Chapter 16 - Installation of the Idol of Nṛsiṃha

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Jaimini said:

1. On seeing that the king was cheerful in his mind believing in (the efficacy of) the great sacrifice, Nārada, the delighter of the worlds, spoke to him with great pleasure:

2. “Devas lend a helping hand in the enterprises of meritorious ones. An example thereof is you yourself, as you have the assistance of the Four-faced Lord (Brahmā).

3-4a. Therefore come on. Let us go there to the presence of Nīlakaṇṭha. In front of him, O king, I shall install Nṛsiṃha, the destroyer of all Rākṣasas, the dispeller of all obstacles. The idol shall be facing the West.

4b-5a. The Lord has vanished, but this Nṛsiṃha is visible. The sacrifice in his presence shall yield excellent fruit.

5b-6. You go ahead quickly and get a palace built there. On my remembering (him) the son of Viśvakarman will come there and build the West-facing Mansion rapidly.

7-8. To the south of Nīlakaṇṭha, a hundred Bows’ length away (i.e. 400 Hastas or about 100 Metres), there is a pretty old huge sandal tree. The land to the west of it shall be the requisite site (for sacrifice), O king. There you do perform a thousand horse-sacrifices.

9-10. You go. I shall stay here for five days and propitiate this divine lion of infinite form of fiery nature. In the return worship, in the idol, I shall install the Lord along with vital breath, sense-organs and mind. Just as one lights a lamp from another lamp, so also (I shall infuse the new idol with the power of the old one) and I shall bring the idol of splendid form.”

11. On hearing these words of Nārada the excellent king hurriedly went near the sandal tree.

12-13a. There he saw the son of the Celestial Architect, who had come at the bidding of Nārada. He stood there assuming human form with the necessary implements.

13b-14. On seeing the king desirous of building a shrine, he spoke to him with palms joined in reverence: “O lord, I am conversant with the Science of Architecture. I shall build a temple of Narasiṃha with splendid features.” O Brāhmaṇas, the king replied to him laughingly.

Indradyumna said:

15-17. You are no ordinary architect. You are an expounder of the Science of Architecture. This has been spoken by Nārada himself. You are the extremely reputed son of Tvaṣṭṛ.

In this tenantless big forest there was no human habitation before. O Architect, we have come only today; how can we have contacts with architects? You alone can be the architect (of the temple) of Viṣṇu of unmeasured refulgence. You always meditate upon him. You strictly abide by his behest.

18. The sage by whom you have been remembered, will himself come here in a couple of days taking the idol of Narasiṃha with him.

19. Therefore, build a palatial temple of Narasiṃha along with the rampart walls, ornamental gateways etc. It should be a splendid structure facing the West.

20. The king honoured him duly and engaged him in the work of construction. By spending a great deal of money he engaged a number of servants for collecting stones.

21. Thanks to the greatness of the celestial architect, O Brāhmaṇas, the excellent Mansion-like shrine was complete on the fourth day, though (ordinarily) it could have been accomplished only after a long time.

22-24. When the day dawned clear, the king concluded his daily round of holy rites. Accompanied by his followers he took with him the requisite materials for the installation. While he awaited the arrival of Nārada, presently (mixed) sounds were heard in the sky, viz. those of conch-shells, Mṛdaṅga drums, Muraja drums, auspicious songs and instruments of music, the sounds of bells, the trumpeting of elephants and shouts of “Be victorious, be victorious”.

25-31. On hearing them Indradyumna and other kings, Brāhmaṇas well-versed in the Vedas and thousands of Vaiṣṇavas stood surprised. While they were thinking like ‘These sounds have risen without any (visible) source. No doubt it is a mysterious phenomenon,’ a wind blew from the South. There were showers of flowers with great fragrance accompanied by the humming sounds of bees. O Brāhmaṇas, they were drenched with the waters of Gaṅgā.

Immediately after this, Nārada, the son of Brahmā, came with the idol of Narasiṃha, which had been made by Viśvakarman. It had a halo around it. It was highly delightful. It was embellished with many kinds of gems and decorative features. It had divine garlands and robes. Divine scents and unguents had been smeared upon it. It was very beautiful. The holy rite of infusing Prāṇa (vital airs) had been completed herein. It was rendered splendid by celestial women with diamond-studded chowries in their hands. The idol was kept in an excellent Vimāna (a decorated carriage, or palanquin) created by the power of penance.

32-37. On seeing the idol, all the kings and the followers of the kings became greatly pleased. The Lord had vanished. Has he been brought back by Nārada?’ thought all those delighted souls. They praised the sage too. On carefully observing the form of Narasiṃha that was near them, they thought that it was a replica of the earlier idol of Nṛsiṃha. With delighted mind the king stood up in honour thereof. He circumambulated Had and bent down his head so as to touch the ground. At the behest of the king the sage furnished the palace of splendid characteristics with all the requisites befitting the faithful devotion and affluence (of the king). The idol of the Lord of Devas along with Dharā (Earth) and Ramā (Lakṣmī) was installed on a gem-set altar in an auspicious hour. The idol was infused with Yogic power.

In the company of Vaiṣṇava Brāhmaṇas, the kings and the intelligent Nārada King Indradyumna eulogized it with secret Upaniṣad Mantras, Smṛti Texts, eulogies, and passages from scriptures with great joy.

Indradyumna said:

38-39. O Lord, possessing single, multiple, gross, subtle and minute forms, O Lord beyond the firmament, O Lord with a single form of the firmament, O Lord with the shape of the sky, O pervading one, O Lord stationed in the sky, O Lord mounted on the firmament, O Lord with the sky for the tresses, O Lord with a lotus for womb! O Divine Lion, save me from the ocean of misery. O Lord having the combined splendour of many crores of suns coming out (together), O Lord who are always near at hand and yet stationed far away, O Lord who are neither away nor close by, O Lord with the states of Bodhya (i.e. that which should be known) and Bodha (i.e. knowledge)!

40. You are both comprehensible and incomprehensible. You can be realised through knowledge, yet you cannot be so realized. You are beyond Māyā. You can be measured, comprehended through inference; you are the cause of everything. You are the maker of everything. You are the knower, protector and annihilator (of all things). O Witness of the universe, obeisance to you!

41-42. (We know) you are the sole cause of the destruction of misery, and not merely the cause; you are born ahead in order to dispel doubts. O Lord with fiery form, (O Lord) with knowledge as form; O light! O Lord, the source of the collection of Stoma sacrifices; O cause of creation! Grant me the excellent perpetual devotion unto your lotuslike feet, the devotion which is the source of the four Puruṣārthas. There are persons who are perpetually engaged in the rites etc. laid down in Śrutis and Smṛtis but are bound within the ocean of worldly existence. They stay here in a wretched condition.

43-45. I seek refuge in you, the Lord with infinite number of feet,^[1] hands, eyes and ears, whose garments are the quarters, whose excellent ear-rings are the Sun and the Moon, who have an excellent necklace made of the clusters of stars, who have the wonderfully divine form of Nṛsiṃha (Man-Lion) and who fulfil the desires of devotees.

I bow down to the Lord whose lotus-like feet bloom by the light of the gems of the crown of Brahmā; on the ground of the extremity of the pair of whose lotus-like feet his (Brahmā’s) head which is evolved out of the five elements, rolls, and which divine feet the women of the king of Suras bear on their heads.

46. I bow down to that fierce divine lion who destroys the mass of sins of those who resort to his feet—the lion who is an ocean of mercy and by the stroke of whose lotus-like feet all the Cosmic Eggs are shattered.

47. I bow down to Nṛhari who has the three worlds in his belly, who drowns the sound of the thundering clouds by means of his fierce and boisterous laughter, and who routes away the mass of sins by means of the groups of clouds that are scattered when he shakes his thick cluster of manes.

48. Obeisance to you, salute to you, bow to you, O Viṣṇu, O Lord merciful to the poor and the wretched; save me the helpless one. O enemy of Mura, may there be no bondage of physical bodies for me in the prison of worldly existence after attaining you.

49. O Lord, have compassion for me so that at the end of the thousand horse-sacrifices I shall be able to see you of divine form with these pḥysical eyes.

50. O Lord of Yajñas, show me your favour and let me have your proximity, so that my thousand sacrifices may conclude without obstacles.

51. Crores of the heaps of sins of those who eulogize you perish. So it is no wonder that virtue, wealth and love are within their reach. O Viṣṇu, those men who resort to you are the enjoyers of salvation.

52. After eulogizing that Divine Lion thus, the king became delighted in his mind. He fell down on the ground frequently by way of prostrating in front of him.

Jaimini said:

53. That shrine and holy spot of Narasiṃha was built by Brahmā formerly for blessing Indradyumna and for the welfare of all the worlds.

54. There is no doubt about this that those who visit that Nṛsiṃha installed along with Śaṃbhu, do not get involved in the bondage of physical bodies, O Brāhmaṇas.

55. Those who eulogize that Lord in the form of Divine Lion by means of this prayer, obtain whatever is desired by them mentally and even more than that.

56-61. The Lord who gives all desired things grants him salvation.

The Divine Lion was installed in that holy spot by the great sage, the son of Brahmā, on the twelfth day in the bright half of the lunar month of Jyeṣṭha (while it was) in conjunction with the Svātī constellation. Those who visit the Lord on that day obtain more than the benefit of a thousand horse-sacrifices.

Men who bathe the idol with Pañcāmṛta, milk, coconut-water or scented water after offering worship, shall attain the world of Brahmā. They should worship the great Lion with all offerings including milk pudding. Garlands of China-rose flowers as well as splendid garlands of other sweet-smelling flowers should be offered. Incenses, lights, camphor, very fine betel leaves etc. should be offered. Prayers should be recited with excellent words and nice tone. With loud shouts of “Be victorious”, be should be circumambulated and bowed down to. Charitable gifts should be made and Brāhmaṇas should be propitiated. By propitiating Narasiṃha thus one shall obtain the world of Brahmā.

62. The first incarnation of the Lion, O Brāhmaṇas, appeared on the fourteenth day of the month of Vaiśākha on a Saturday at the time of dusk in conjunction with Kṭttikā star.

63. If one worships Narasiṃha duly with mental concentration and purity on that day, the heap of sins accumulated in the course of crores of births is burned at the very same instant like a heap of cotton by fire.

64. By visiting, touching, bowing down, falling down (at the feet) and devoutly eulogizing the Lord one is liberated from sins just as a serpent gets rid of slough.

65. He shall not be afflicted with sickness, grief or worries. He shall obtain all desired objects and the benefit of a horse-sacrifice.

66. O Brāhmaṇas, if Yajñas, charitable gifts or other holy rites are performed near him once, they shall have crores and crores of times the benefit by the favour of Narasiṃha.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Purāṇic echo of the Puruṣasūkta (RV X.90).