Today is Sri Narasimha Jayanti-03/May/2015(Fasting Till Dusk)
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Sri Narasimha JayantiSri Narasimha Jayanti is the appearance day of Lord Narasimha, the half-lion half-man incarnation of Supreme Lord Krishna, who appeared to protect Prahlada from his demoniac father Hiranyakashipu.
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The Appearance of Lord Narasimha
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Hiranyakashipu, the king of the demons, wanted to become immortal. He undertook severe penances at Mandarachala to please Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma appeared in front of him, he asked for immortality. But even Brahma was not immortal. How could he grant immortality to someone? So Brahma agreed to give him any benediction other than immortality. So the demon asked Brahma that he should not be killed by human being or animal or demigod or any other entity, living or non-living. He also prayed that he should not be killed at any place, neither in the daytime nor at Narasimha Jayantinight, by any kind of weapons. He further requested to award him supremacy over the entire universe and perfection in mystic powers. After receiving the benedictions from Lord Brahma, Hiranyakashipu terrorized the entire universe. He conquered the ten directions and brought every one under his control.
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Sri Narasimha JayantiSri Narasimha Jayanti is the appearance day of Lord Narasimha, the half-lion half-man incarnation of Supreme Lord Krishna, who appeared to protect Prahlada from his demoniac father Hiranyakashipu.
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The Appearance of Lord Narasimha
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Hiranyakashipu, the king of the demons, wanted to become immortal. He undertook severe penances at Mandarachala to please Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma appeared in front of him, he asked for immortality. But even Brahma was not immortal. How could he grant immortality to someone? So Brahma agreed to give him any benediction other than immortality. So the demon asked Brahma that he should not be killed by human being or animal or demigod or any other entity, living or non-living. He also prayed that he should not be killed at any place, neither in the daytime nor at Narasimha Jayantinight, by any kind of weapons. He further requested to award him supremacy over the entire universe and perfection in mystic powers. After receiving the benedictions from Lord Brahma, Hiranyakashipu terrorized the entire universe. He conquered the ten directions and brought every one under his control.
When Hiranyakashipu went to Mandarachala to execute severe austerities, his wife, Kayadhu, was pregnant. The demigods headed by Indra attacked the demons and arrested Kayadhu. They wanted to kill the child as soon as it took birth. Narada Maharishi stopped Indra and revealed that the child would be a great devotee of Lord Hari. He took Kayadhu to his hermitage and gave her instructions on spiritual knowledge. The child in the womb of Kayadhu attentively listened to the instructions of Narada Maharishi and became a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.
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Hiranyakashipu entrusted his son Prahlada to Chanda and Amarka, the two sons of Shukracharya, for education. They tried to teach him politics, economics and other material activities; but Prahlada did not care for such instructions. He was always meditating on the Supreme Lord. When Hiranyakashipu came to know about this, he was extremely angry and chastised the teachers for teaching the child about vishnu-bhakti. But when it was proved that they were innocent, he decided to kill the child.The order carriers of the demoniac king tried to kill the child by striking him with deadly weapons, putting him under the feet of elephants, subjecting him to hellish conditions, throwing him from the peak of a mountain. But they could not kill him.
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Hiranyakashipu became more and more agitated. He challeged Prahlada, “Where is your God?” and Prahlada replied that God resided everywhere. Pointing to one of the pillars in the palace Narasimha JayantiHiranyakashipu asked: “Is your God within this pillar?” and the child answered “Yes. He is.” At once he forcefully stuck the pillar and shattered it into pieces. The Lord instantly appeared from inside the pillar as Narasimha, and killed Hiranyakashipu with His nails. He was neither in the form of a human nor an animal. He used His nails as weapon and killed the demon at twilight (neither day nor night) sitting in the threshold of the palace (neither inside nor outside) by keeping him on His own lap. Thus the Supreme Lord killed the demon without violating any of the benedictions awarded by Lord Brahma. He appeared out of the pillar to substantiate the statement made by Prahlada. Thus he came to be known as bhakta-vatsala.
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Sri Narasimha Jayanti Celebration
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Hiranyakashipu entrusted his son Prahlada to Chanda and Amarka, the two sons of Shukracharya, for education. They tried to teach him politics, economics and other material activities; but Prahlada did not care for such instructions. He was always meditating on the Supreme Lord. When Hiranyakashipu came to know about this, he was extremely angry and chastised the teachers for teaching the child about vishnu-bhakti. But when it was proved that they were innocent, he decided to kill the child.The order carriers of the demoniac king tried to kill the child by striking him with deadly weapons, putting him under the feet of elephants, subjecting him to hellish conditions, throwing him from the peak of a mountain. But they could not kill him.
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Hiranyakashipu became more and more agitated. He challeged Prahlada, “Where is your God?” and Prahlada replied that God resided everywhere. Pointing to one of the pillars in the palace Narasimha JayantiHiranyakashipu asked: “Is your God within this pillar?” and the child answered “Yes. He is.” At once he forcefully stuck the pillar and shattered it into pieces. The Lord instantly appeared from inside the pillar as Narasimha, and killed Hiranyakashipu with His nails. He was neither in the form of a human nor an animal. He used His nails as weapon and killed the demon at twilight (neither day nor night) sitting in the threshold of the palace (neither inside nor outside) by keeping him on His own lap. Thus the Supreme Lord killed the demon without violating any of the benedictions awarded by Lord Brahma. He appeared out of the pillar to substantiate the statement made by Prahlada. Thus he came to be known as bhakta-vatsala.
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Sri Narasimha Jayanti Celebration
Devotees pray to Lord Narasimha for protection from the miseries of this material world and to remove obstacles from the path of devotional service. There are hundreds of temples dedicated to Narasimhadeva all over India. Almost every ISKCON centre has a Deity of Sri Narasimhadeva installed.Srila Prabhupada recommended that devotees worship Lord Narasimha everyday praying to him for protection. He taught us the Narasimha Pranama Mantra and Narasimha Stotra.
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Narasimhadeva appeared at the time of dusk on the Shukla Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the bright fortnight) in the month of Vaishakha. Devotees observe fasting till dusk on this day. The temple of Sri Prahlada Narasimha at Hare Krishna Hill is decorated with colorful fragrant flowers. The celebrations begin at 5 AM, with an elaborate abhisheka for the mula Deity of Sri Prahlada Narasimha with panchagavya, panchamrita, herbal water, fruit juices, and flowers. The Lord is also offered a new dress and jewelry. A Narasimha-yajna is performed for the protection of the society from the evil. Watch the glimpses of the morning abhisheka.
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Narasimhadeva appeared at the time of dusk on the Shukla Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the bright fortnight) in the month of Vaishakha. Devotees observe fasting till dusk on this day. The temple of Sri Prahlada Narasimha at Hare Krishna Hill is decorated with colorful fragrant flowers. The celebrations begin at 5 AM, with an elaborate abhisheka for the mula Deity of Sri Prahlada Narasimha with panchagavya, panchamrita, herbal water, fruit juices, and flowers. The Lord is also offered a new dress and jewelry. A Narasimha-yajna is performed for the protection of the society from the evil. Watch the glimpses of the morning abhisheka.
In the evening the utsava Deity of Sri Narasimhadeva receives an elaborate abhisheka. During the abhisheka panchagavya, panchamrita, sacred water, herbal water, sandalwater, fruit juices, and water mixed with turmeric are poured on the Lord for His pleasure. A grand arati is performed. 108 kalashas of sacred water sanctified by specific mantras are poured on the Lord as the devotees chant the Vedic Purusha Sukta Mantra. The Lord receives an offering of 56 varieties of bhoga items. The festival then culminates with shayana-arati and pallaki-utsava. Watch the glimpses of festivities in the evening.
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