Shri Narasimha mantra

Shree Prasanna Shrinivasa dasaru has composed quite a few kritis on Narasimha, all of which are very powerful and potent in conveying the emotional fervor which accompanies the knowledge of Hari’s great and boundless glory. Here is one such kriti.

jaya jaya jaya narasiMha

jaya jaya mahAlakshmi ramaNa

jaya nirAmaya sarvOtkrishTa aaha

jaya kamalaja mriDadyamaravaMdyane namO

bhayabahbhaMdahara bhakta janara rakshaka swAmi

O Narasimha ,You are ever victorious . You are the giver of joy to Mahalakshmi who has wonderful lakshanas . You are flawless and Supreme. Ah! You are constantly worshipped by Brahma born of the lotus, Rudra and others. I offer my repeated obeisances to You, O Master, who unshackles the chain of fear and bondage of His devotees and protects them.

The word ‘Narasimha” can be split as  “n+ara” + “simha”. With “n” having the meaning “nivritti” and “ara” being flawless. Simha is from the dhatu
sihi himsaayaam. So it comes that Narasimha jostles the negativity in the minds and antah karanas of His devotees. He puts them in samsaara, makes them experience in a way that they become free of defects. Just as the gold is heated and fired to become pure, the Lord places the souls in samsaara and puts them through expereinces of different kinds and uplifts them by giving them knowledge. He is always free from defects and is the Supreme among such defectless beings as He is the only Independent entity who remains defectless effortlessly. Even Lakshmi is dependent on Him as seen by the address “Lakshmiramana”. This word also shows that He is not dependent on anyone even Lakshmi to obtain bliss and exists in that constant state of flawless bliss effortlessly.

Further the word “kamala” expands to “kam” sukham , mam-jnaanam and ;laati meaning that which enables or brings. This Brahmaanda is the substratum for all jivas to perform sadhana and move to their eternal abodes. Brahma who is born from the lotus, is the abhimani for the Brahmanda ie it is his body. In other words He knows the kamala-14 worlds intimately and can understand to a certain extent the great abilities of the One who creates and sustains it. It is no wonder that Brahma sings His glory all the time. Similarly with Rudra- who is the controller of the mind. The embodied jiva’s life is more or less defined by the way one uses the mind. If the mind itself has so much power, how much would its controller Rudra have? How much more infinite power would Rudra’s creator and sustains have? It is really mystfying and humbling at the same time. We don’t recall what we thought about a few minutes ago too, Rudra knows exactly what we should think about each moment and executes it to the second without any mistakes. We cannot remember our own thoughts, but Rudra remembers the thoughts of everyone and guides the direction of thought as suitable for their particular station in life. It is truly marvelous!  Such a Rudra too constantly worships Hari, Narasimha, deeply in tune with magnitude of the workings of His infinite power through himself and making the minds of all others function as they should. All other devathas like Indra,Kama, Yama etc are all also singing His praise being aware of His immense capabilities and overall Control.

aradUra guNaparipUrNa

ugravIrame mahAvishNu

urukAMti sarvatOmukhane aaha

narasimha bhayakara Ashrita janara rakshaka

sharaNADe ninage nA mritymAraka namO

O Lord You are free from defects! Why so ? Dasaru says “He is completely full of auspicious attributes!” After all lack of attributes is the one which leads to defects .

O mahA Vishnu ,You are a fierce vanquisher, Your brilliance is boundless and You are the all perceiver. O Narasimha, you cause fear in the minds of the wicked and protect those who surrender to You. I fall at Your feet ,surrendering myself to You ,O Lord who is the vanquisher of even death! “

shrishTa pAta atta trAtA

dushTa daiyarigati krUra

shreshTa asamabala rUpa Aha

ishTa bhaktana kAye kaMbadiMdali bandu

utkrishTa prajvalipa nakhadi sIlde brashTana

You are the creator, sustainer, engulfer and saviour! You send the wicked on their path to grief. You strength in all sprere is unmatched and totally unique and superior.  “Did you not appear right out of the pillar, to save Your dear devotee? Did you not tear the evil demon with Your brilliant and exclusively radiant nails?

vishwasta bahirantarvyApta

vishwa vishnu vashatkAra

sarvagnya nirdOsha suguNi aaha

ravikOTi amita sakAMtiyim jvalisuve

vishwatOmkha sarvasAkshi swataMtra

You reside insides the entire universe and also pervade everywhere outside too. You are glorified as “Vishwa Vishnu Vashatkaara” with the thousand names of the Vishnu Sahasranama. The Sahasra is not just a thousand but much more. Thousands and thousands…… You are the all-knower, free from defects, full of great gunas,having the effulgence of a thousand suns, but with a mellowed light which is inspiring and cooling at the same time. Your face is in the entire universe and You see everything firsthand, being the direct witness of everything. You are the only Independent entity.

naranalla nararUpadhAri

nee mrigavallavu simhavad rUpa

naramirgagaLali nee samanu aaha

dhare divi pAtAla jaMtu sarvAMtasta

uru jNAna balarUpa anaMta nI Eka

You are not a man, neither are You a lion. Yet you took a form that is both man and lion. You are the same in all the creatures being completely auspicious and You are the Only One who exists in all the creatures. Those that move on earth, those that flu, those that live underground etc, You exist in them all, and give them their existence. You are of unparalleled knowledge,strength. Your infiniteness is totally unique and is limited to only Yourself. None else can claim such preeminence

na eMdare sarvavaMdya

ra eMdare sukha jnAna

sim eMdare guNasAra aaha

iMdirApati mahadaishvarya rUpanu

ha eMdare nIne pUrNa nirdOsha

Each syllables of Your name is meaningful. As one chants the first syllable – You ensure that they obtain knowledge and bliss, the second syllable and the latent good character comes the fore, the final syllable gives complete flawlessness. Being the bimba He is the doer. As Acharya Madhwa has proclaimed- “nahi pratibimbasya kriyaa, bimba kriya aiva kriyaavaan ” So by contemplated on the auspicious attributes of the indweller, bimba one is enabled by the Lord to reflect the same attributes to the extent that one is capable of at that time, as per one’s inherent nature.

From the above one can observe that Narasimha arranges for the jiva to experience bliss by giving the opportunity to perform sadhana and then showers bliss. Isn’t it His immense compassion on the souls ?

bhUtAdi dushTagrahagaLa

kadrUjAdi sarva vishava

nI dayadi pariharipe aaha

bhakta janrige nI shubhavittu akaala

mrityuva tariva rakshaka namO emBe

Chanting the name of the Lord Narasimha removes the evil effects of our bad karmas in previous births which are indicated by the planetary positions in our birth charts. He removes the poisonous effects of serpents and snakes.

O potent protector, who can take me away from death, (cycle of birth and death) and take me to the heights of bliss as per my inherent nature! I bow down to You again and again.

dvAtriMsha chaturvimshAksharada

maMtra gAyatri pratipAdya

vratatijAsana maMtra rishiyu aaha

adhikArigalu idanu shravana paTana mADe

bhIti mOhava biDisi nikhilEshTa vIve

You are the sole Supreme who glory is contemplated and sung in the six syllable, eight syllable and 24 syllable mantras like Gayatri. Brahma who is born from the lotus in Your navel is the rishi for these mantras and You grace the eligible people who listen and chant these mantra. You annhilate their fears and attachments and shower all the lwishes inherent in their minds.

jaya jaya narasimhaswAmi

jaya jaya sarvgnya bhUman

jaya mahA tejObalavIryaaaha

jaya purushOttama vEdAdi surariMda

IjyapUjyanu driDabhaktiyim mudadi

O my victorious master Narasimha, who is the infinitely complete knower of everything at all times, who is completely full of radiance, strength and unvanquishable valour. You are glorified as  Purushottama in the Vedas and the devathas always sing Your glory. You are the only unique One who can receive the prayers and prostrations of all, who should be worshipped with complete faith and devotion and with a feeling of exhilaration.

nAra uru guNasiMda

narasimha suprItanAgo

chirajnAna bhaktiya satata Aha

parasamarillada bali ninnali dhyAna

tIvra prerisu enage anaMta anuttama

You are free from flaws, an ocean of auspicious attributes O narasimha, be pleased with my  devotional endeavours and bestow ever lasting knowledge, devotion and complete trust in Your great abilities. O One of infinite powers-Anantha, who remains the imperial master for all times ,Please inspire complete concentration in my contemplations on Your mighty attributes .

prOdyaarkanibhA dIptvAda

vartula urunEtratrayavu

hastadwayavu jAnuvarigu aaha

sudarshini shaMkhi mahAlakshmiyuta kOTi

AdityAdhikatEja utkrishTa shakta

O Narasimha ,with three round brilliant eyes resembling the radiant rising sun,two hands reaching upto the knee, arms holding the Shanka and Shakra and bearing Mahalakshmi on Your chest, Your matchless mighty strength,radiance and emanene are such that even a crore sun’s cannot compare with.

This verse gives the dhyana roopafor this mantra. Understanding that His attributes are effortlessly unmatched by multiples of any objects which may have a tiny amount of that attribute when compared to him is one of the contemplations indicated. The majesty of the form  with the most charismatic features is to be contemplated on along with the auspicious attributes.

mIna kamaTa krODa nrihari

mANava parashvi sudhanvi

krishNa budda kalki sharaNa aaha

vanaruhana tAta prasanna shrInivAsa

anishTaha ishTadA enage daya vAgo

O Nrihari, You are the one who have come to the aid of Your devotees in different forms, all of them completely auspiscious, always being the Only trustworthy shelter for all. You took the forms of Meena(Matsya avatar), KamaTa(Kurma avarar), KrODa(Varaha avatar), Nrihari, Vamana,Parashurama, Rama, Krishna , Buddha and Kalki. In all of these avataras You portrayed Your wonderful attributes of removing the distress of Your devotees and showering them with their wishes. I entreat You, O Prasanna Shreenivasa, the father of Brahma, please shower Your compassion on us.