HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Narasimha"

Word

Narasimha

Sanskrit

नरसिंह

IAST

Narasiṁha

In General

Lord Vishnu took the form of Narasihma, half man half lion in his fourth incarnation, to re establish Dharma on earth. The demon king Hiranyaksha was killed in this avatar to protect the devotee Prahlada . The death of the demon king is celebrated as Holi (the celebration of colors) in several parts of country.

Veda

The Mantra in RV (10.83-84) addressed to deity Manyu (the force of mind) is used traditionally to invoke the puranic deity Narasimha

See: Manyusukta

Purana

Hiranyaksha was killed by Lord in the Kurmavatar . His brother Hiranyakashipu wants to take revenge on Lord Vishnu and his followers for the death of this brother. He performs penance to please Brahma. To escape death Hiranyakashipu demanded a tricky boon. The boon he asked was that he would not die either on earth or in space; nor in fire nor in water; neither during day nor at night; neither inside nor outside (of a home); nor by a human, animal or God; neither by inanimate nor by animate being.

Brahma grants the boon without any reservation and Hiranyakashipu became very confident. With virtually no fear of death he unleashes terror. Declares himself as god and asks people to utter no god’s name except his. However his son Prahlada who was a student of Narada refuses to do so. Prahlada worshiped Vishnu and persuaded other children to do so. Repeated pressurization on him yields no results for Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada declared the omnipresence of Lord Vishnu in every instance he was punished.

Once Hiranyakashipu points to a pillar and asks if Vishnu is present in it. Prahlada nods in affirmative. Angered at it, Hiranyakashipu cut the pillar into two; Narasimha, the Avatar of Vishnu appears out of the broken pillar. Narasimha (being a man-lion form) killed Hiranyakashipu. He comes out to kill at the twilit (neither day nor night);on the doorsteps of his palace (neither inside nor outside). Narasimha used his nails to kill (neither animate nor inanimate) and kept the asura on his lap before killing (neither earth nor in space). Thus the Lords Avatar fulfilled the mission without breaking the condition said in the boon and restored dharma on earth.

Reference

VsP (1.16-20), BgP (Canto 7)

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