Sankirtan Address
Lord Nrsinghadeva Appearance 2018
His Grace Rama Raya Prabhu
Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.9
svasty astu viśvasya khalaḥ prasīdatāṁ
dhyāyantu bhūtāni śivaṁ mitho dhiyā
manaś ca bhadraṁ bhajatād adhokṣaje
āveśyatāṁ no matir apy ahaitukī
"May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each
other’s welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
and always remain absorbed in thought of Him."
This is a prayer by the great devotee Prahlad Maharaja for whom the Lord appeared as Nrsinghadeva to protect him from the many offenses and harm that were being done to him by his demoniac father Hiranyakasipu. So Srila Prabhupada’s purport:
The following verse describes a Vaiṣṇava:
vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
Just like a desire tree, a Vaiṣṇava can fulfill all the desires of anyone who takes shelter of his lotus feet. Prahlāda Mahārāja is a typical Vaiṣṇava. He prays not for himself but for all living entities — the gentle, the envious and the mischievous. He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiraṇyakaśipu. Prahlāda Mahārāja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father. This is the attitude of a Vaiṣṇava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe.
Srila Prabhupada mentions here all the living entities in three categories: the gentle, the envious, and the mischievous. So in this material world, the eternal souls come here in a spirit of rebellion against Krsna and they leave His transcendental loving service to try to become imitation Gods or imitation Krsnas. So when a spotlessly pure devotee like Prahlada Maharaj appears, he does not enter into the consciousness of the conditioned souls who are thinking in terms of friend/enemy, good/bad, favorable/unfavorable. The pure devotee only understands that everyone is Krsna’s eternal part and parcel, eternal loving eternal servant. As he himself is engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he wishes to bestow that benediction upon everyone and wishes to relate with everyone on that platform. In effect, the pure Vaishnava brings everyone up to his exalted platform.
Srila prabhupada continues:
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and bhāgavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsarāṇām).
Free from envy. Envy of Krsna. Why should Krsna be the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Why should He be the enjoyer? All competition for who can be the most beautiful, who can be the most intelligent, who can be the richest, and who can be the most reputed or influential. These are all perverted reflections of rejoicing in the fact that Krsna who is sad aisvarya purna, complete in six opulences of which four we just named: strength, wealth, beauty, knowledge, renunciation, and fame. So Bhagavat Dharma or understanding pure devotional service or how to love Krsna in one’s loving eternal relationship is reserved for persons who are completely free of envy.
Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays in this verse, khalaḥ prasīdatām: “May all the envious persons be pacified.” The material world is full of envious persons, but if one frees himself of envy, he becomes liberal in his social dealings and can think of others’ welfare.
So when we are envious then we do not really have the proper empathy to be able to think of other’s welfare properly. We become selfish and self-centered.
Prabhupada continues:
Anyone who takes up Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engages himself completely in the service of the Lord cleanses his mind of all envy (manaś ca bhadraṁ bhajatād adhokṣaje). Therefore we should pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to sit in our hearts. We should pray, bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁhaḥ: “Let Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities. Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”
So this is the ultimate prayer and desire of the prayer devotee when he is within this world. As Lord Nrsinghadeva is the form of Krsna who became very very angry at the epitome of material desire, the personification of material desire, Hiranyakasipu. And more so when that Hiranyakasipu made great offense to the pure devotee, the Lord appeared in a very angry incarnation. And of course, it is interesting to remember how Hiranyakasipu thought that he could conquer over death, which only the pure devotee can, by asking for all different types of what he thought were well thought out benedictions: to not be killed in the land/sea/sky, by any weapons, by any living entity - man/animal/beast/aquatic created by Lord Visnu, not inside or outside of any residence, not in the day or night, etc.
So the Lord appeared in an Adbhuta never before seen, half-man half-lion incarnation. He killed Hiranyakasipu at twilight/dusk, which is neither day or night. He killed him not on the land, sea or sky but up on His lap. He killed him not with any weapons living or dead but with His fingernails, which are neither living nor dead nor can be considered a weapon. He killed him in the doorway or threshold of the assembly hall which is neither inside or outside of any residence but between the two.
Srila Prabhupada is teaching us to pray to Lord Nrsinghadeva to sit in the core of our hearts and kill our bad propensities.
“Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”
Srila Prabhupada continues:
If the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Kṛṣṇa everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays, śivaṁ mitho dhiyā. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others.
Lord Nrsinghadev has appeared in this Kali-Yuga as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Like Nrsinghadeva who killed Hiranyakasipu and all of his followers who tried to defend him, Lord Caitanya is killing the demoniac propensities in the most incredible way by spreading Vraja prema-bhakti through His personally inaugurated movement, the prema-nama harinama sankirtan movement. By distributing the chanting of Hare Krsna by devotees who are striving to become free from envy and practically speaking the very activity of administering the holy name in public is practically the most non-envious activity that one can perform and is actually the showing of the greatest form of love to every living being. Because Krsna appears in the chanting of the holy name of His pure devotees and benedicts everyone in so many miraculous and amazing ways.
Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa (bhajatād adhokṣaje). As indicated elsewhere in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ) and as advised by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (18.65), man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam).
Ceto-darpana-marjanam is Lord Caitanya’s personal prayer in His Siksastakam: All glories to the sankirtan movement which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and lifetimes together.
Prabhupada continues:
Materialists always think of sense gratification, but Prahlāda Mahārāja prays that the Lord’s mercy will change their minds and they will stop thinking of sense gratification. If they think of Kṛṣṇa always, everything will be all right.
We as aspiring servants of the glorious sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu here in New York City Harinam take shelter of Lord Nrsinghadev on this day and always and pray for His mercy so that the distribution of the prema-dharma and distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books, the ultimate movement of love of Godhead, harinam sankirtan movement can be successful in spreading more and more and more in New York City.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Your servant,
Rama Raya dasa