By Amogha das
Pankajanghri Prabhu told me a few months ago that one Mataji had been suffering a health condition that would not go away for years. When she read about Lord Nrsimhadeva curing devotees, she realized that she could pray to Him for this purpose and she did. The condition disappeared.
A few weeks ago Jananivas Prabhu told me that a married couple could not conceive a child. A year ago the doctor examined the wife and said that in the past some disease had occurred and her tubes were permanently closed. The couple took shelter of Lord Nrsimhadeva.
Just recently they again went to the doctor, who revealed that now the tubes are open, which normally does not happen. And, he was happy to say, she is pregnant!
Manohar Shyam Prabhu told me that recently there were massive bushfires in Argentina. There were raging hot winds and the flames were devouring everything in their path. Emergency workers were evacuating people from their homes.
Manohar Shyam’s mother, who worships Mayapur Nrsimhadeva, could see the flames rising twenty feet into the air coming directly towards her home. She immediately went to pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva. Suddenly the wind changed direction, and the flames blew away from her home to another destination.
We have asked his mother for her account in detail. Devotees often are humble and sometimes will not tell us all about what they have experienced. But other devotees will feel inspired by their revelations, so pleaase, anyone who has something to tell us about their experiences, please write it down.
A few days back we had an ecstatic Rathayatra at Klang near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There are 25 Rathayatras a year in this country. In my little speech afterwards I declared that the kirtans at these Rathayatras are as ecstatic as the kirtans in Rathayatras when Srila Prabhupada was present. Sometimes it seems they are more ecstatic. If Krsna can be more beautiful and more beautiful at every moment forever, the kirtans can also seem more ecstatic and more ecstatic! Why not? If you want a transcendental holiday, come to Malaysia when there are Rathayatras every weekend and dive in. They are mainly around July and December-January.
After Rathayatra by mercy I was sitting next to a sannyasi, talking about the above Nrsimhadeva pastimes, when he kindly said, “We should be preaching about how to develop love of God, not karmakandiya practises. We should be careful. Non-devotees may take advantage. Has anyone attained love of God by praying to Lord Nrsimhadev?”
I thought about the quote below: “Bhaktivinode Thakur?” I said.
“Bhaktivinode Thakur got love of God from Nrsimhadeva?” he asked.
I tried to recount the passage from the Navadvipa-bhava-taranga I had place on narasimhalila. com.”At that moment, by Lord Nrsimha’s mercy, I will exhibit symptoms of ecstatic love for Radha and Krishna…” I tried to explain that Bhaktivinode Thakur considered Lord Nrsimhadeva paramount in attaining love of Krsna. I said to Maharaj, who has been my dear friend for many years, “Even if someone comes to Mayapur to worship Lord Nrsimhadev desiring something selfishly material, wouldn’t he or she get the mercy of Nitai and Gauranga?” How can anyone go to Mayapur without getting the mercy of Nitai and Gauranga?
This reminds me of the statement: “One easily becomes free from the bondage of Maya by even once visiting Mayapur.
The power of Maya will go far away, and the cycle of birth and death will cease for one who simply walks in Mayapur.” (Navadvip Dham Mahatmya) (on the website under Mayapur)
Afterwards I considered the situation: Devotees praying to avert disease, death and injury. The Lord revives them. Is that karmakandiya? Didn’t Nanda Maharaj and all the devotees cry out to Krsna for help when a huge snake had half-swallowed him in the night? And Krsna saved him. Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared to save his devotee Prahlad. He loves to save His devotees! I don’t think this reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees is karma-kandiya, or about worshiping the Lord just to get some material thing.
Jananivas Prabhu told me that Lord Nrsimhadeva derives transcendental ecstasy from serving Gauranga by saving His sankirtan devotees from obstacles.
What about having children? One might say praying for children is materialistic. But isn’t the appearance of Vaishnava and Vaishnavi children one of the most auspicious aspirations of married couples? We need devotees to appear in the world to purify the place. If a couple cannot bear a child, and Lord Nrsimhadeva intervenes, is that karma-kandiya? How special a devotee is that child?
I leave you with the words of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur:
“In my heart reside duplicity, insincerity, the desire for fame, and the six enemies: lust, anger, envy, fear, illusion and intoxication. Therefore I will pray at the feet of Lord Nrsimha to purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Krishna.
“Weeping I will beg Lord Nrsimha that I may worship Radha-Madhava in Navadvip, free from obstacles. Although this form of the Lord is terrible for the evil, He is exceedingly auspicious for the devotees headed by Prahlada. When will Lord Nrsimha become pleased to mercifully speak to me, a worthless fool, and remove my fears?
‘Dear child, stay here happily in Gaura Dham. Worship Radha-Madhava, and develop attraction for the holy name. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are transcended.’ After speaking like this, when will that Lord joyfully place His feet upon my head? At that moment, by Lord Nrsimha’s mercy, I will exhibit symptoms of ecstatic love for Radha and Krishna, and will roll on the ground by the door of Lord Nrsimha’s temple.”
We should never forget Lord Narasimha killed Hiranyakasipu at Ahovalam in south India, and all the demoniac soldiers , then He washed His lotushands at Rakta Kunda (still the stones there are red from all the blood) and then He blessed Prahlada and accepted His prayers .After that quikly He went to Navadvipa and took full bath at Narasimhapalli.He rested there and the demigods came and build residences nearby to have Lord Narasimhadevas blessings and constantly associate with Him .So Lord Narasimha must have stayed for quiet soem time if even the devas made residence there, this is all explained by srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.We read in Jaiva Dharma how Nrsimhananda Brahmacari had his bhajan kurti there at Narasimha palli,Srila Prabhupada mentions that Nrsimhananda Brahmacari was abel to directly and constantly talk to Lord Narasimha personally.In our humble understanding ,there is no greater holy place of Lord Narasimha than Narasimha palli, so Lord Narasimha Himself stays in Navadvipa to bless us like He did Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura,we just have to learn to take advantage of this great mercy.
Sweet.
I searched Vedabase for Srila Prabhupada’s words surrounding this topic and found some very nice excerpts.
——
From a Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.3.16-17 class given at Gorakhpur, India on February 10, 1971:
Unless one is convinced that “Kṛṣṇa will give me protection,” so how he can surrender? There is no question of surrender. Avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa vivaśa-pālana. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said to be firmly convinced: “Then Kṛṣṇa will give me all protection.” Therefore surrender is perfect.
Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyaṁ vivarjanam. Surrender means one should simply accept favorable service to Kṛṣṇa and reject anything which is unfavorable, and then next is avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa viśvasa-pālana: “And to be firmly convinced that ‘Kṛṣṇa will give me all protection.’ ”
Therefore, instead of “trying to protect myself,” a devotee should always remain dependent on Kṛṣṇa. That is śaraṇāgati. And to consider oneself that “Now I am in the association of Kṛṣṇa,” these are different items of śaraṇāgati.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the best contribution to the human society. There is no comparison with this movement, any other welfare activity of the whole world. There is no comparison. Can you suggest any better welfare activities than this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that “Here is another item which is better than Kṛṣṇa consciousness?” What is that? Who will suggest?
(Continued in the next post.)
From a Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.37 class given in Los Angeles on April 29, 1973:
apy adya nas tvaṁ sva-kṛtehita prabho
jihāsasi svit suhṛdo ‘nujīvinaḥ
yeṣāṁ na cānyad bhavataḥ padāmbujāt
parāyaṇaṁ rājasu yojitāṁhasām
[SB 1.8.37]
“O my Lord, You have executed all duties Yourself. Are You leaving us today, though we are completely dependent on Your mercy and have no one else to protect us now, when all kings are at enmity with us?”
Prabhupāda: So this conversation was going on between Kuntī and Kṛṣṇa when Kṛṣṇa was going home after establishing the Pāṇḍavas in their kingdom and finishing the battle of Kurukṣetra. Kṛṣṇa is going back home, Dvārakā, and was taking leave, farewell, from the aunt. At that time, Kuntī offered this prayer. Now she’s asking directly that “After finishing Your duty, is it a fact that You are going away, leaving us alone?”
This is the devotee’s position. Here it is said, yeṣāṁ na ca anyad bhavataḥ padāmbujāt: “We have no other means of protection than Your lotus feet. This is our position.” Anyat. Anyat means “anything else.” This is full surrender. Just like Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings, hā hā prabhu nanda-suta vṛṣabhānu-sutā-juta. “Nanda-suta, Kṛṣṇa, You are present here with the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu. Both of You are here.” Hā hā prabhu nanda-suta vṛṣabhānu-sutā-juta. We don’t want to see Kṛṣṇa alone.
Anyway… So Kuntīdevī says, yeṣāṁ na ca anyad bhavataḥ padāmbujāt. This is called full dependence. In the śaraṇāgati, in the surrender process, there are six things. The six things is that completely, one of the…, completely dependent upon Kṛṣṇa. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ. The first śaraṇāgati is to accept everything favorable for Kṛṣṇa’s service. Ānukūlyam. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā [Cc. Madhya 19.167].
Devotional, first-class bhakti means accepting everything which is favorable for devotional service. And prātikūlyasya varjanam. And reject everything which is unfavorable to the procedure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we forbid that “You don’t do this,” because they are unfavorable. And we say something, “You do this, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa sixteen rounds,” that is favorable. Śaraṇāgati means to give up the unfavorable things and to accept the favorable. Ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam. And believe that “Kṛṣṇa will give me protection.” Full faith. And to count oneself as one of the servants of Kṛṣṇa. In this way, śaraṇāgati.
(Continued in next post.)
Intersting topic. If we are in a threatening situation should we:
1. Follow in the footsteps of the Vrajabasis and cry out for Krishna’s deliverance?
2. Refrain from bugging Krishna and be content with the truth that Krishna protects his devotees?
3. Remember the maxim: “Rakhe krishna mare ke mare krishna rakhe ke” and think “If Krishna wants to protect me nothing can harm me. If Krishna wants to kill me nothing can save me.”?
4. All of the above?
I’m interested to hear other Vaishnavas thoughts on this topic.
Since I wrote this, Manohar Shyam Prabhu told me that his family had packed everything they could save in a vehicle and were about to drive away from the house, but the huge wall of flames was only about 20 metres away coming at them. His mother cried out to Lord Nrsimhadeva for help. That is when the wind changed direction and the fire went in another direction.
Of course we should cry out for Krishna’s deliverance and understand that by simply serving Krishna in accordance with our appropriate level of surrender and realization, we will lack for nothing, Krishna will protect us.
But we should not bother Krishna by asking for things that will not help us in devotional service. Sometimes we do not know what will really help us.
Often devotees are kept by Krishna in an impecunious state. We foolishly think, “If I somehow had millions of dollars, I would use it so nicely for devotional service. Please, Krishna, why don’t you give me the millions of dollars that I really need to serve you nicely.”
Sometimes devotees even break the regulative principles by buying lottery tickets, foolishly thinking, “Surely Krishna has chosen this means of providing me with the millions of dollars He knows I will use for His service,” as if He could not supply His devotee with money in some lawful way.
Surrender to Krishna and feeling one’s self exclusively under Krishna’s protection also involves understanding that Krishna knows what’s best for us, and has given us the means of deliverance by the mercy of Guru’s instructions.
The Vrajabasis actually would prefer to be burned in forest fires than to have to live outside of Krishna’s association, but ordinary people forget Krishna and Lord Nrsimhadeva when there is no threat. They want to go on trying to enjoy the fruits of their work independent of Krishna consciousness. Many of us would truly be distracted from our devotional service if we suddenly inherited millions of dollars.
Not that we should pray to be poor, either, or become jnanis who practice tyaga and analyze the falseness of fruitive activity without performing devotional service. We should do our service, carefully chanting our rounds, and pray for bhakti.
The chapter of the Tenth Canto and Krishna Book called “Deliverance of Lord Shiva” is instructive. There, Sukadeva Goswami answers Pariksit Maharaja’s question about why devotees of opulent Vishnu are often poor, while devotees of renounced Shiva are often rich. Sukadeva explains that Vishnu is kinder than the demigods. He does not easily grant boons to supplicants that will not be good for them. If we approach Him, He gives the highest benefit, i.e. Krishna consciousness.
The time will come for all of us when Krishna delivers us by destroying this material body. After all, material bodies die in due course. Will we see it as deliverance?
“Unable to find any other source of deliverance, they all approached Govinda to take shelter of his lotus feet. At that time all the inhabitants of Vrndavana began to pray to Lord Krsna. Dear Krsna, they prayed. You are all-powerful, and You are very affectionate to Your devotees. Now please protect us who have been much harassed by angry Indra……. Lord Krsna…… I have lifted this hill, which will protect you exactly like a huge umbrella I think this is a proper arrangement to relieve you from your immediate distress. Be happy along with your animals underneath this great umbrella. ”
I sometimes think that one of the greatest struggles in KC as a westerner is not recognizing the degree that we have impersonal tendencies. I tend to think that the impersonalism is a Mayavadi/Indian issue but constantly find myself struggling over simple things like, should I pray to Krishna when in material distress. We are persons, he is a person. We feel material distress and therefore pray to him for protection. Surely if the residents of Vrindavana do it, then it is something we should emulate, but the impersonal, unfeeling side of me, thinks I should not do what is the most natural thing in the world for the soul to do. Which is see that I am powerlessly trapped in this material energy, am unable to do anything but desire and therefore take shelter of Krsna and ask him to protect me. Is this not our natural constitutional position? I would also like to hear other devotee’s opinion on this, particularly any senior devotees who have lifetimes of realizations on this. I only have my limited realization on this issue to go on.