Brahmā’s Stotra to Narasiṃha
This stotra is the hymn of praise that Brahmā offered to Bhagavān Narasiṃha just after Bhagavān Narasiṃha slew the daitya king Hiraṇyakaśipu. Brahmā led the gathered devas and ṛshis in singing it. It is found in the Bhavishya Parva of the Harivaṃśa, chapter 47.
The setting
Bhagavān Narasiṃha tore open Hiraṇyakaśipu at the threshold of the great hall. In this way he met every condition of the vara (boon) of invincibility that the daitya king had received. The three worlds were now free from Hiraṇyakaśipu’s rule. Prahlāda’s long devotion was proved true.
The devas had lost their place in svarga (heaven). They now gathered near this great event. Brahmā, the creator of the worlds, was the one who had given Hiraṇyakaśipu that very vara. He now led the devas and ṛshis in offering a Sanskrit stotra to the blazing, fierce and beautiful form of Bhagavān Narasiṃha.
The stotra
The stotra speaks of Bhagavān Narasiṃha in these ways.
The supreme power
Bhagavān Narasiṃha’s power is greater than the power of all created beings: devas, asuras, yakshas, gandharvas and ṛshis. No vara given by any deva can protect anyone against his will. All power to give a vara comes from him.
He is present everywhere, as Prahlāda said
The stotra accepts what Prahlāda had said all along: Bhagavān Vishṇu is present everywhere. He is in every pillar as much as in Brahmaloka, and in every atom as much as in the sun. Bhagavān Narasiṃha coming out of the pillar was the fulfilment of what Prahlāda saw.
Care for his devotees
The central teaching of the stotra is bhakta-rakshaṇa, the protection of devotees. Bhagavān Narasiṃha did not come because power or a yajña (fire ritual) called him. He came because the love of his devotee Prahlāda drew him. The stotra praises him as the one who always comes to those who cry out to him.
The form beyond all forms
Narasiṃha is neither man nor beast. He was born from no womb. He came out of lifeless stone. The stotra praises him as the one who is nirguṇa (beyond the guṇas) and beyond all description, and yet takes the most unexpected forms to protect dharma and his devotees.
The destroyer of adharma
Hiraṇyakaśipu was invincible by his vara, yet he fell before Bhagavān Narasiṃha. The stotra praises Bhagavān Narasiṃha as the one who removes adharma (what is against dharma) from its root. He does this not by outer force alone, but by ṛta (the right order), which is his own nature.
Why it matters
Brahmā offered this stotra straight after a great event of Bhagavān Vishṇu, as the witness of those who saw it. The creator thus declares that the same Bhagavān Vishṇu whose power of creation works through Brahmā took this fierce form to protect the love of one devotee.
Sources
- Harivaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapter 47