Should Sri Prahlada be Worshipped on Lord Narasimhadeva's Lap?
BY: PAYONIDHI DASA
May 14, MARYLAND, USA (SUN) — In Germany there is a very unusual deity of Prahlada Narasimha. There, Prahlada is seated on the lap of Lord Narasimha. Some Vaisnavas from other sampradayas have found this unusual as the lap of the Lord really belongs to Laxmi devi, but in the pastime we find in Srimad Bhagavatam, Laxmi cannot approach Lord Narasimhadeva as He came to only be pacified by Prahlada Maharaja. Of course, even Hiranyakasipu was offered a place on Lord Narasimhadeva's lap, just enough time so he could be killed there by the Lord.
So certainly Prahlada Maharaja was also fit to be on Narasimhadeva's lap. However reading the version of Srimad Bhagavatam we don't see it is mentioned that Prahlada Maharaja was on Lord Narasimhadeva's lap:
SB 7.9.5: When Lord Narasimhadeva saw the small boy Prahlada Maharaja prostrated at the soles of His lotus feet, He became most ecstatic in affection toward His devotee. Raising Prahlada, the Lord placed His lotus hand upon the boy's head because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness in all of His devotees.
SB 7.9.6: By the touch of Lord Narasimhadeva's hand on Prahlada Maharaja's head, Prahlada was completely freed of all material contaminations and desires, as if he had been thoroughly cleansed. Therefore he at once became transcendentally situated, and all the symptoms of ecstasy became manifest in his body. His heart filled with love, and his eyes with tears, and thus he was able to completely capture the lotus feet of the Lord within the core of his heart.
After Prahlada Maharaja has offered his prayers also there is no mention in the Srimad Bhagavatam:
SB 7.9.51: The great saint Narada said: Thus Lord Narasimhadeva was pacified by the devotee Prahlada Maharaja with prayers offered from the transcendental platform. The Lord gave up His anger, and being very kind to Prahlada, who was offering prostrated obeisances, He spoke as follows.
One may think that while offering blessings to Prahlada Maharaja, Lord Narasimha will place Prahlada Maharaja on his lap. This is also not mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam. However, in some other Puranas it is mentioned, and some Puranas even mention Lord Narasimha licking Prahlada Maharaja's body, just like a lioness licks that of her cubs.
So the lap of Lord Narasimhadeva really belongs to Laxmi devi, like in the beautiful picture above. In Mayapur, Prahlada Maharaja is rightly standing next to the Lord offering prayers. But we see nothing wrong in this Prahlada Narasimha in the Bavarian forest. We where personally present when Prahlada-Narasimha was installed in 1982.
Another question is, if Lord Narasimhadeva in his Vaikuntha Form has that of the half-man and half-lion, according to the Sri Vaisnavas this Form is only manifested in the material world. And we recall having read Srila Prabhupada state in the Teaching of Lord Caitanya that there are no so-called animal forms of the Lord in Vaikuntha. They are all Narayana Forms with different weapons -- conch, club, disc and lotus in each of Their four hands. This has been elaborated on in the Madhya lila of the Caitanya-caritamrta.
Laxmi devi has not seen this Form of Lord Narasimha, as it states in Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.2:
saksat srih presita devair
drstva tam mahad adbhutam
adrstasruta-purvatvat
sa nopeyaya sankita
SYNONYMS
saksat--directly; srih--the goddess of fortune; presita--being requested to go forward before the Lord; devaih--by all the demigods (headed by Lord Brahma and Lord Siva); drstva--after seeing; tam--Him (Lord Nrsimhadeva); mahat--very big; adbhutam--wonderful; adrsta--never seen; asruta--never heard of; purvatvat--due to being previously; sa--the goddess of fortune, Laksmi; na--not; upeyaya--went before the Lord; sankita--being very much afraid.
TRANSLATION
The goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, was requested to go before the Lord by all the demigods present, who because of fear could not do so. But even she had never seen such a wonderful and extraordinary form of the Lord, and thus she could not approach Him.
PURPORT
The Lord has unlimited forms and bodily features (advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam). These are all situated in Vaikuntha, yet Laksmidevi, the goddess of fortune, being inspired by lila-sakti, could not appreciate this unprecedented form of the Lord. In this regard, Srila Madhvacarya recites the following verses from the Brahmanda Purana:
adrstasruta-purvatvad
anyaih sadharanair janaih
nrsimham sankiteva srir
loka-mohayano yayau
prahrade caiva vatsalya-
darsanaya harer api
jnatva manas tatha brahma
prahradam presayat tada
ekatraikasya vatsalyam
visesad darsayed dharih
avarasyapi mohaya
kramenaivapi vatsalah
In other words, for the common men the form of the Lord as Nrsimhadeva is certainly unseen and wonderful, but for a devotee like Prahlada Maharaja such a fearsome form of the Lord is not at all extraordinary. By the grace of the Lord, a devotee can very easily understand how the Lord can appear in any form He likes. Therefore the devotee is never afraid of such a form. Because of special favor bestowed upon Prahlada Maharaja, he remained silent and unafraid, even though all the demigods, including even Laksmidevi, were afraid of Lord Nrsimhadeva. Narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati (Bhag. 6.17.28). Not only is a pure devotee of Narayana like Prahlada Maharaja unafraid of any dangerous condition of material life, but also if the Lord appears to mitigate the fear of a devotee, the devotee maintains his status of fearlessness in all circumstances.
The question is, why would She not be familiar with this Form of Lord Narasimha if He existed in Vaikuntha?
One, is it because she is the associate of Ksirodaksayi Visnu, or because this form does not exist in Vaikuntha? Our small understanding is the latter, based on Srila Prabhupada's explanations in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, however
We have been told that Sanatana Goswami's commentaries on Brhad Bhagavatamrita reveals that these so-called "animal forms" exist in Vaikuntha, but we have not seen or read this. We simply go by Srila Prabhupada's presentation that is in line also with what is taught in the Sri Vaisnava sampradaya.
