Nṛsiṃha at Maulisthāna

After Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda sat on his lap and asked where his own unbroken devotion came from. Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha told him of his own presence at Maulisthāna, a holy place on the Sindhū river in the west. He told of the brāhmaṇa Harita and his wife Līlāvatī, who gave twenty-one yugas to tapas (austerity). He then taught the Nṛsiṃha Caturdaśī vow. Chapter 174 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this.

Prahlāda asks where his devotion came from

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha had killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. Prahlāda was sitting on his divine lap. Prahlāda asked Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha to say where his unbroken devotion had begun.

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha told him that Prahlāda had not always been Prahlāda. In an earlier life he was a brāhmaṇa named Vasudeva. Vasudeva was given to prostitutes and sense pleasure and had done no good deeds. Even so, through the power of a sacred vow, bhakti (devotion) rose in him. (Chapter 174)

The vow and those who kept it

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha called this vow, the Nṛsiṃha Caturdaśī, the highest of vows. Brahmā kept it for the sake of creation. Bhagavān Śiva kept it to kill Tripura. Many ṛshis and kings of old kept it too. All who kept it won success and became dear to Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha.

Prahlāda asked how the vow should be kept: on which day, in which month and by what method. (Chapter 174)

Harita and Līlāvatī at Maulisthāna

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha first told how he came to be present at Maulisthāna, the holy place on the Sindhū river in the west. A brāhmaṇa named Harita lived there. He was a master of the Vedas and was given to jñāna (knowledge) and dhyāna (meditation). His wife was Līlāvatī. She was virtuous, full of puṇya (merit) and wholly devoted to her husband. Together they kept up hard tapas for twenty-one yugas without a break. At the end of this long tapas, Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha himself appeared before them. (Chapter 174)

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha’s promise

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha offered them a vara (a boon). Harita and Līlāvatī asked for a son like Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha himself. He answered: “I am eternal; I cannot remain in a womb. But I shall be your son in spirit. I shall abide at this holy place for you.”

Since that time Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha has stayed at Maulisthāna on the Sindhū. He is always there as the protector of his devotees who come to the place. (Chapter 174)

The Nṛsiṃha Caturdaśī vow

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha told Prahlāda in detail how to keep the vow.

• Day. The Caturdaśī (fourteenth lunar day) of the bright half of Vaiśākha. It is especially good on a Saturday, when the Sun is in the Svāti nakshatra (star group), with siddhiyoga and the vapija karaṇa.
• Beginning. The devotee states his purpose before Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha. He controls speech and senses through the whole day.
• Midday. He bathes in a river, lake or pond, using clay, cowdung and dhātrī fruit.
• Worship. He sets up a golden image of Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha with Lakshmī on an auspicious octagon, with a pitcher. He does the shoḍaśopachāra pūjā (worship with sixteen offerings), with sandal, camphor, saffron, Tulasī leaves, incense of kṛshṇāgaru, a lamp and food.
• Night. He stays awake with songs and musical instruments. He reads the Purāṇas about Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha.
• Morning. He worships again. He gives gifts to worthy brāhmaṇas: a golden image, a cow, land, sesame, gold and a bed with seven grains. He feeds the brāhmaṇas.
• Mantra. The mantra begins as follows. The words are given here in part.

O Śrī Nṛsiṃha, O you of great form, unconquerable for a crore of Deaths, O Bhairaveśa, O Hara, O destroyer of misery, O you of the form of a child…

(Chapter 174)

The echo at Maulisthāna

Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha declared that at Maulisthāna, near the Sindhū, a wonderful echo rises if a devotee cries aloud “Nṛsiṃha! Nṛsiṃha!” It is like the cosmic sound at the time of Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha’s own first appearance.

Even those with the gravest pāpa (sin) are freed by bathing in the Sindhū and hearing that echo. These are the killer of a brāhmaṇa, the thief of gold, the drinker of wine and the one who violates the bed of his preceptor. (Chapter 174)

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 174