forword to my Narasimha book

[Paramananda das]

dear Vaisnavas
Please accept my humble obaisences
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to the lotusfeet of the vaisnavas the 6 Goswamis and Lord Caitanya and all His associates headed by Lord Nityanada Prabhu
I have decided to try to write a book about Lord Narasimha as my many siksa Gurus have suggested over the last 15 years.
However I have hesitated then written something, started again, written many chapters, but each time I have not been pleased.These are some of the reasons:
A)If I write a book about Lord Narasimha I may one day find it lined up with other books of the acaryas as is often done. such and such Swami and Srila Prabhupadas books and that of Srila Rupa Goswamis, this happens on some websites and acarya folio etc ,this gives me so much pain even to think about it make me want to drown myself in Yamuna if should this happen.And even the vedabase.
B) One should not perform devotional service for profit and fame, and writting a book about Lord Narasimha and taking the profit and use it even for my family life or devotional service and preaching does not seem correct to me.My dream is that the temple of Narasimha palli ,Godruma Dvipa may be made into a larger beautiful temple with many offering daily.
Also I have a similar desire for the Narasimha temple of Nanada Maharaja in Nanadagrama, Vrindavan.If somehow the profit could be used for this I will be most pleased.
C) I feel most unqualified though I know many things about Lord Narasimha and many places of His pastimes, that can benefit others. I do not feel qualified to properly describe Lord Narasimha,so I pray to Lord Nitayanda Prabhu whoes expanded form is Ananta Sesa,I pray They may give me intelligence to do so.
D) I have seen one devotee that translate vaisnava litterature compete with other devotees who does the same this is certainly not condoned by Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.2
envy and profiteering and desiring fame is not pure bhakti
E) My previous concern was based on this verse of Manah Siksa of Raghunath das Goswami:

asad-varta-vesya visrja mati-sarvasva-haranih
katha mukti-vyaghrya na srnu kila sarvatma-gilanih
api tyaktva laksmi-pati-ratim ito vyoma-nayanim
vraje radha-krsnau sva-rati-mani-dau tvam bhaja manah
O mind, give up friendship with nondevotees, which is nothing but a prostitute who will steal the treasure of your heart–your desire to serve Radha-Krsna. Don’t listen to talks of impersonal liberation, which are a tigress who devours everyone. You should even give up attraction for Lord Narayana, which leads to the world of Vaikuntha. Instead, O mind, just worship Sri Sri Radha-Krsna in Vraja, for They bestow upon their worshipers the jewel of pure love for Themselves.

But who is on the platform of Vraja Bhakta and will even renounce hearing about Lord Narasimha,when Lord Caitanya himself was hearing the glories of Prahlada Carita (the teachings of Prahlada Maharaja in Srimad Bhagavatam)



gadadhara parena summukha bhagavata
suniya prakase prabhu prema-bhava yata
prahlada-caritra, ara dhruvera-caritra
sata-vrtti kariya sunena sarhita

"Whenever Sri Gadadhara would recite the Prahlada-caritra and Dhruva-caritra from Bhagavatam, the Lord would manifest various symptoms of love. The Lord would hear the glories of Prahlada and Dhruva hundreds of times."
(Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya.10.13-14)

Sometimes pseudo-devotees of Radha-Krsna denounce the worship of Lord Narasimha and reject the chanting of Narasimha mantras. Such devotees do not know that if they themselves were to worship Lord Narasimha they might become free from their cunning and deceitful behavior and advance in their worship of Radha-Krsna.



At Srivasangan in Mayapura, which is considered non-different from the mood of Vrndavana, and the place where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began His Sankirtana movement, there is a Deity of Ugra Narasimha killing Hiranyakasipu. The Deity is placed just in front of the Panca-tattva Deities. This is so because one day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to the house of Srivasa Pandita and manifested His mood as Narasimha. Since that time devotees have always considered Lord Narasimha to be the protector of the sankirtana movement. This pastime is mentioned in Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-khanda, ch. 2, 253-269

"Walking by the riverbank, He (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) saw a herd of cows. They were mooing and drinking water. With raised tails some ran in the four directions. Some fought. Some napped. Some drank water. Seeing them, the Lord began to roar. I am He! I am He!" The Lord shouted again and again. In this way He ran to Srivasa's house.

"Srivasa, what are you doing now?", the Lord roared. Within his home, Srivasa was worshiping Lord Narasimha. Pounding again and again, Sri Caitanya broke the door open. Whom do you worship? On whom do you meditate? Look! The person you worship has come!" the Lord roared.

"Srivasa saw a form like blazing fire, Then his meditation broke. He looked in the four directions. He saw Sri Caitanya sitting in a virasana yoga posture. Sri Caitanya had four arms. He held a conch-shell, cakra, club, and lotus. He roared like a maddened lion. Slapping the palm of His hand against His left shoulder, He made a great sound. Seeing all this, Srivasa trembled. Then he became stunned. He did not move.

"The Lord roared, O Srivasa! For so many days you did not know My true identity? Because of your loud sankirtana I left Vaikuntha and came here with all My associates. Not knowing Me, You left Me and went to Santipura. I will rescue the devotees. I will kill all the demons. Don't worry. Now recite prayers to Me." Gazing at the Lord, Srivasa wept tears of love. The fears in his heart died. Now He was confident. His whole body was filled with joy.

"He offered dandavat obeisances. Then, folding his hands, he recited prayers. By his nature, Srivasa Pandita was a great devotee of the Lord. He accepted the Lord's order. By the Lord's desire, he recited prayers."

Also at the Yoga Pitha in Navadvipa Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura installed Laxmi Narasimha to protect the birth place of Lord Caitanya:

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has prayed:

e dusta hrdaye kama adi ripu chaya
kutinati pratisthasa sathya sada raya
hrdaya-sodhana ara krsnera vasana
nrsimha-carane mora ei to' kamana

Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. At the lotus feet of Lord Narasimha, I hope that He will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krsna.

kandiya nrsimha-pade magibo kakhana
nirapade navadvipe jugala-bhajana
bhaya bhaya paya yan'ra darsane se hari
prasanna hoibo kabe more daya kari

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus-feet of Lord Narasimha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krsna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, Whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me His mercy?

yadyapi bhisana murti dusta-jiva-prati
prahladadi krsna-bhakta-jane bhadra ati
kabe va prasanna ho'ye sa krpa-vacane
nirbhaya karibe ei mudha akincane

Even though Lord Narasimha is terrifying toward the sinful souls, He offers great auspiciousness unto the devotees of Lord Krsna headed by Prahlada Maharaja. When will He be pleased to speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless?

svacchande baiso he vatsa sri-gauranga-dhame
jugala-bhajana hau rati hau name
mama bhakta-krpa-bale vighna jabe dura
suddha cite bhajo radha-krsna-rasa-pura

He will say, "Dear child! Sit sown freely and live happily here in Sri Gauranga-dhama. May you nicely worship the Divine Couple, and may you develop loving attachment for Their Holy Names. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just perform the worship of Radha and Krsna, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar."

ei boli' kabe mora mastaka-upara
sviya sri-carana harse dharibe isvara
amani jugala-preme sattvika vikare
dharaya lutibo ami sri-nrsimha-dvare

Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place His own divine lotus-feet upon my head? I will experience sublime love for the Divine Couple Radha-Krsna and undergo the ecstatic transformations called sattvika. Falling on the ground, I will roll about at the door of Sri Narasimha's temple.

(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, - Sri Navadvipa Bhava Taranga, 36-40)

your servant

Payonidhi das

PS I am sending this to many wonderful devotees and pray they will correct any mistake in this attempt to again complete this book about Lord Narasimha, and I am eager to hear any suggestions how I can write this book for self purification and the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and the privious acaryas, the vaisnavas ,headed by Prahlada Maharaja and all the other Mahajanas,Lord Narasimha, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda Prabhu and all Their associate,Sri Sri Radha Krsna and all Their associates ,I am most unqualified ,but Their mercy is my only shelter.



SB 5.18.7: Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva resides in the tract of land known as Hari-varṣa. In the Seventh Canto ofŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I shall describe to you how Prahlāda Mahārāja caused the Lord to assume the form of Nṛsiḿhadeva. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the topmost devotee of the Lord, is a reservoir of all the good qualities of great personalities. His character and activities have delivered all the fallen members of his demoniac family. Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva is very dear to this exalted personality. Thus Prahlāda Mahārāja, along with his servants and all the denizens of Hari-varṣa, worships Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva by chanting the following mantra.

SB 5.18.8: I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.

SB 5.18.9: May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicingbhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other's welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him.

SB 5.18.10: My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Kṛṣṇa. A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life. He does not try to gratify his senses. Such a person quickly advances in Kṛṣṇaconsciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult.

SB 5.18.11: By associating with persons for whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mukunda, is the all in all, one can hear of His powerful activities and soon come to understand them. The activities of Mukunda are so potent that simply by hearing of them one immediately associates with the Lord. For a person who constantly and very eagerly hears narrations of the Lord's powerful activities, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead in the form of sound vibrations, enters within his heart and cleanses it of all contamination. On the other hand, although bathing in the Ganges diminishes bodily contaminations and infections, this process and the process of visiting holy places can cleanse the heart only after a long time. Therefore who is the sane man who will not associate with devotees to quickly perfect his life?

SB 5.18.12: All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

SB 5.18.13: Just as aquatics always desire to remain in the vast mass of water, all conditioned living entities naturally desire to remain in the vast existence of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if someone very great by material calculations fails to take shelter of the Supreme Soul but instead becomes attached to material household life, his greatness is like that of a young, low-class couple. One who is too attached to material life loses all good spiritual qualities.

SB 5.18.14: Therefore, O demons, give up the so-called happiness of family life and simply take shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva, which are the actual shelter of fearlessness. Entanglement in family life is the root cause of material attachment, indefatigable desires, moroseness, anger, despair, fear and the desire for false prestige, all of which result in the repetition of birth and death.

All glories to Lord Narasimha who has appeared in Kali yuga as Gaurasimha ,Lord Caitanya to chase away the dog of Kali