The real purpose of worshiping Nṛsimhadeva
In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, chapter 5.18, we find a passage where Prahlāda Maharaja offers his prayers to Nṛsiṁhadeva. What is he, the greatest devotee of the Lord, praying for?
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We often think that we should worship Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva for protection against different threats. Just like He appeared from the pillar to protect Prahlāda Maharaja, He can protect us from all dangers, we conclude. While He is surely able to protect us, this kind of material protection is actually not the real purpose of worshiping Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva; it is just a secondary benefit at best.
In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, chapter 5.18, we find a passage where Prahlāda Maharaja offers his prayers to Nṛsiṁhadeva. What is he, the greatest devotee of the Lord, praying for?
You can see his words from text 5.8.8 to 5.18.14. In short, we are trying to be devotees, but our material desires often get in the way. These material desires are compared with Hiraṇyakaśipu tormenting Prahlāda Maharaja. Therefore, understanding that these desires are something external to our real self, and contrary to our real interest, we should pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to free us from these material desires and protect our devotional service, just as He protected Prahlāda Maharaja by killing his vicious father.
The characteristic of pure devotion is the desire for pleasing Kṛṣṇa, while material life is based on the desire to satisfy our senses. In any case, we have to serve because this is our constitutional position, but we can choose who or what to serve.
Unless we become freed of all material desires, we cannot fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord, since our remaining material desires will always get in the way. Also, we cannot stop the repetition of birth and death without being completely desireless. Therefore, once the problem is identified, we can sincerely pray to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva to save us from the torment of our Hiraṇyakaśipu-like desires, so we can be fully engaged in His devotional service.
Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Lord, one asks some benediction from Him. Prahlāda Maharaja also follows this, even though a pure devotee and completely free from all material desire. What does he pray for?
First, he prays for the well-being of all people. The desire for material gratification leads to fruitive activity and envy, two formidable obstacles to one’s spiritual advancement. Real happiness comes from connection with Kṛṣṇa, the eternal nature of the soul, and thus material desires are the root cause of all miseries. He goes thus directly to the root cause of the problem, praying that Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva may destroy their material desires and contamination, so they may become peaceful devotees who think of others’ welfare.
There are countless souls in each universe, and from these, only a small percentage are active at any given time. Even if all these active souls who are awakened in different types of bodies are liberated, others will replace them, and the universe will continue. In fact, it is mentioned that this happened at the time of the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (as discussed in CC Antya-lila, chapter 3). Apart from this, there are many universes and unlimited souls residing in the causal ocean; therefore, we should not think that it is a problem for the Lord if all souls of the universe were liberated. In fact, that’s precisely what He wants. Jails are a necessity in any country to contain the criminal population, but no one becomes unhappy when a prison is closed due to a lack of prisoners.
Another point is that it is very difficult for anyone to remain without association. Liberated souls in the spiritual world associate with Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, while conditioned souls forge many temporary relationships in this material world. The only positions in which there is no association whatsoever are the causal ocean and the impersonal Brahmajyoti, which are not completely stable positions and are not desirable for Vaiṣnavas. We don’t want to remain conditioned souls; therefore, mundane relationships are not helpful, but we also don’t want to become impersonalists. Therefore, the extinction of all relationships is also not desirable.
Prahlāda thus teaches us the way: Instead of feeling attraction to mundane friends and family members, we should transfer this affection to Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. Just as by associating with materialists we become more entangled in material desires, by associating with devotees who want exclusively to serve Kṛṣṇa, we get immersed in the same attitude of pure service and love for Kṛṣṇa. As a result, the mind finally becomes peaceful, and we become satisfied with what we have, instead of hankering for more. Losing the attraction for the satisfaction of the senses, we quickly advance. Without such saintly association, however, we will tend to go back to the association of materialists, or we may start going in the direction of impersonalism, which will also not help us.
Nowadays, we often mix the practice of devotional service with materialistic life, diluting the whole process and making things complicated, but when we go for a simple life, with good association and good spiritual practice, things become simpler.
Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, bhagavaty uttama-śloke, bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī, “By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”
Everything starts by somehow coming in contact with devotees. We then start the process of chanting and hearing transcendental literature, and just by faithfully hearing, we can become, at least for the time being, almost free from material contamination. This gives us a chance of being engaged in devotional service, and by following the process, the contamination of the modes of passion and ignorance diminishes. Eventually, we become fixed in the mode of goodness. At this stage, the symptoms of material hankering and attachment subside, and we become happy and fixed in devotional service, offering us a platform for advancing further.
The best way to keep our Kṛṣṇa Consciousness alive is by working to bring it to others. That’s why Prabhupāda organized his whole movement around this goal. Conversely, when we lose this enthusiasm, the tendency is that we gradually go back into materialism and bad association.
The question of qualities
In text twelve, Prahlāda Maharaja touches on the point of good qualities. Kṛṣṇa is the source of all good qualities, which are embodied in the demigods. The demigods manifest in the body of a devotee who developed unalloyed devotion. A materialist, however, who is disconnected from Kṛṣṇa, on the other hand, shows no good qualities.
It could be argued, however, that it can be practically observed that often materialists show good qualities, such as kindness, cleanliness, truthfulness, and so on, qualities that a number of devotees appear to lack.
There are a series of points to be noted in this connection, however. The first is that, in any case, these qualities come from some form of proximity with Kṛṣṇa, even if indirect. Demons in the lower planetary systems often exhibit good material qualities, such as charity, but these come from them following brāhminical culture, under the guidance of their guru, Śukrācārya. Similarly, materialists on this planet may follow moral codes, give charity, or practice habits connected with the mode of goodness. All of this is indirectly connected with Kṛṣṇa, and this indirect connection is the source of their good qualities. They may also be coming from an environment of piety in previous lives, and still display some good qualities connected with this past birth. However, because they are now associating with the modes of passion and ignorance, which are the source of all bad qualities, whatever good qualities they may have now will be gradually covered up to the point one becomes a dog or a pig.
A devotee, on the other hand, is on the ascending path. Even if coming from a sinful birth, one is learning to cultivate good habits and reform oneself through the devotional process. More than that, by getting closer to Kṛṣṇa, one gradually ascends to the mode of goodness, and from there gets closer to the transcendental platform. Eventually, one becomes an unalloyed devotee who displays all the good qualities described by Prahlāda Maharaja.
Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja mentions that all good qualities become manifest in the body of a Vaiṣṇava, while Jīva Goswami concludes (Śrī Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, 190.4) that all good qualities take shelter of bhakti. A devotee may not exhibit good qualities while still struggling to surpass the beginning stages of the devotional process, but as one advances, qualities such as kindness, truthfulness, equality, faultlessness, magnanimity, cleanliness, peacefulness, working for others’ benefit, steadiness, sense control, etc., become automatically manifest. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light. When the supreme light of Kṛṣṇa becomes manifest in our lives, all darkness is automatically dissipated.
Another side to this question is explored by Prabhupāda in his purport to text 13. Just as aquatic animals such as crocodiles can’t exhibit their original power while on land, a soul can’t exhibit one’s original spiritual power if not engaged in spiritual activities. A materialist, therefore, exalted as he may be by material standards, can’t really exhibit any good quality at all. All he may possess are temporary material imitations, coming from interactions of the three modes. As he comments, “Their greatness is like that of a young husband and wife who, though uneducated, praise one another and become attracted to their own temporary beauty. This kind of greatness is appreciated only by low-class men with no qualifications.”
On family life
In the final verse of his prayers, Prahlāda Maharaja mentions:
“Therefore, O demons, give up the so-called happiness of family life and simply take shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, which are the actual shelter of fearlessness. Entanglement in family life is the root cause of material attachment, indefatigable desires, moroseness, anger, despair, fear and the desire for false prestige, all of which result in the repetition of birth and death.”
Traditionally, materialistic life is cultivated by gṛhamedhīs, who remain attached to family life as a source of enjoyment, while remaining blind to self-realization. Nowadays, many do even worse, by not accepting even the sacred vows of marriage, and just practicing promiscuous sex and other forms of sin without any regulation, but this does not make the situation of the gṛhamedhīs good. Their life is full of material attachment, tireless desires, moroseness, anger, despair, fear, and false prestige, all of this simply to acquire a new birth at the end.
Prahlāda Maharaja thus urges all demons and materialists to give up this abominable life of sense gratification and simply take shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. By surrendering unto Him, we attain fearlessness.
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