Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 7 Chapter 8:33-44

Book 7: Chapter 8

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 7: Chapter 8: Verses 33-44 Lord Nrsimha extolled on the death of the demon king (at His hands) The firmament was overcrowded with aerial cars thrown up (from below) by His hair and, sore pressed by His feet, the earth was shaken from its foundations. Mountains flew as a result of His rapid movement, while the sky and the quarters were eclipsed by His splendour. Nobody dared approach the almighty Lord, who had then taken His seat on the excellent royal throne in the court and had collected His (consummate) brilliance (in that person), (nay,) who was (yet) furious, even though no adversary was visible, and wore a most dreadful countenance. Hearing that the celebrated Hiranyakasipu (the first and foremost son of Diti), the headache of (all) the three worlds, had been killed in a combat by Lord Sri Hari, celestial women, whose faces were blooming with an outburst of joy, sent down showers of flowers upon Him again and again. At that time the sky was crammed with rows of aerial cars of heavenly beings eager to have a look (at the Lord). The tabors and drums of the gods were then sounded; while the foremost of the Gandharvas (celestial musicians) sang and their wives (the celestial nymphs) danced. Resorting to that place (the court of Hiranyakasipu), gods like Brahma (the creator), Indra (the ruler of the gods) and Lord Siva (who lives on Mount Kailasa), Rsis (seers), manes, Siddhas (a class of demigods endowed with mystic powers from their very birth), Vidyadharas (heavenly artistes), mighty Nagas (serpent-demons, having a human face with a serpent-like lower end), the Manus (progenitors of mankind, each presiding over a whole Manvantara), Prajapatis (the lords of creation), Gandharvas, Apsaras and Caranas (heavenly bards), Yaksas (attendants of Kubera, the god of riches), Kimpurusas (another class of demigods), Vetalas (celestial minstrels) and accomplished Kinnaras (a class of demigods with a human figure and the head of a horse and celebrated as musicians), as well as all those attendants of Lord Visnu such as Sunanda and Kumuda severally hymned Lord Nrsimha (the Man-Lion) of dazzling splendour, seated there, with the hollows of their palms joined together on the head and remaining at a short distance (from Him), O dear one ! Brahma said : I bow down to please the infinite Lord of wonderful prowess and holy deeds, whose potency is hard to fathom, (nay,) who duly carries on by way of His sport through the (three) Gunas (Sattva etc.) the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe and is (yet) undecaying by nature. Sri Rudra said : The end of a Kalpa (a thousand revolutions of the four Yugas) is the (proper) time for (venting) Your anger and (if it was directed towards Hiranyakaaipu,) this puny demon has (already) been slain. (Pray,) protect his son (Prahrada), a devotee of Yours, who has approached You (for shelter), O lover of (Your) devotees ! Indra said : It is Your own shares (in the sacrificial offerings) that have been recovered by You, O supreme Lord, while protecting us; (for, seated in the hearts of us gods, it is You who enjoy all sacrificial offerings) 1 (Nay,) the lotus of our heart, which is Your abode (You being our Inner Controller), and which had till now been possessed by this demon, has been opened by You. Oh, of what account is this (sovereignty of the three worlds)- which is (soon) going to be devoured by Time-in the eyes of those who are eager to serve You ? (Even) Liberation is not thought much of by them, O Lord Narasimha; of what use (then) are other objects (of human pursuit to them)? The Rsis said : By this body assumed for the sake of protection (of Your devotees), 0 Guardian of those needing shelter, You have once more countenanced this day (the practice of) that supreme austerity (in the form of meditation) which You enjoined upon us, (nay,) which is Your own glory and by (recourse to) which, 0 most ancient Person, You evolved this (cosmos)-that lay merged in You-and which had been stopped by this fellow. The manes said : This fellow forcibly appropriated and enjoyed the reverential offerings (in the shape of balls of boiled rice etc.) given by our sons (and their descendants) and even drank the water with sesame seeds offered by them at the time of bath in sacred waters. Hail to that Lord Nrsimha, the Protector of all righteousness, who recovered those offerings (as it were) from his abdomen, the omentum of which was split open by His claws.