Seeing the glowing yet wrathful form of Lord Narasimha, celestials known as Vidyadharas prayed to Him, “O Supreme Lord! Retaining our focus upon You we acquired knowledge to the best of our abilities. However, the foolish Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was extremely self-conceited and arrogant, used his physical might to obstruct our knowledge. Using Your illusory energy, You incarnated as Narasimha and killed him just as one would kill an animal. O Srihari! We eternally offer our obeisances to You.”
Inhabitants of Naga-loka (abode of serpents) prayed, “O Lord Narasimha, this sinner not only stole the gems that adorn our hoods, but in addition he also abducted our beautiful damsels. By breaking his chest You have brought joy to our women-folk. We offer obeisance to You.”
The Manus prayed, “O Lord, We, the Manus, diligently abide by Your orders. Hiraṇyakaśipu, the son of Diti, completely disregarded the rules and duties of righteousness (dharma) that were established by us. You have killed this worst sinner. Please order us, your servants, the next course of action, O Lord”.
The Prajāpatis’ prayed, “O Lord, You have created us for the purposes of expanding the creation. However this demon prevented us from fulfilling the commands You had previously issued to us. Fearing him, we stopped creating living beings. You have broken his chest and killed this sinner, O Lord. You are a form of goodness (sattva). Your incarnation showers auspiciousness to this world.”
Celestials known as Gandharvas prayed, “O Lord, we are the celestial dancers and singers who sing and dance for You. However using his physical might and strength, this terrible demon kept us in his custody. Today You have reduced him to this state.”
Celestials known as Cāraṇās prayed, “We have sought shelter in Your lotus feet which relieve the living entity from the shackles of re-birth. O Lord, You have destroyed this demon who was creating fear in the hearts of noble saintly persons”.
The Yakshas prayed, “O Lord Narasimha, You create and rule the 24 principles known as primordial nature (moola prakṛti), cosmic intelligence (mahat), egoism (ahamkara), the five subtle elements (tanmatras) known as sound, touch, form, taste and smell, the five organs of action (karmendriyas) known as speech, feet, hands, organ or reproduction and organ of excretion, the five organs of perception (sense organs) known as ear, skin, eye, nose and tongue, the four-fold divisions of mind as well as the five gross elements of earth, water, fire, wind and space.
Due to our excellent services, we have obtained the role of your primary servants. However in the recent past, this Hiraṇyakaśipu, son of Diti, extracted from us tasks such as carrying his palanquin. You are aware of the ways in which he tortured living entities. Now O merciful Lord, You have killed him.”
Living entities known as Kimpuruṣās prayed, “O Supreme Lord, if we are insignificant living entities called Kimpuruṣās, then You are the Supreme Being called Puruśottama. The moment noble saints condemned this wicked demon, his lifespan came to an end.”
Inhabitants of Vaitālika plane prayed, “O Supreme Lord, in all assemblies and during Yagnas we sing Your divine glories and receive respects and commendations from everyone. However this demon, who was a rascal, prevented us from accepting these respects. You, the compassionate Lord, have killed him”.
Kinnaras prayed, “We the Kinnaras are your servants. The demon Hiraṇyakaśipu forced us to perform menial tasks. O Srihari, You have killed this worst sinner. O Lord Narasimha, please help us prosper.”
The attendants of Lord Srihari prayed, “O Supreme Lord, today we are fortunate to have darshan of Your Narasimha form. This form will cause auspiciousness in all times to the world. This demon was one of Your primary attendants who due to the curse of Sanaka and other saints obtained this demonic birth. It is our belief that this death is actually a blessing showered upon him”.
With this the eighth chapter of the Seventh Canto comes to an end.
Seventh Canto Chapter Nine
In this chapter Prahlāda glorifies Lord Narasimha.
Maharishi Nārada said to Emperor Yudhishthira,
‘None of the celestials including Gods such as Brahma and Rudra dared to approach Lord Narasimha, whose anger was still not contained. They stood at a great distance. The Devatas then requested Mother Goddess Lakshmi to approach Him.
Seeing the extremely angry strange form of the Lord, even Mother Goddess Lakshmi hesitated. Never before in the past had She seen or heard about such a wonderful, exquisite and extra-ordinary form as this! She too feared to approach Him.
Lord Brahma then requested Prahlāda, who was standing nearby, to approach Lord Narasimha and to pacify him. He said, “My dear son, please go to Lord Narasimha who is extremely infuriated with your father and pacify Him”.
Little boy Prahlāda immediately folded his hands in obeisance and with his overflowing devotion approached Lord Narasimha and prostrated by falling flat on the ground in front of the Lord.
Seeing this boy who was prostrating before Him, Lord Narasimha’s heart was filled with compassion. Gently He lifted the boy and placed His lotus-like hand upon the boy’s head. It is that lotus hand which, while giving the assurance of fear-not (abhaya) to the devotees, destroys the fear from the minds of the devotees that had arisen due to time.
The moment the Lord placed his hand on Prahlāda’s head, all inauspicious and impure subtle tendencies and impressions (vasanas) in him were washed away. Instantly he experienced God-realization! He became Self-realized! He who was soaked in unlimited bliss experienced horripilation throughout the body. His heart began to overflow with love towards the Lord. Tears of joy filled his eyes.
Prahlāda was the only one who could pacify this Lord who was angry. Even though all the celestials had prayed to Narasimha, the Lord did not calm down. Their words could not pacify Him. Prahlāda pacified the Lord and glorified Him.
Puruśottamāya namah