[Advaita-l] Smaranam of Lord Narasimha

[Sumitha Ramachandran]

Namaste .

ugram veeram mahavishnum jvalantham savatomukham
nrsimham bheeshanam bhadhram mruthyumruthyum namamyaham

I salute Narasimha, the fierce, heroic, great one who pervades all (Maha Vishnu), the lustrous one with faces everywhere, the fearsome one, the auspicious one and the destroyer of death.
            
While explaining the Mantraraja of Narasimha , Sri. Abhinava Vidya Theertha Mahaswamigal of Sringeri says:

" Every word of this mantra is deeply significant. I shall illustrate this by briefly considering three of the words. 

A term describing the Lord is "Jvalantham". That Narasimha is lustrous is a simple meaning. Consciousness is the light of lights; but for it, no luminary like the sun or a lamp would be visible. Narasimha ever shines as the light of consciousness. This is the deeper meaning.

Another term is of the mantra is "Sarvatomukham". This literally means that He has faces on all sides. The Upanisads teach that though devoid of all organs, the Supreme grasps everything everywhere. In this sense , Narasimha is 'sarvatomukhaha'.

The mantra speaks of the Lord as "Bheeshanam".The word literally meansfearsome. The Bhagavata purana conveys that when Narasimha slew Hiranyakasipu and continued to be fierce, the devas and even Lakshmi feared Him. The term fits the Lord in another way too. The Supreme ordains and enforces order in the universe. The laws of nature are His. It is said, ' Out of fear of this One, the wind blows. Out of fear of Him, the sun rises (Taittiriya Upanisad 2.8).' In this sense, Narasimha is 'bheeshanah'. The Narasimha  Poorvaataapaneeya and Narasimha Uttarataapaneeya Upanisads deal extensively with this mantra."

Pranams to all.

regards,
sumitha