His devotees.

Are there any questions?

Question: Yeah, are there any specifically think that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is a demigod who took care of…

Jayapatākā Swami: He couldn’t figure out, no he knew, He was Viṣṇu. But he thought that, he could kill Viṣṇu also. Hiraṇyakaśipu's brother was Hiranyaksha, who was killed by Viṣṇu. He knew, that was Viṣṇu, but he thought that, just like so many people think, Kṛṣṇa is the eighth avatāra of Viṣṇu, or Viṣṇu is one of the demigods. Yes you could say he thought Viṣṇu was another living entity, he didn't recognize that Viṣṇu is the Supreme Lord. He knew that, He was the most powerful of all living entities, but he thought he himself was more powerful. When Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared, he suspected that, this is Viṣṇu, but He has come in disguise, trying trick me, but I will kill Him.

Yes?

Question: Your divine grace, I would like to know these dates where holy days in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are they mentioned the those dates themselves in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? From where did they get these dates from?

Jayapatākā Swami: Yea the days are mentioned. They are mentioned according to lunar calendar. They are mentioned that, like Lord Nṛsiṁha appeared on the caturdasi gaura-pakṣa, that means the fourteenth day of the rising moon lunar cycle, and then they will give the month in which this occurs.

So, because the days, actually the full moon day, a lunar cycle day as I mentioned earlier this morning to someone was less than 24 hours. So sometimes, one entire lunar tithi, or lunar day, falls within 24 hour period. And they calculate which solar day, because we live in solar days, but for the sake of these religious programs, we follow the lunar days, lunar calendar, for the sake of knowing which day, which solar day do we observe it. At the time of the sunrise, whatever lunar day it falls within, that's what we observe.

So it happened that, yesterday was 13th, because at sunrise, it was the 13th day of the lunar cycle, but immediately after the 13th day, the 14th day began, and then today started on the 15th day or the full moon day, so like the 14th disappeared. So as a result, we are observing Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī the day after, that is the rule. It mentions in the calendar. Yesterday technically it showed up as the 13th, today it is the 15th, before that 15th means full-moon, just 30 days a cycle. But it is mentioned.

Just like Lord Rāma-navamī, He came on the… it is usually even on the name, it's Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī, Catura means four, daśī means ten, fourteen. Just like katorsha in Spanish, caturdaśī. Rāma-navamī, navamī means the ninth, Radhāṣṭamī, aṣṭamī means the eight. So right in the name, everybody remembers, it's like Kṛṣṇa-aṣṭamī , Janmāṣṭamī, the eight day, Vijaya-daśamī, the tenth day, when Lord Rāma had victory over Rāvana. Every festival it is always described by the lunar day that it falls on. So, everyone knows that Nṛsiṁhadeva appears on the Caturdaśī. Nityananda Trayodaśī, trayodaśī means trayo means three, daśī means ten, trayodaśī, the 13th day. So that 13th day in the lunar calendar where Lord Nityānanda's appearance was celebrated, that is called Nityānanda Trayodaśī or Nityānanda 13th.

Manorupa?

Question: … unless a devotee can’t rise up to a position …(audio not clear)

Jayapatākā Swami: No, Prabhupada said in one purport that, we shouldn’t think that, only a devotee can become a demon to fight with the Lord. It's not that a devotee has to fall down, and become a demon, so that the Lord can kill him. Although some time, for some pastime, that might happen. But that is not the rule, that is the exception. But somehow, they got the, some good fortune.

Yes.

Question: In Bhagavatam, there is Nārāyaṇa-kavaca. I heard there is Nṛsiṁha-kavaca, can you please say something about that?

Jayapatākā Swami: I am sure there is one, but I don't know. I don't know it. The kavacas are for devotees, who are not pure devotees, generally they use the kavacas, because by mantra then they are ah… invoking the protection of the Lord, even though they are not 100% pure. But for pure devotee even without kavaca they are pure, they are protected, they don't need to invoke kavacas. Kavaca means shield, or armour. So, it is type of mantra armor. By mantra, a person can be like… just like protected by armor.

Question: We supposed to pray to Lord Nrisimhadeva to remove obstacles in the devotional service?

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes, Why not, Hare Kṛṣṇa.