foreword to Sri Narasimha

[Paramananda das]

 

Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada brought this worship of Lord Narasimha to the west. On board Jaladutta in 1965 Srila Prabhupada had a dream of Krsna and His various incarnations protecting him. Srila Prabhupada had 2 heart attacks due to the rough sea journey and advanced age .
Lord Narasimha is one of Krsnas main incarnations along with Lord Ramachandra according to Laghu Bhagavatamrta of Srila Rupa Goswami. Later when Srila Prabhupada had a heart attack again in around 1968 he told the devotees to worship Lord Narasimhadeva.and asked the devotees to pray to Lord Narasimha for him, that if Lord Narasimha desired that He would kindly allow Srila Prabhupada to finish his preaching mission. In 1970 in Los Angeles the Narasimha mantra became formerly instituted as part of all kirtanas in ISKCON. In Gaudiya math Lord Narasimhas kirtanas are not   sung after kirtanas   as the focus is on worship of Radha Krsna and Lord Caitanya.

  Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada maintained the worship of Laxmi Narasimha at the Yoga Pitha in Mayapure, this Deity was installed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura himself

 

 

My journey to worship of Lord Narasimha started when I joined ISKCON in 1979 , I was asked to make sandal wood daily for properly ISKCONs first Narasimha Deity , that was worshipped by Krsna Ksetra Prabhu , now Maharaja . This Deity was worshipped to protect the devotees in Russia that was put in jail  for worshipping Lord Krishna and spreading the glories of Srila Prabhupada and his movement in Russia  .ISKCON devotees where send to prison daily .Actually the real problems in Russia started in 1982 , Brezhnevs successor Yuri Andropov started a campaign against ISKCON as soon as he came to power in 1982. Semyon Tsvigun, his deputy chief of the KGB, announced that the three foremost threats to the Soviet Union were western pop and Rock music, Western capitalistic culture, and Hare Krishnas. Many Hare Krsna devotees in Russia were put in jail and tortured and sent to prison camps  . Sarvabhavana Prabhu a devotee from Armenia spend over 2 years   in jail  for distributing Srila Prabhupadas books ,that was his only socalled crime . He was given few pieces of bread daily and even made    chanting beads of   the little bread he received. So devotees in Europe and everywhere  prayed very hard to Lord Narasimha for the protection of our devotee brothers and sisters in the Soviet Union .Some Russian pocket size Bhagavad gitas were printed in then West Germany and smuggled into Russia and freely distributed every where in the world to any Russians that ISKCON devotees would meet. In 1982 Sri Sri Prahlada Narasimha was installed in Germany , at this time I was distributing Srila Prabhupadas books in Germany , including the 7th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam and was present for the installation of Lord Narasimha there.

Harikesa then Swami ,Kirtiraja Prabhu ,Devamrta Swami and others would preach in the communist countries underground risking their lives to spread Srila Prabhupadas movement. Devotees would always pray for them when they went preaching .Saci Suta Prabhu was also a Hare Krsna devotee that was locked up in a  prison for worshipping Lord Narasimha and died from starvation and turbercolosis as he was denied vegetarian food .Suffering from tuberculosis and refused vegetarian food  , he died in prison .By the grace of Lord Narasimhadeva ultimately the Communist and atheistic and demoniac Government fell apart and Soviet Russia no longer existed.

  In ISKCON Mayapure dacoits once attacked with weapons so Lord Ugra Narasimha has been established for the protection of the ISKCON Movemen and for ISKCON Mayapure