𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦

                             𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦:

A half mile away in the South Easterly direction of Thuppul (the birth place of Swami Desikan), lies the Divya Desam of ThiruveLLukkai, situated on the southern part of River Vegavathi in Kanchipuram, where Kama Aasikaa Narasimhan is the presiding deity. He is also known as Mukunda Nayakan.

At ThiruveLLUkkai, the Moolavr sits in the middle of the temple tank known as Kanaka Pushkarini. He is not easily approachable for worship. The Uthsavar and His Piratti (ThiruveLLUkkai Valli ) are standing under the Kanaka Vimanam. The Moolavar (Kamaasikhaa Narasimhan ) is seated in the Yoga Pose known as Paryanga Bhandham. The Lord of this Divya Desam got his name Kamaasikaa Narasimhan because he chose the banks of Vegavathi out of his own desire/sankalpam (Kama ) to be seated (Aasikaa) on the banks of the Vegavathi river. The Tamil name of ThiruVelLLukkai follows this Sanskritic nomenclature. The shorter name of VeLLukkai stands for VeL Veeru Irukkai. The word VeL relates to the Kama or Svat Sankalpam aspect of the Lord's own desire to sit (Veeru Irukkai ) at this Divya Desam. Swami Desikan says that Narasimhan left Sri Vaikuntam out of His own will and chose to sit on the sandy banks of Vegavathi at ThiruveLLUkkai Kshetram.

Swami Desikan"s eight slokams (Ashtakam )and the pala sruthi slokam are marvels of poetry. For these nine slokas, Swami Desikan chose six different meters to celebrate the movement of Narasimha Bhagavan as he went about HIs Avathara Kaaryam.

𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐚̄ 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣❟ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐲𝐚-𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐡̣

𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐮̄𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐚̄ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣❟ 𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐦𝐚̄ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐯𝐢𝐬́𝐞̄𝐬̣𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐡̣ |

𝐣𝐧̃𝐚̄𝐧𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐡̣ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣❟ 𝐝𝐡𝐲𝐚̄𝐧𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐚 𝐜𝐚

𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬̣𝐭̣𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐩𝐮𝐬̣𝐩𝐚𝐦̣❟ 𝐯𝐢𝐬̣𝐧̣𝐨̄𝐡̣ 𝐩𝐫𝐢̄𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐛𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞̄𝐭 ||

Eight flowers are dear to Lord Viṣṇu – non-violence, self-restraint, universal compassion, forgiveness, knowledge, austerity, meditation and truth.

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𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙀 1: 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙀 𝙊𝙁 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙉𝘿𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙉𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙄𝙈𝙃𝘼𝙉.

𝟏. 𝐬́𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐢̄𝐧𝐚̄𝐦-𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐛𝐡𝐚̄𝐠𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐯𝐞̄𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐚̄𝐬́𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐢𝐧̣𝐚𝐦 |

𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐝-𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐢̄𝐲𝐚̄𝐭 𝐤𝐚𝐬́𝐜𝐢𝐝-𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚-𝐤𝐞̄𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢̄ ||

𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵ℎ𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑠 "𝐾𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝐴𝑑ℎ𝑏ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑎 𝐾𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖" . 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐻𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑑𝑏ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑎 𝐾𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖(𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑛). 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑑ℎ𝑏ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑎 𝐾𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑠 (𝑖𝑒) 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠, "𝑆𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑚 𝑈𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝐵ℎ𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑚". 𝐻𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑣𝑒𝐿𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑉𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑦𝑎𝑚𝑠 (𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑦𝑎𝑎: 𝐷𝑎𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑐ℎ𝑎 𝐴𝑑ℎ𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛 ). 𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑑𝑏ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑎 𝐾𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 (𝐽𝑒𝑒𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑡ℎ) 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦. 𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖s 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑣𝑒𝐿𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑎.

Maṅgaḷāśāsanam or singing benediction to the Lord is the most important quality of a Śrīvaiṣṇava. Svāmi Dēśikan commences his work by singing benediction to Lord Narasimha.

The Lord is a marvel because, on the one hand, He is the ultimate truth revealed by the Vēdānta. Sages put great efforts to realize Him.

On the other hand, He easily walks down and settles Himself south of River Vēgavatī to grace His devotees. That the highest truth is easily accessible, is a wonder.

Though He is omnipresent, He specially chooses to be manifest in Tiruvēḷukkai for the benefit of His devotees.

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𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙀 2: 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝙔𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙑𝘼𝙇 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 𝙆𝙄𝙉𝘿𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘼𝙁𝙁𝙇𝙄𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎

𝟐. 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞̄𝐧𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢-𝐧𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐡̣ 𝐭𝐚̄𝐩𝐚̄𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐨̄𝐭𝐮 𝐧𝐚𝐡̣ |

𝐭𝐚̄𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢̄𝐲𝐚-𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐚̄𝐧𝐚̄𝐦̣ 𝐬𝐚̄𝐫𝐚𝐡̣ 𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚̄𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐡̣ ||

𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛, 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑔𝑛𝑖. 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑦𝑎 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑁𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎 𝑇𝑎𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑦𝑎 𝑈𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑. 𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑠 (𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠) 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑚 (𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠, 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟, 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑙), 𝐴𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑖 𝐵ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑚 (𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑖 𝐷𝑎𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑚 (𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑑, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡, 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠, 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑙 ).

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The hymn is along the lines of Tiruppāvai – *𝒕𝒊𝒏̇𝒈𝒂𝒍̣𝒖𝒎 𝒂̄𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒎 𝒆𝒛𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂̄𝒓𝒑𝒐̄𝒍 𝒂̄𝒏̇𝒈𝒂𝒏̣ 𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒏̣𝒅̣𝒖𝒎 𝒌𝒐𝒏̣𝒅̣𝒖 𝒆𝒏̇𝒈𝒂𝒍̣ 𝒎𝒆̄𝒍 𝒏𝒐̄𝒌𝒌𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒚𝒆̄𝒍❟ 𝒆𝒏̇𝒈𝒂𝒍̣ 𝒎𝒆̄𝒍 𝒔𝒂̄𝒑𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒛𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖*.

Āṇḍāl addresses Kṛṣṇa to cast His glances of the Sun and the Moon to remove the blemishes of His devotees.

Svāmi Dēśīkan’s appeal is directed to Lord Narasimha, who is three-eyed with the Sun, the Moon and the Fire. The benefit requested is the same.

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𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙀 3: 𝙎𝘼𝙇𝙐𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝙆𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙍𝘼𝙑𝘼𝙉

𝟑. 𝐚̄𝐤𝐚𝐧̣𝐭̣𝐡𝐚𝐦-𝐚̄𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐬̣𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐤𝐚𝐧̣𝐭̣𝐡𝐢̄𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐦-𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐤𝐮𝐧̣𝐭̣𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐚̄𝐫𝐚̄𝐭𝐢𝐦 |

𝐯𝐞̄𝐠𝐨̄𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐧̣𝐭̣𝐡𝐚-𝐬𝐚𝐧̇𝐠𝐚̄𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐤𝐭𝐚-𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐮𝐧̣𝐭̣𝐡𝐚-𝐛𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐦-𝐮𝐩𝐚̄𝐬𝐞̄ ||

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑣𝑒𝐿𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘. 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎n𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑟𝑖 𝑉𝑎𝑖𝑘𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑚.

The scriptures talk about the Brahman, who is Lord Mahā Viṣṇu and is the cause of the universe. From the lotus feet upto the neck, Narasimha resembles the causal being. Above the neck, He has the face of a lion.

This strange appearance is due to the boon of Hiraṇya. In order to grace His devotees, He even leaves the comfort of Vaikuṇṭha.

He considers His stay among His children in saṃsāra more joyous than the luxury of Vaikuṇṭha.

.

𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 4: 𝑬𝑼𝘓𝑶𝑮𝒀 𝑻𝑶 𝑵𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑯𝑨𝑵

𝟒. 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡��𝐦-𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐚 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨̄𝐡̣ 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐚-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧̇𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐚-𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧̣𝐢̄𝐲𝐚𝐦 |

𝐯𝐢𝐬̣𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐨̄𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦-𝐢̄𝐝̣𝐞̄ 𝐯𝐞̄𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢̄-𝐩𝐮𝐥̣𝐢𝐧𝐚-𝐤𝐞̄𝐥̣𝐢-𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐡𝐚𝐦 ||

𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐾𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑎𝑚,𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖.𝐻𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙��𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠.𝐻𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑃𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑎 𝐵ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑ℎ𝑎𝑚.𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑉𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑. 𝑉𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑉𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 (𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 , 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 ( 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑛 , 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑔𝑛𝑖 ).

1. This echoes the message of verses such as ‘mātā pitā bhrātā nivāsaś-śaraṇāṃ suhṛt gatir nārāyaṇaḥ’ – Nārāyaṇa is the mother, the father, the brother, the refuge, the friend and the end.

‘sēlēy kaṇṇiyarum peruñcelvamum nan makkaḷum mēlāttāy tantaiyumavarē iniyāvārē’ – He is the spouse, the wealth, the children, the mother, and the father.

2. The band is worn around the lower limbs and back in the Paryaṅka Yōgāsana posture. Here, Lord Narasimha is worshipped as Yōga Narasimha.

3. The reference to mysterious eyes is due to the presence of the third eye. The two eyes of the Sun and the Moon are commonly known for the Lord.

However, Lord Narasimha appeared with an additional third eye of Fire.

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𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 5: 𝑷𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑩𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑳𝑫

𝟓. 𝐬𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚̄𝐧𝐞̄𝐬̣𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐚𝐧̣𝐚̄𝐧 𝐧𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐯𝐚̄𝐝𝐡𝐢̄𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞̄𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐡̣

𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧̇𝐤𝐚-𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐚̄𝐫𝐚𝐧̣𝐚̄𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐭̣𝐢𝐭𝐚-𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧̇-𝐦𝐮𝐤𝐡𝐚̄𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐡̣ |

𝐩𝐫𝐚̄𝐲𝐞̄𝐧̣𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐧̣𝐢𝐩𝐞̄𝐝𝐮𝐬̣𝐚̄𝐦̣ 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐮 𝐲𝐨̄𝐠𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐧𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐬́𝐢𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧

𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐧𝐚̄𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐚̄𝐝𝐚𝐬́𝐞̄𝐬̣𝐚-𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐚̄𝐦̣ 𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚̄-𝐤𝐞̄𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢̄ ||

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑎 𝑉𝑖𝑘𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎, 𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑠(𝐴𝑠𝑎𝑜𝑢. 𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝐾𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖: 𝐴𝑠𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑎 𝐽𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑚 𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑡ℎ ).𝑆𝑤𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑣𝑒𝐿𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑘��𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑦𝑢𝑠(𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑛, 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚, 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚, 𝑈𝑑ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 ).𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐽𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑚. 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝐻𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑎𝑠. 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛"𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚 (𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑖 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠��𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠) 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑎𝑑𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑌𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠.

This hymn also refers to the Lord as Yōga Narasimha. The hymn has been composed with remarkable intelligence.

In one interpretation, it explains the Parabrahma-svarūpa of Lord Narasimha. In another reading, it shows Lord Narasimha as a Yōgin.

As the Supreme Lord, Narasimha commands the demi-gods. It is said *bhīṣasmād-vātaḥ bhavatē, bhīṣōdēti sūryaḥ*.

It is out of fear of Him that air and the sun conduct themselves.

He is master of the senses of all beings and is free to direct them as He pleases. He is seated in Yōga posture facing the West.

A Yōgin controls the vital energies within his body as well as his senses. He is removed from the external world and is completely focussed within upon himself.

In the second reading, Lord Narasimha is compared to such a Yōgin.

.

𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 6: 𝑷𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫❜𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵

𝟔. 𝐯𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐚-𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐚-𝐬𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐮-𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐧̣𝐲𝐚-𝐯𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐡̣-𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢̄-

𝐧𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐥̣𝐚-𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐥̣𝐚-𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚-𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐮-𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐲𝐚̄𝐲𝐢𝐭𝐚̄𝐡̣ |

𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚̄𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚̄-𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐣𝐚-𝐩𝐚𝐧̃𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐲𝐚 𝐦𝐚̄𝐦

𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐡̣ 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐭̣𝐢𝐭𝐚̄𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐚̄ 𝐛𝐚̄𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐡̣ ||

𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛"𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑘 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑒 . 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑉𝑎𝑗𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛 𝑎�� 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑘. 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝐵ℎ𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑎 𝑃𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑎.𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠!

Svāmi Dēśikan prays that the arms of Lord Narasimha that bear the mark of rescuing Prahlādāzhvān must compete with one another to save him.

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𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 7: 𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑪𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑼𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑭𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑪𝑰𝑶𝑼𝑺 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑻𝑬

𝟕. 𝐬𝐚𝐭̣𝐚̄𝐩𝐚𝐭̣𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐢̄𝐬̣𝐚𝐧̣𝐞̄ 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐚̄𝐭̣𝐭̣𝐚𝐡𝐚̄𝐬𝐨̄𝐝𝐛𝐡𝐚𝐭̣𝐞̄

𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐮𝐭̣𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐭̣𝐢𝐤𝐞̄~𝐩𝐢 𝐯𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐫𝐞̄ 𝐤𝐫̣𝐭𝐞̄ |

𝐤𝐫̣𝐩𝐚̄ 𝐤𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭̣𝐚𝐤𝐞̄𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐣𝐚𝐝̣𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐡𝐚-𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚̄

𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐨̄𝐣𝐚-𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐫̣𝐬́𝐚̄ 𝐝𝐫̣𝐬́𝐚̄ 𝐯𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬̣𝐚𝐣𝐲𝐚 𝐭𝐞̄ 𝐯𝐲𝐚𝐣𝐲𝐚𝐭𝐞̄ ||

𝑂 𝐾𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎! 𝑜 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 ! 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑟𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑟-𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑠 ,𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑃𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑎𝑑𝑎 . 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑎𝑑𝑎. 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛.

An episode is recorded in the Īḍu commentary for Tiruvāymozhi 3-6-6.

A few disciples asked Svāmi Rāmānuja thus, “How was Prahlādāzhvān able to approach the Lord while His anger was boiling over Hiraṇya?”

Svāmi replied, “Even as the lioness is agitated over an elephant, won’t her cub be still been able to drink milk from her? The cause of Lord Narasimha’s anger is His love for His devotees. Would such anger stop Him from being approached by the very same devotees?”

In this hymn, Svāmi Dēśikan has followed this analogy shown by Svāmi Emberumānār of a lioness suckling her cub even as she is enraged by an elephant to explain the contrasting effects on the countenance of Lord Narasimha.

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𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 8: 𝑺𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑨𝑮𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑰 𝑨𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑵𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑯𝑨𝑵

𝟖. 𝐭𝐯𝐚𝐲𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐡̣ 𝐤𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐢𝐡̣

𝐭𝐯𝐚𝐲𝐢 𝐜𝐚̄𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐬̣𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐡̣ 𝐤𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐢𝐡̣ |

𝐢𝐭𝐢 𝐧𝐢𝐬́𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐢̄𝐡̣ 𝐬́𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚̄𝐦𝐢 𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐦

𝐧𝐫̣𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞̄❗ 𝐯𝐞̄𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢̄-𝐭𝐚𝐭̣𝐚̄𝐬́𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐭𝐯𝐚̄𝐦 ||

𝑂 𝑘𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑎! 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑠? 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑁𝑂𝑇 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 , 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠?. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟.

Svāmi Dēśikan captures the essence of the scriptures in the closing verse.

Svāmi Piḷḷai Lōkācārya says in Mumukṣuppaḍi – *īsvaranai ozhindavar raksharallarennumiḍam prapanna paritrāṇattil sonnōm* (We have said in the book Prapanna Paritrāṇa that none but the Lord is the saviour).

While the Lord is the saviour, one need not go seeking anyone else (including oneself).

If the Lord does not save, what is the use of the others anyway. He alone is capable of saving, none else.

It is also fit that we are saved by Him alone.

With this firm conviction, Svāmi Dēśikan takes eternal refuge under the lotus feet of Lord Narasimha.

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𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬 9: 𝑷𝑨𝑳𝑨: 𝑺𝑹𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑰 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑨𝑴

𝟗. 𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦̣ 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐡̣ 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐫̣𝐝𝐢𝐡𝐚̄𝐬̣𝐭̣𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞̄𝐬̣𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐝𝐲𝐚𝐢𝐡̣

𝐬́𝐫𝐢̄𝐯𝐞̄𝐧̇𝐤𝐚𝐭̣𝐞̄𝐬́𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐬-𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐬́𝐞̄𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚-𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐚𝐡̣ |

𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚̄𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐨̄𝐫𝐚-𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞̄𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚-𝐛𝐡𝐞̄𝐝𝐢̄

𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚̄-𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐫-𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨̄𝐭𝐮 𝐤𝐚̄𝐦𝐚̄𝐧 ||

𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝐾𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑘ℎ𝑎𝑎 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚ℎ𝑎𝑛 , 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑠 ,𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑠 , 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 Svāmi Dēśikan !

This is another case of charming poetry. The lion is agitated by the elephant and destroys it. Lord Narasimha destroys our sins that are as mighty as elephants.

He, who is worshipped by even the gods, is pleased with us even if we praise Him just once.

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𝑺𝑹𝑰 𝑵𝑹𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑯𝑨 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑩𝑹𝑯𝑴𝑨𝑵𝑬𝑯 𝑵𝑨𝑴𝑨:

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