“Namaste narasimhaya, prahladahlada-dayine, hiranyakasipor vaksah, sila-tanka nakhalaye“
Narasimha is the fourth avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part lion, part man and killed the demon Hiranyakashipu. He is the god of protection, destruction, yoga and kala (Time). He is the destroyer of evil and fear. Narasimha is also described as having three eyes just like Shiva and does destruction with fire coming from his third eye.
The iconography of Lord Narasimha:
Narasimha has a lion face with clawed fingers fused with a human body. He is coming out of a pillar signifying that he is everywhere, in everything, in everyone. There are nine other icons of Narasimha:
• Prahladavarada Narasimha: Narasimha blessing Prahlada.
• Yogananda Narasimha: Narasimha is calm and peaceful, teaching yoga.
• Guha Narasimha: Narasimha in a pillar of Hiranyakashipu’s palace to kill Hiranyakashipu.
• Ugra Narasimha: Narasimha disembowelling and killing Hiranyakashipu.
• Vira Narasimha: Narasimha is killing all Asuras and Asuris.
• Lakshmi Narasimha: Vishnu as Narasimha with Lakshmi as Kanakavalli.
• Jvala Narasimha: Narasimha emitting flames of power.
• Sarvatomukha Narasimha: Narasimha with a powerful face.
• Bhishana Narasimha: A fierce form of Narasimha.
• Bhadra Narasimha: Blessing form of Narasimha.
• Mrityormrityu Narasimha: Narasimha destroys the death of Prahlada by killing Hiranyakashipu.
Narasimha has a human torso and lower body, with a lion face and claws, with the asura Hiranyakashipu being disembowelled and killed by him in his lap.
Prahlada legend
As per Bhagavata Purana, Lord Vishnu in his previous avatar as Varaha killed the evil demon Hiranyaksha. The younger brother of Hiranyaksha, demon king Hiranyakashipu, hated Vishnu and wanted revenge. He performed years of severe penance. Brahma offered Hiranyakashipu a boon. Hiranyakashipu asked, “Grant me that I do not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at nighttime, nor in the ground or the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapons or hands, nor by any human or animal. Grant me that I do not meet death from any entity, living or non-living created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any deity or demon or by any other organisms and divinities.” Brahma granted him the boon.
After becoming powerful and invincible with the new boon, Hiranyakashipu began to persecute all devotees of Vishnu. Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu’s son, disagreed and rebelled against his father. Prahlada became a devotee of Vishnu. This angered Hiranyakashipu, who tried to kill the boy but with each attempt, Prahlada was protected by Vishnu’s mystical power. When asked, Prahlada refused to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and said that Vishnu is omnipresent.
One day, Hiranyakashipu pointed to a nearby pillar in ager and asked if ‘his Vishnu’ was in it. Prahlada answered yes.
Angry Hiranyakashipu smashed the pillar with his mace, and following a tumultuous sound, Vishnu, in the form of Narasimha, appeared from it and moved to attack Hiranyakashipu in defence of Prahlada. To kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasimha was chosen. Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by a human, deity, or animal. Narasimha was none of these, as he is a form of Vishnu incarnated as part-human and part-lion. He came upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it was neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out) and put the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowelled and killed Hiranyakashipu alive.
Looking at Narasimha’s rage, all the gods and goddesses sent Prahlada to pacify him. Prahlada prayed to Narasimha, and Ugra Narasimha became the peaceful Soumya Narasimha.
Interestingly, Narasimha has the same story as Indra killing Namuci in the Vedas.
Gandaberunda and Sharabha legends
After Narasimha disembowelled and killed Hiranyakashipu, the other deities thought that the world was going to be threatened by his power. At the behest of the other gods and goddesses, Shiva sent his form of Virabhadra to defeat Narasimha. When Narasimha defeated and drove Virabhadra away, Vishnu and Shiva manifested as Gandaberunda and Sharabha respectively. Gandabherunda fought with Sharabha for 18 days. On the 18th day, Gandaberunda killed Sarabha. Gandaberunda subsequently took his true form of Vishnu and went to Vaikuntha, while Sharabha took his true form of Shiva and went to Kailasha.
Narasimha is a significant iconic symbol of creative resistance, hope against odds, victory over persecution, and destruction of evil.
