20210525 Śrī Narasiṁha Caturdaśī Evening Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

So today is the auspicious appearance day of Lord Narasiṁhadeva. Actually, Prahlāda in his prayers, he refers to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu indirectly. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.9.38, he states:

itthaṁ nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-deva-jhaṣāvatārair
lokān vibhāvayasi haṁsi jagat pratīpān
dharmaṁ mahā-puruṣa pāsi yugānuvṛttaṁ
channaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo 'tha sa tvam

In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the Age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.

Purport: As the Lord appeared just to maintain Lord Brahmā from the attack of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, He also appeared to protect the great devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja. Similarly, Lord Caitanya appeared in order to protect the fallen souls of Kali-yuga. There are four yugas, or millenniums — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali. In all the yugas but Kali-yuga, the Lord appears in various incarnations and asserts Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but although Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who appears in Kali-yuga, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He never asserted Himself as such. On the contrary, whenever Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was addressed as being as good as Kṛṣṇa, He blocked His ears with His hands, denying His identity with Kṛṣṇa, because He was playing the part of a devotee. Lord Caitanya knew that in Kali-yuga there would be many bogus incarnations pretending to be God, and therefore He avoided asserting Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, in many Vedic literatures, especially in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32):

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ

In Kali-yuga, intelligent men worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is always accompanied by His associates such as Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa. The entire Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on the principles of the saṅkīrtana movement inaugurated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore one who tries to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the medium of the saṅkīrtana movement knows everything perfectly. He is sumedhas, a person with substantial intelligence.

Jayapataka Swami: So in this way, the Lord He did not hide who He was in the Satya, Treta and Dvapara yugas. But in Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya He assumed the role of a devotee and He did not assert Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To some rare devotees, He revealed His real identity. But He told them to keep it to themselves. And in a general mass, He did not assert His position. He was very kind to His devotees. He would destroy the demoniac nature, without destroying the person. And in the verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 8.6 it is mentioned:

ugro ’py anugra evāyaṁ
sva-bhaktānāṁ nṛ-keśarī
keśarīva sva-potānām
anyeṣām ugra-vikramaḥ

“Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to nondevotees like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva is very, very soft and kind to devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja. ”

Purport: This verse was composed by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary on the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.9.1).

Jayapatākā Swami: We see Lord Caitanya was very kind, and Lord Nityānanda reminded Lord Caitanya that in this age, He would not take up weapons of violence. So, Jagāi Mādhāi are the proof of that. Lord Caitanya destroyed their demoniac nature, and He delivered them.

So in the recent pastime of Amogha, we saw how Lord Caitanya was very tolerant to the offences of Amogha. Because he was related to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, therefore He gave His mercy to him. He said, that to His dear devotees, even their maids, servants, even the dog, are dear to Him, what to speak of His dependent relatives?! So, in this way, Lord Caitanya showed how He was very merciful to His devotees. And He changed the heart of Amogha, and made him a devotee, a Vaiṣṇava.

So therefore, we should take the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Today we were reminded how Lord Narasiṁhadeva saved His devotee, Prahlāda and He killed the demon, Hiraṇyakaśipu. Lord Caitanya also protects His devotees, but instead of killing the demons, He kills their demoniac nature. That is the specialty of Lord Caitanya’s avatāra, or incarnation. We are very fortunate, being in the saṅkīrtana movement of Lord Caitanya. Actually, in this age of Kali, people are very fallen. And having the mercy of Lord Caitanya gives us some hope. In fact, His mercy is so great that demigods they pray that they are born in Kali-yuga so they get Lord Caitanya’s mercy. This human form of life is so rare, and Lord Caitanya appears so rarely. Kṛṣṇa comes once in a day of Brahmā, which is one thousand catur-yugas, and Lord Caitanya only comes after Lord Kṛṣṇa, sometimes, not every time. So being in the Kali-yuga after Lord Caitanya is a special mercy, because one can achieve the pure bhakti very easily.

So being a devotee of the Lord we see how He protects His devotees in so many ways. Actually, normally the kṣatriyas, the brāhmaṇas they will get the chance, but in this Age of Kali even people are fallen, Lord Caitanya, He gives His mercy to everyone. Not only the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas, but the women, the vaiśyas, the śūdras, even those who are lower than śūdras, they can all get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. So this is a very great opportunity for all of us. And we should also like Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was a goṣṭhiānandī. He would preach to his other demoniac sons of the demons. And telling them about the valuable purpose of human life. That they all have to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and that way, he made everybody’s life perfect. So the teachers went and reported to Hiraṇyakaśipu that all the boys are becoming very advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Hiraṇyakaśipu decided that he would have to have his son killed. So, this is a very difficult thing. When we preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness we may face some obstacles. But just like Prahlāda, he faced. So this is natural, the demons are against Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But we have to be very kind and very merciful, to help people understand the real purpose of human life. Actually, religion is given by Kṛṣṇa. Any bona fide religion, will encourage to develop love of Kṛṣṇa, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And how to do that, is a mystery to many. But Lord Caitanya taught the process of bhakti-yoga. Śrīla Prabhupāda spread that all over the world, so people in every part of the world take up Lord Caitanya’s message and achieve spontaneous love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hare Kṛṣṇa!