Nrsimha Caturdasi, May 6 – The All Auspicious Appearance Day of Our Divine Protector

Final Day of the #GivingTOVP & TOVP Care Fundraiser

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-srngam
dalita-hiranyakasipu-tanu-bhrngam
keshava dhrta-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare

“O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasp- like demon Hiranyakashipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on Your beautiful lotus hands.”

The world is currently going through an unprecedented and historic ordeal against what some have called, the ‘invisible enemy’. Some have even gone so far as to literally refer to it as a modern ‘asura’ terrorizing the world. Whatever the case may be, this material world is a place of misery and ‘danger at every step’.

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoofprint. Param padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuṇṭha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life.”

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.48

The example of Prahlad Maharaja stands out as probably the greatest in human history of a devotee being harassed to the utmost by a demon. And on account of his pure devotion he was protected by Lord Nrsimhadeva from afflictions we could not even imagine undergoing, from being boiled in oil, thrown off a cliff, dropped in the middle of the ocean, poisoned, attacked by snakes, pierced with swords and tridents, etc. Our current struggles pale in the face of his life-threatening challenges. Yet he did not budge an inch from his pure love for the Lord, Who thus appeared to annihilate the great demon Hiranyakasipu.

With the above in mind we want to remind all devotees and supporters of the TOVP that Mayapur Nrsimha at our ISKCON World Headquarters is extremely powerful and merciful to all the devotees of the samkirtana movement who have pledged their lives to the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Having adopted the mood of Lord Gauranga and Sridhama Mayapur, audharya (mercy), He protects and uplifts His devotees who face the harassment of all kinds of demoniac forces throughout the world in Kali-yuga as they mercifully distribute love for Sri Krishna, the avatari.

On May 5th we will be performing a Nrsimha Maha Yajna for the protection of ISKCON, the devotees, and the gurus, and the following day, Nrsimha Caturdasi, an abhisheka of the Lord. We encourage every devotee to use this poignant time to take shelter of Lord Nrsimha, to chant extra rounds of japa, to pray like Prahlad Maharaja for the Lord’s service, and to worship His lotus feet so that all auspiciousness will manifest in the world for all devotees and humanity in general to counteract the evil influence now rampant.

This Nrsimha Caturdasi we also want to remind every ISKCON devotee that OUR Lord Nrsimhadeva in Mayapur is going to be re-located to His long-awaited new home in the TOVP in 2022. In lieu of the opening of the Pujari Floor this year, our Phase Two plan is to complete the entire Nrsimha wing and altar by 2021. Thousands of devotees have already participated in the #GivingTOVP & TOVP Care 10 Day Matching Fundraiser for this purpose to raise funds for Lord Nrsimha’s temple wing and altar, and to also support ISKCON Mayapur during the India lock-down. Ambarisa prabhu is matching $150,000 for the TOVP and 10% of the online collection for ISKCON Mayapur. We are grateful to all those devotees who have participated in this fundraiser thus far and to all those who continue to make their pledge payments during these challenging times.

With the approach of Nrsimha Caturdasi in a few days we hope those who have not yet contributed to this service to Lord Nrsimha will give their might, large or small. We pray for His protection daily, now let’s reciprocate in love and gratefulness by offering our merciful Protector a beautiful, opulent new home in the TOVP. Here are some links to make your donation:

U.S.A. – https://paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2036619 (no fees – debit or cc card also)
Canada – https://paypal.com/ca/fundraiser/charity/3440882 (no fees – debit or cc also)
India – https://rzp.io/l/DYfw6ex ( debit/credit, Netbanking, Wallet, UPI)
U.K. – https://www.paypal.me/TOVPUK (debit or cc also)
Europe – https://www.paypal.me/TOVPEU (debit or cc also)

All other countries please go to: https://m.tovp.org/givingtovp

If you need assistance with making a donation contact us at: fundraising@tovp.org

We conclude with this wonderful talk by Srila Prabhupada during an initiation ceremony in 1969 wherein he talks about how to cure the “Hong Kong Flu of Maya”:

I Have Brought This Medicine for Killing This Hong Kong flu of Maya

“Infected or disinfected. So in the material world we are all infected. This is the disinfecting process, simply remembering Kṛṣṇa, yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣam. So this initiation is to teach how to remember always Viṣṇu and Kṛṣṇa. This Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, as soon as we hear, we immediately remember Kṛṣṇa, His speech in the Bhagavad-gītā, His form, His name, His quality, His pastimes. Everything comes. So we have to practice that. Then we remain always uncontaminated. And if you forget Kṛṣṇa, then there is chance of… Just like in the medical science, if there is some epidemic disease, they give some vaccination. I think in Los Angeles you gave me some vaccination? (chuckles) What is that, flus?

Hayagrīva: Hong Kong flu.

Prabhupāda: Ah. Hong Kong flu. Yes. So everyone took that vaccination. So our Hayagrīva prabhu took me also. “All right, let us have.” (laughter) So there was no attack. Fortunately, there was no attack. So similarly, this world is Hong Kong flu. (laughter) Māyā is always ready to attack. Always. So we have to take this injunction, this antivaccine, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Enechi auṣadhi māyā nāśibāro lāgi’. That song, Jīv Jāgo, Jīv Jāgo. “I have brought this medicine for killing this Hong Kong flu of māyā.”

Prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva by Shani (Saturn)

Shani said:

By the mercy of the dust of Your lotus feet which destroy a multitude of sins, grant infinite auspiciousness to Your devotee who always worships Your lotus feet with devotion. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your lotus feet are worshipped by Goddess Lakṣmī, even though She is fickle by nature (cancala) and by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva whose feet are worthy of worship with devotion. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By contemplating or meditating upon Your appearance, which is expounded in the Vedas extensively, the best of the saints are liberated from the three-fold miseries and from all misfortunes. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By the word of His devotee named Prahlāda, Lord Hari, who is generous and kind, appeared from a pillar and by placing Hiraṇyakaśipu on His thighs split open his stomach with His nails. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

You protected your own devotee Prahlāda from a raging fire, the deep ocean, from falling from a tall mountain peak, poison, a mad elephant and the fangs of poisonous serpents. You are omnipresent and supremely generous. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose great form is devoid of imperfections, the best of the saints attained liberation from the ocean of materialistic attachments and obtained unmitigated salvation. O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose form is fearsome, all peace, happiness and prosperity can be obtained, all sins can be obliterated, the fear arising from evil spirits, fevers and unfavorable planetary positions can be removed, O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your transcendental fame is sung gloriously in all the divine assemblies of Śiva, Brahmā and Indra etc. and whose power is steadfast in wiping out all impurities, O Lord Nṛsiṁha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

On listening to the heartfelt prayer composed by Śanideva in the assembly of Lord Brahmā, Lord Hari who is ever compassionate to His devotees, spoke to Śanideva as follows.

Śrī Nṛsiṁha said:

O Śani, I am pleased with your devotion. Whatever you desire that will benefit the world, ask for that kind of boon and I will grant it.

Śrī Śanideva replied:

O Lord Nṛsiṁha, O reservoir of compassion, please be kind to me. O Lord of all gods, let my week-day (Saturday) be Your favorite day. O Purifier of all the worlds, may You fulfill the desires of all those who listen to or read this great prayer to You composed by me.”

Śrī Nṛsiṁha said:

O Śani, let it be so! By virtue of My being the universal protector (Rakṣobhuvana), I fulfill the desires of all My devotees. Please listen to My words let there be no fear of the twelfth and eighth birth positions (and implicitly any unfavorable birth positions) and consequent troubles from you for anyone who reads or listens to this prayer to Me composed by you.

Then Śanideva replied to Lord Narahari that he would follow the Lord’s instructions. Then the joyful saints and sages present there (in Brahma’s assembly) responded with cries of, ‘jaya, jaya!’”.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa told Dharmarāja, “Whoever listens to or recites this conversation between Śanideva and Lord Nṛsiṁha in the form of this prayer of devotion will definitely have all desires fulfilled and will always rejoice.”

Thus ends the prayers offered to the universal protector Śrī Nṛsiṁha by the great soul Śani.