Greetings and Namaste. As Sri Nrusimha Jayanti falls on Saturday, the 14th of May 2022, I am delighted to share a very rare
Ashtakam (8-stanza hymn) on Lord Nrusimha by Devas such as Lord Brahma, Sadhya, Yama Varuna, etc. taken from
Sri Linga Mahapurana, Purva Bhaga and Chapter 95.
They pray to Lord Nrusimha with this hymn to requesting Him to shed his fierce lion-human form but unfortunately
Lord Nrusimha does not oblige. They later pray to Lord Shiva who then takes Lord Sharabheshwara
form to pacify Lord Nrusimha. As this happens at the Pradosha time (the time when day and night meet) on the 14th bright half,
Pradosha time is auspicious equally for the prayer of Lord Nrusimha and Lord Shiva. There is also a practice to perform
Abhishekam to Lord Nrusimha using Rudram, a hymn devoted to
Lord Shiva.
But as we have seen innumerable times in the past, our scriptures don't entertain any difference between the various deity forms of the one and only Almighty. The deity forms are just name-tags for the various celestial duties performed by The Almighty.
On the contrary, they strictly warn that anyone who harbors differences among the Trinity are signing up for their own sojourn in the goriest of hells.
Lord Rama explains this unequivocally in Padma Puranam, Patala Khanda, Chapter 46, Verses 20-21:
rAma uvAca-
mamAsi hRRidaye sharva bhavato hRRidaye tvaham | Avayor antaraM nAsti mUDhAH pashyanti durdhiyaH || 20 ||
ye bhedaM vidadhatyaddhA Avayor eka-rUpayoH | kuMbhIpAkeShu pacyante naAH kalpa-sahasrakam || 21 ||
Meaning : Lord Rama said - Lord Sharva (Shiva) is posited in my heart and I am posited in Lord Bhava (Shiva). There is no difference between us. Those fools with crooked intellgence that see difference between us will
be punished in the hell named Kumbhipakam where they will be fried in oil for 1000s of Kalpas.
May We Pray to Lord Nrusimha with this beautiful hymn on Nrusimha Jayanti!
With best regards & Pranams,
K. Muralidharan Iyengar (Murali)