Narasimha avatar of Lord
Vishnu is the 4th incarnation among the 10 Dashavatars. Narasimha is also spelt
as Nrusimha, Narasingh and Narasingha. In Narasimha avatar, Lord Vishnu is
portrayed as a half-man half-lion, with a human-like torso and lower body, and
a lion-like face and claws. One of the most popular deities of Hindus, Lord
Narasimha is depicted in early epics, Puranas, Upanishads and other ancient
religious texts of Hinduism. The story of Narasimha Avatar is related to Lord
Vishnu’s incarnation as the boar or Varaha. This image of Lord Vishnu is
worshiped in deity form by various number of Vaishnava groups, all over India
Story of Narasimha
Avatar of Vishnu
According to legends,
Lord Vishnu incarnated as Nrusimha to slay the demon Hiranyakashipu (the
brother of Hiranyaksha who was killed by the Varaha Avatar of
Lord Vishnu). The twin brother of Hiranyaksha
was Hiranyakashipu who wanted to take revenge on Mahavishnu. As he wanted to
become the master of all the three worlds - Heaven, Earth and Pathala, he went
to Mount Mandarachala
Meanwhile,
Hiranyakashipu’s wife Kayadhu gave birth to Prahlad who grew up and became a
keen devotee of Vishnu. But, the demon wanted his son to be a strong and cruel
king like himself. He realized that Prahlad always prayed to Lord Vishnu and
tried to train his son against the Lord Vishnu. However, all his efforts to
influence Prahlad failed. His son remained devoted as ever to Lord Vishnu.
One day, Hiranyakashipu
ordered his servants to kill Prahlad, if he refused to accept the primacy of
his father. Prahlad was thrown down a mountain; he was even being drowned,
poisoned, and burnt. But, all their attempts had failed because Lord Vishnu was
protecting his devotee. King Hiranyakashipu who was very angry on hearing the
failed attempts, challenged his son in the open court. He asked Prahlad whether
Lord Vishnu is present everywhere. Prahlad replied yes which made
Hiranyakashipu ferocious. After heating an iron pillar, the demon asked Prahlad
to hug it, if Lord Vishnu is there. Without hesitating for a moment, Prahlad
rushed towards the pillar and embraced it. But, the heated iron did not
burn him and the king in fury, hit the pillar with his mace.
From the pillar which
cracked with a thundering sound, appeared Vishnu in the form of Narasimha. Half
of his body was of a lion and the other half of a man. He had large moustaches
on the face and terrible teeth in the mouth and his paws had terrible nails.
When the demon king hit Narasimha with his mace, Narasimha took it away. During
the twilight hour, Narasimha caught hold of the demon Hiranyakashipu, sat on
the entrance of the court room and placed the body of the demon on his thighs.
He pierced his nails into the body of the demon and broke open his stomach. The
demon was killed on the spot. Lord Narasimha was soothed by Prahlad who touched
his feet and also by Goddess Lakshmi.
Then Prahlad was made the King by Lord Narasimha.
Narasimha Avatar
Temples of Lord Vishnu
There are
numerous Narasimha Avatar Temples in India
Ahobhilam of Ahobalam Temple
Narsinghji Ka
Mandir in Ajmer
my god,my prayer, om namo narayana.
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