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2024-03-29, 12:05 PM |
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Chapter
8: Lord
Nrisimhadeva Slays the King of the Demons
(1) Nârada Muni said [to Yudhishthhira]: 'Having
heard his
explanations all the attending Daitya sons thereupon accepted his words because of their
profundity and rejected what their teachers had taught them. (2) When the two sons of the guru
[S'ukrâcârya's sons Shanda and Amarka] realized how the
intelligence [of the boys] had gotten fixed on this one subject matter,
they fearfully
contacted the
king to submit to him what was going on. (3-4) All over his body trembling with anger and with a mind
determined to kill his son he rebuked Prahlâda. With the harshest words he furiously with an angry
face and crooked, wicked eyes approached him who did not deserve such a treatment at all. He [from his side] gentle and
restrained, with his hands folded just stood there before his father who was
hissing like a vicious snake trampled upon.
(5) Hiranyakas'ipu
said:
'Oh
you
impudent
fool,
you
intriguer
of
the
family,
you
outcaste,
you
obstinate one going against my rule, I will today send you to the
abode
of Yamarâja! (6) When I am angry all inhabitants of the three
worlds and their leaders tremble for me. By what power do you so
fearlessly overstep my rule, you rascal?' [compare B.G. 9:
31].
(7) Prahlâda said: 'He is
not only my strength but also yours oh King and the strength of all
other exalted and lower living beings. All who move around and do not
move around, beginning with Lord Brahmâ, fall under His
control. (8) He, the
supreme
controller, the time factor, is Urukrama, the Lord of the Wide Steps
[Vâmana] who is that one strength of one's mind and life, the
steadiness of one's physical power and senses. He, the True Self, is
the Supreme Master of the three modes who by His different natural
forces creates, maintains and withdraws again the entire universe. (9)
Please give up the Asura
way. Be of an equal mind with the soul and create no enemies.
Destroy only the enemy that is an uncontrolled mind. That approach
constitutes the best method to worship the unlimited Lord. (10)
In the past there were plunderers who not in control with the six
enemies [the mind and the five senses] stole away everything. Others
saw themselves as conquerors of the ten directions. But where are with a
saint who managed to defeat his
senses and is of an equal regard for all living beings, those enemies to be found who are a product
of one's own imagination?'
(11) S'rî
Hiranyakas'ipu
said:
'You apparently, with your unlimited pretenses,
seek your own demise. You prove that people about to die talk
gibberish, you pityful idiot. (12)
You unlucky soul, you talk of
someone other than me who would be the controller of the universe, but
where is He to be found? If He is omnipresent, then why do I not see
Him in this pillar right in front of me [see also B.G. 7:
25]? (13) Let that
Lord you wished yourself as your protector protect you, now that I am
going to sever your head from your trunk, now that I am going to put an
end to someone talking such nonsense like you.'
(14) Thus with
a stream of abuses enraged chastising his son, that great devotee,
Hiranyakas'ipu, rising from his throne and taking up his sword, with
his fist struck hard against a column.
(15) At that very
time from within the column a most fearful sound could be heard as if
the covering of the universe cracked open. That sound dear King, reached as far
as the place of the godly ones of Lord Brahmâ and made them
believe that the destruction of their abodes was at hand. (16)
He who in his
display of power wanted to kill his son, also heard the tumultuous
sound
one had never heard before and stood together with the assembly present
amazed
about the fact that one could not determine its origin. Thus all these
men of power were caught in fear.
(17) To be true to the words that were
spoken in
defense of His omnipresence, of His pervading each and everything, one
could see a most wonderful form of Him taking shape in a pillar in the
middle of the assembly hall. It was neither an animal nor a man. (18) The
king, studying the phenomenon
from all
sides, saw how a living being emerged from the middle of the pillar.
But not being able to ascertain whether it was an animal or a human
being he said amazed: 'What kind of form is this? It is half
man
and half lion!'
(19-22) As he was
contemplating the miracle that took place in front of him, the
extraordinary, most frightening form of Nrisimhadeva appeared.
He
had
eyes
glowing like molten gold and deadly
teeth in a face extending into manes. Looking around with a dreadful
frown He
waved
His tongue like a razor sharp sword. His ears stood motionless straight
up and His nostrils and mouth were opened wide like
mountain caves. His huge body
was short and fat with a broad neck and a broad chest over a small
waist.
His body was covered with whitish hairs resembling
the rays of the moon and
hundreds of arms stretched in all directions were equipped with hard to
challenge
fatal nails who served as weapons next to His other personal weapons.
Faced with that excellence the Daityas and Dânavas fled away. (23) 'I
guess this is what
the Lord so full of mystical potency is trying to do in order to get me
killed, but what's the use?' so Hiranyakas'ipu murmured to himself and
taking up his mace the Daitya threw
himself forward like an elephant to attack the loudly
roaring Lord Nrisimha. (24) As
invisible as an insect
that has fallen into a fire, the Asura disappeared into the effulgence
of
Nrisimha. That was something not that astonishing at all that moment considering the fact that He with the effulgence of His
goodness formerly had swallowed the darkness [of the entire creation]. (25)
The greatest of the demons reaching
Lord Nrisimha thereupon
furiously with great force exercising his prowess struck Him with his club, but
the Lord, the Wielder of the Club, seized him just like the son of
Târkshya [Garuda] would capture a great snake. (26)
Oh son of
Bharata, when
He in order to play a game allowed the Asura to slip from
His hands exactly the way Garuda sometimes deals with a snake, the
godly
ones of the different worlds who were driven from their positions, from
behind the clouds considered that to be a bad turn of events. (27)
The demon thinking
that He had let him go out of fear for his masculine display, after
regaining his strength took up his sword and shield and with great
force attacked Nrisimhadeva for the second time. (28) When
he with his moon spotted shield and sword fast as a hawk was
maneuvering up and down so as not
to offer any opportunity, the Lord made a very shrill, loud sound of
laughter that was so frightening that he, with his eyes [shortly]
closed [for it], was
captured by the Greatest of all Speed. (29) In
protest he wrestling with his limbs tried to escape, but the Lord placed him
whose
skin
could
not
even
be
cut
by
Indra's
thunderbolt,
at
the entrance of
the palace on His lap like he
was a snake or mouse and pierced
him with His nails as easy as
Garuda pierces a poisonous viper. (30)
He with His most fearful eyes full of anger was difficult to behold.
With His mouth wide open licking the edges with His tongue and with His
mane and face smeared red with traces of blood, He wore the intestines like a garland around His neck and looked like a lion that just has killed
an elephant. (31) The heart He with His pointed
nails had ripped out completely
and thrown aside and the thousands of
followers who with their raised weapons attended to their leader He all
killed using His nails and the other weapons in His countless hands. (32) Shaking
His
manes
He
scattered
the
clouds
and
with
His
glaring
glance
He outshone the luminaries. The
waters and oceans struck by His breathing swirled in perturbation and
afraid of His roar the elephants guarding
the
quarters [of the universe]
cried. (33) With Him tossing His hair the
celestial chariots crowding in the sky slipped from their
places, the earth
shook under the heavy weight of His feet, His intolerable force moved
the mountains and hills and His effulgence outshone everything else in
all directions of the sky.
(34) Thereafter
sitting
in the
assembly hall on the highest seat of man with a most fearsome,
terrible countenance, there was no one to challenge Him nor anyone to
worship Him. (35) But
upon hearing how he, the Daitya who was the headache of the three
worlds, in the battle had been killed by the Lord, there
were exclamations of joy, blossoming faces and endless showers of
flowers from the wives of the
demigods. (36) At
that
time
there
was an overcast formed by all the celestial
chariots
of the demigods desirous to attend. Drums and kettle drums were sounded
and
the
greatest
singers
and
angels
of
heaven sang and danced. (37-39) All
the godly ones,
Brahmâ, Indra and S'iva, the sages, the ancestors, the perfected
ones,
the scientific experts and the great serpents [great egos] assembled
there. The founding
fathers, the leaders of mankind, the residents of heaven and the
best of the angels arrived there too, as did the venerable ones, the
keepers of the
wealth and the monkey-like oh my best one. Also the goblins came, the
ones of superpower and they who were
Vishnu's personal associates like Sunanda and Kumuda. With their hands
folded before their heads to offer their obeisance each of them
approached Him who
had appeared as half a man, half a lion and now sat there on the throne
displaying His effulgence.
(40) S'rî Brahmâ said: 'I bow down
before You, oh Inscrutable One of unlimited powers. You with all Your
might and
prowess and the purity of Your actions stand for the
creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. While You in Your divine game [lîla] perform by the modes, You never change
Yourself.'
(41) Lord
S'iva said: 'The end of
the yuga is the time suitable for You to kill in anger this
insignificant demon; just protect his son, this bhakta of
surrender next to You, oh caretaker of the devotees.'
(42) S'rî
Indra
said:
'Our share of the sacrifices was secured by Your Lordship
protecting us, oh Supreme One. We have no words to describe how
afflicted our lotus-like hearts were by the Daitya, our hearts that are really Your
residence. Alas oh Lord, how insignificant is our world in the grip of
Time, but for the sake of the devoted ones in Your service You have shed Your light so that they may find
liberation from their bondage. What else but considering the visible world as unimportant would
constitute
their way oh
Nrisimhadeva?'
(43) The
sages [the Rishis] said: 'You are the shining example who taught us our
austerity. By this power of Yours this world, oh Original
Personality of Godhead, is created, [maintained] and reabsorbed. That
penance was stolen by this unwise soul but is now, oh Shelter of the
Needy, restored by
the protection of Your embodiment.'
(44) The
ancestors [the Pitris] said:
'The demon who engaging with force enjoyed our s'râddha sacrifices that
were
offered
by our sons and grandsons, he who even at the holy bathing
places drank from our offerings of sesame water, by piercing the
intestines of his belly with the nails
of Your hand these
offerings have reached their proper destination. He, the maintainer of
the universal principles of religion who appeared as a
man-lion, Him we offer our
obeisances.
(45) The ones
of perfection [the Siddhas] said: 'This most uncivilized and dishonest person who
stole
away
the
joy
of
our
perfection
in
yoga
and with the power of his
mysticism and penance was so proud of his wealth, has been torn apart
by Your nails. We bow down before You oh Nrisimha.'
(46) The
scientific experts [the
Vidyâdharas] said:
'Our forms of knowledge that each are attained by a different way of
concentrating, were pushed aside by this fool puffed up about his
strength and prowess. He who in battle killed him like he was an
animal, to Him
who appeared as Nrisimha, we surrendered souls are ever obliged.'
(47) The
snake people [the Nâgas] said: 'By piercing the chest of that
greatest
of all sinners who seized our jewels and beautiful women, You have done
our wives a great favor. Let us
offer You our obeisances.'
(48) The
original fathers
[the Manus] said: 'We, the Manus are Your authorities but were
disrespected by this son of Diti
who broke with the moral ties for the establishment oh Lord. With You having killed this villain oh Master,
please tell us what we, Your eternal servants, can do
for You.'
(49) The
founding fathers [the Prajâpatis] said: 'We, the creators of the
generations owe our lives to You oh Supreme Controller and not to him
who denied the living beings that we have put on this world a
life. And now, by assuming
the form of an incarnation of Your pure goodness, You for the
well-being
of
the
world
have
split open the
chest of him who lays slain.'
(50) The
musicians
of heaven [the Gandharvas] said: 'We oh Lord are Your dancers and
singers, Your
performers, who were brought under the control of the power and
strength of the one here who You reduced to this condition. Can anyone
on
the path of evil find happiness?'
(51) The
venerable souls [the Câranas] said: 'Oh Lord, Your lotus feet
liberate
from the need to start a new life. We duly seek shelter there because
You have put an end to this Asura, this snake
in the heart of all virtuous people.'
(52) The
keepers of the wealth [the Yakshas] said: 'We, serving You to Your
pleasure belong to Your best followers. This son of Diti forced us to
carry his palanquin but caused the sorrow [the poverty] of each
and everyone. Thus we acknowledge You oh Lord Nrisimha,
for You are the one who
put him to death oh twenty-fifth principle [that is the Time, see 3.26: 10-15].'
(53) The
monkey-like
beings [the Kimpurushas] said: 'We are questionable humans, Kimpurushas
but You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord. And this bad
person has been slain by You after having been
condemned by the saintly ones [see
also B.G. 4: 7-8].'
(54) The
king's
bards [the Vaitâlikas] said: 'We in great gatherings and arenas
of sacrifice singing the glories of Your spotless reputation have
achieved the greatest position
of respect. This crooked character who subdued us oh Supreme Lord, has to
our great fortune been killed by You, like he was a disease.'
(55) The lower
gods [the Kinnaras, those with a human head and an animal body, singers
of heaven] said: 'Oh Lord, we the Kinnaras are Your faithful
servants. Because of that son of Diti we had to perform in forced
labor,
but the sinner was by You destroyed oh Nrisimhadeva, oh
Master. Please be there as our happiness and welfare.'
(56) The
associates of Lord Vishnu
said: 'Today we have seen You in a wondrous human-like form. You are
our shelter and the happiness of all the worlds. This servant of the
state oh Lord, was cursed by the scholars
[see 7.1: 36] and has
therefore been killed. We consider that to be Your special
grace.'
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