A tour of the holy places in India where Lord Narasimha had His pastimes with Druva.
Nrsimhananda dasa: When the Back to Godhead magazine arrives in the mail, I'm usually content to sit in my comfortable home temple to read about the exotic spiritual destinations of adventurous devotees halfway around the world. The January-February 2000 issue was no exception, at least I thought, until I read the feature article about a pilgrimage to the remote village of Ahobilam in South Central India.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Ahobilam is the very place in the universe where Lord Narasimhadev, the half-lion, half-man incarnation of Lord Krishna, burst out of a palace pillar to save His devotee, Prahlada, from his demonic father, Hiranyakashipu.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Scattered in the surrounding jungle, there are nine ancient temples celebrating different features of the ferocious and merciful Lord Nrsimha. There is also the remains of the gigantic pillar from which the Lord appeared. But this is also tiger country, an enormous national reserve for endangered animals, including wild bears. It is perilous and halfway around the world from where I sat.
Nrsimhananda dasa: But a 21-year-old devotee, Dhruva, had visited all those places of pilgrimage and lived to write about it. My initiated name is Nrsimhananda Das, the servant of the blissful Lord Nrsimha. How could I live with myself if I couldn't say that I had been in those same places of pilgrimage of my namesake?
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Nrsimhananda dasa: I knew then that I would soon be following in the footsteps of this young adventurer. What I didn't know then was that he would be our guide, and I would be his companion on part of his own continuing search for the lost temples of Lord Nrsimha. I caught up with Dhruva in a small village two hours north of Hyderabad. He took our video crew to a temple on the road less traveled. I don't know if any non-Indians had ever visited this little-known Nrsimha temple.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Sitting below the entry gate, the temple did not seem particularly unique. The deity seemed quite accessible. However, that was a deity constructed by humans. The Svayambhuva, or self-manifested one, was a couple hundred yards behind this one.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Our crew of Yadubara, my brother-in-law George, and myself had yet to face some of our worst fears. We were about to enter what appeared to be a temple of doom. The water was not too cold, but it wasn't the cleanest water we'd ever seen. The bats overhead were not too happy about the video light, and the gigantic cockroaches that called this place home were scattering like Superman from kryptonite. I have no idea what I'm stepping on.
Dhruva dasa: You're just stepping on stones.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Yeah, right. Just keep telling yourself that. I am sure by the squishing under my toes, bats bury their dead in water. Lord Nrsimha always seems to reside on the sides of mountains or in caves, like a mountain lion.
Nrsimhananda dasa: We wondered if we were the only ones to brave the elements of this pilgrimage, and we certainly did not expect to see any light at the end of this tunnel. Boy, were we surprised. Turning a corner, we found ourselves witnessing a full-on Vedic marriage ceremony.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Local villagers take darshan of this deity often, and they obtain the blessing of Lord Nrsimha for many of the milestones in their lives. I couldn't believe it. The bride had submerged herself in her wedding sari to come take darshan of the Lord. The groom looked quite spiffy despite his own swim, and the parents appeared to take it all in stride.
Nrsimhananda dasa: The Pujari was completely oblivious to the sudden appearance of lights, camera, action, with a group of whites behind the scenes. The show must go on, and go on it did.
Nrsimhananda dasa: There are a lot of mantras, prayers to invoke. The deity was given an abhisheka, or bath, of different elements, including milk, ghee, yogurt, sandalwood, et cetera.
Nrsimhananda dasa: His face was rather worn smooth, like a baby's skin, by all the affection. Nobody knows how this deity was made. According to the oral tradition, the Lord manifested it here and then told the Brahmin about it in a dream.
Nrsimhananda dasa: My brother-in-law, a doctor and a Catholic, arrived from the US a couple of days ago. Welcome to mystical India. Maybe the jet lag, the heat, and the lack of oxygen back here has reduced his resistance to anything out of the ordinary.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Dhruva is most amazing because he has a natural attraction to Lord Nrsimha. He brought us here as a prelude to the pilgrimage in Ahobilam. He has the real bhakti, devotion, to this wonderful form of Krishna. Once we're out of this cave, he will also be your guide and hopefully your friend, too.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Now that the wedding is over, the bride and groom dog-paddle their way back to their honeymoon. May Lord Nrsimha bless your marriage. And if you ever start to argue, just paddle back to take darshan of the Lord. I'm sure you'll forget what you were going to bicker about by the time you get here, and everything will be hunky-dory.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Emerging from the bat cave, we were directed to the pristine spring that mysteriously comes from the same water. We happily bathed our bodies, though our minds had already been purified by the unusual darshan.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Once back on the road, we thought we were on the way to Ahobilam, but Dhruva had other plans. Our route took us to the Krishna River, which traverses nearly the entire breadth of India. It was heavily used for transportation and trade for many centuries.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Narasimha temples were built on its banks, and Dhruva had heard of a couple that he didn't want him or us to miss. The first was unique in that the Narasimha deity was in the river. He could be touched by swimming out to him, which we all did.
Nrsimhananda dasa: The cool river was a refreshing respite from the heat, and gaining Lord Narasimha's darshan in this manner served many purposes. Overlooking the deity, a temple accommodates many pilgrims who come from distant places to take darshan. Situated above the river, another self-manifested deity of Lord Narasimhadev beckons Dhruva to his darshan.
Dhruva dasa: We're sitting next to Jwala Narasimha Swami, which is on top of a little hill, and it's famous because Jwala was being worshiped by many of his devotees. But for some reason, they could not handle his worship because Jwala means burning, emanating flames of fire. So he was so hard to worship that they gave up.
Dhruva dasa: Becoming angry at this, He ran away. The Lord ran away, and He situated Himself on top of this hill and was covered by an anthill. So the anthill has gone away now, but this is the top of the deity or the svayambhu of the Shaligram, and they say underneath is the form of Jwala Narasimha emanating flames.
Nrsimhananda dasa: He's leaving no stone unturned or mountain unclimbed in his quest for finding temples of Lord Narasimha.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Not far away was an off-road temple that some devotees, sometime in antiquity, had constructed with much love and devotion.
Nrsimhananda dasa: We had to ford an irrigation canal, hike through somebody's fields, and hoof up a steep terrain to get to it.
Dhruva dasa: Welcome to this temple of Veera Narasimha Swami. Veera means fighting. He just emerged from the pillar, so he's ready to fight. Veera. And he grabs Hiranyakashipu by the head, and he started playing with him like a cat plays with a mouse. Veera Narasimha. Fighting. He manifests to the seven sacred rishis, and they worshiped him here on this hill.
Nrsimhananda dasa: I'd have to have a GPS locator to find my way back. I don't know how Dhruva knows about these places. He hears about them from other Narasimha bhaktas and then seeks them out. This one has been abandoned for God knows how long. An occasional bhakta will trek up to it from the local area. I doubt any Westerner has been here before.
Nrsimhananda dasa: I feel privileged, awed, and sad. Lord Narasimha deserves better. Perhaps he needs a little protection himself.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Back on the road, we're again on our way to Ahobilam. At last, Ahobilam, only recently discovered by Western pilgrims.
Nrsimhananda dasa: It still has only one main street, reminiscent of small settlements in the old Wild West of the USA. But instead of a ubiquitous white church, an ancient Lakshmi Narasimha temple predominates life here. This is not one of the nine temples of pilgrimage, but Dhruva takes us here first in order to beg blessings from the Lord in his most formal form. The village is rapidly transitioning from an isolated jungle outpost to a bustling spiritual tourist destination.
Nrsimhananda dasa: The Jeer is the spiritual guide of Ahobilam. He's the 45th in his disciplic succession. He was present during our brief stay, and there was much pomp and circumstance swirling around his presence. Usually, he's traveling from village to village, spreading the Vedic way of life.
Nrsimhananda dasa: Ahobilam is one of the 108 Vaishnava Divya Desams. It is here that Sri Garuda did penance and realized Krishna. The Mahabharata, Kurma Purana, Padma Purana, and Vishnu Purana mention Ahobilam and its presiding deity, Narasimha. The Brahmanda Purana says that this place was once the palace of Hiranyakashipu.
Nrsimhananda dasa: With luck, we would stand on top of that holy pillar. Having taken darshan and prayed for protection, we were now ready to embark on our mission to record the pilgrimage to the nine sacred temples of upper and lower Ahobilam.
Dhruva dasa: Well, welcome to the Bhargava Kund, where Bhargava Rishi used to take baths and he used to take water to bathe the Ugra Narasimha deity, which we're about to see, which is Bhargava. And it's very sacred because Bhargava Rishi desired—he was doing heavy tapas—and he desired to see the Lord at the exact moment when he was tearing Hiranyakashipu apart. So the Lord granted him that desire, and he appeared before him while he was ripping. He showed him that darshan. And then Bhargava Rishi asked the Lord to manifest in that form.
Dhruva dasa: No one knows how old this deity is, Bhargava Narasimha Swami. We know that it was worshiped by hundreds and hundreds of saintly rishis over the years. It was worshiped by Ramanujacharya himself. This is the most ferocious, or one of the most ferocious forms of the nine Nava forms in Ahobilam. And he's ferocious but merciful.
Dhruva dasa: And you have Prahlada just so fearlessly standing on the side with his hands folded, just having darshan of the Lord, because he already knew the Lord was going to appear in this form, as the Lord showed him earlier. So he had no fear at all. And you have Hiranyakashipu totally helpless, spread about here, just like, What do I do? Lord Narasimhadev's got his arm hooked. He can't do anything.
Dhruva dasa: And he's staring at you. It's almost like he's looking at you. And that's the form. He gave darshan in this form, Lord Narasimhadev, to Bhargava Rishi. And while he was giving darshan, while he was ripping Hiranyakashipu apart, Hiranyakashipu looked at Bhargava Rishi, and that's the exact form he manifested in.
Dhruva dasa: Then we have all the 10 incarnations surrounding him as his effulgence, and Chakra and Shankha. And normally, what's a rare thing about him is he doesn't have the intestines coming out. Because when he manifests, he was ripping his stomach open. That's when he was most angry, was when he finally caught a hold of him. Like a cat grabs a mouse, and he just dug his fingernails into him. That's Ugra.
Dhruva dasa: Yoga means merciful. Yoga Narasimha is the most merciful form. And this deity is very special because no one knows anything about him, the history. All that we know from some of the acharyas or jeers of this place is that he came from a cave many hundreds of years ago. He was taken from a cave.
Dhruva dasa: Because in that cave, there were so many tunnels, and going up and down, you had to crawl, you had to walk, you had to climb, you had to slide. So many pujaris, they were never found again after they went in the cave. Because all the different tunnels led to different places. The main tunnel went to an inner sanctum that opened up this huge temple inside there.
Dhruva dasa: There was carvings everywhere of Narasimhadev's pastimes, and it's said that Krishna's pastimes, everything was in there. And in the center was a beautiful deity of Yoga Narasimha, which we see now. Since many people never found them again, they presumed they died. After time, they stopped going in there.
Dhruva dasa: Finally, they decided they wanted to have this deity because it was one of the nine forms, and then they linked up with each other, all the pujaris, and they managed to bring the deity out. And he's been here ever since. He was in there, but because of the desires of his devotees, now he's come here for all of us.
Dhruva dasa: This is Yoga Asana. He has the band across his two knees. He's keeping the legs together. Perfect yoga pose, Yoga Narasimha. He's Shanti. At this point, Prahlada and him, He taught Prahlada Maharaja yoga in this particular pose of Yoga Narasimha. And He has Chakra and Conch on each side.
Dhruva dasa: Narasimhadev. Chatravata Narasimha Swami. He's sitting in yoga posture because this is the way he manifests to devas or dancers that were dancing here in Ahobilam Dham. They were dancing for his benefit. They were dancing and dancing so beautifully and so with love and devotion that the Lord manifests before them and asked them to—He would grant them any desire they wanted, and all they asked for was that he would manifest in the most beautiful form, the happiest form. So he manifests in this form of Chatravata, smiling Narasimha Swami. Huge smile, so beautiful. Giving blessings to all the devotees in the age of Kali Yuga.
Dhruva dasa: That was their main condition, that he would give blessings to the devotees. And so he's situated in Yoga Asana, which asana is the hardest asana. It's not possible for a human being to do this. Only the Lord can do this.
Dhruva dasa: And he has lotus flower on the backside of his foot here, and he has toe rings here. And in his lotus hands, he has rings on each finger, and you can see his nails, how beautiful and sharp they are, and all of his jewelry. He's such a wonderful deity.
Dhruva dasa: We're here at Karanja Narasimha Swami Temple. We're at the new temple. They renovated it. It's quite different compared to the first time I came when it was just a tiny, beautiful little temple. No doors, nothing. No Pujari.
Dhruva dasa: Next to the old temple was a small temple of Anjaneya. Anjaneya is the son of the wind god, which is Hanuman. This beautiful form of the Lord manifests here because one day, Hanuman was doing tapas here in Ahobilam. He was sitting in meditation, wrapped up in his tail, and then he was chanting, Ram, Ram, Ram.
Dhruva dasa: All of a sudden, Lord Narasimhadev appeared before him and said, Yes? You are calling me? Again, Hanuman looks up and says, What is this nonsense? You are disturbing me, my tapas. If you do not leave, I will destroy you, or I will make you leave.
Dhruva dasa: And then Narasimhadev said, No, you don't understand. I am Ram. I am all. And then Hanuman said, So then, how can you be Ram? This is not Ram's form. And Lord Narasimhadev manifests his form with bow and chakra. He manifests like that with one single hood of Ananta Shesha over his head, in yoga posture. So he manifests basically like Ram with Narasimhadev's face. And then Hanuman was totally convinced. So he paid his obeisances and asked the Lord to stay so that he could worship him. So Hanuman worshiped this deity of Karanja Narasimha.
Dhruva dasa: The fourth time ago when I was here, I slept up on top of this temple, the Ugra Narasimha Swami Temple. The Pujari who took Indradyumna Swami in 1979, he told my guide, You tell this boy that while he is sleeping, if the ground starts to tremble and he hears some roars and fighting like two mad elephants are fighting, not to worry. It is only the Lord.
Dhruva dasa: I inquired more the next time I came, and I learned that the Pujaris hear, sometimes it feels like an earthquake, and they hear a roar. The Pujaris were telling me like this.
Dhruva dasa: Inside that doorway, all the pilgrims are now coming out, is Ugra Narasimha Swami, which is Svayambhu, and was worshiped by Prahlada Maharaja himself. Inside a beautiful cave. He's only about this size and absolutely amazing because when all of his armor is off, you can see the Shaligram. He's tearing apart Hiranyakashipu, and Hiranyakashipu is lying across his knee, and Prahlada Maharaja is on the side. And he's been worshiped for thousands of years, and he's the main form of Ahobilam. He's called Ahobila Narasimha. Wonderful Narasimha, they call him.
Dhruva dasa: The reason this is an amazing place is because so many saintly rishis would do tapas in another cave just up from this one, and they would come and worship Krodha Narasimha, take bath in the beautiful stream of the waterfall coming from the pillar. Now they've made a beautiful renovation, made more room so many pilgrims can come and do puja every day inside this small cave. Krodha—the story we don't know exactly why he appeared and how old he is, but we know that many sacred rishis have come and worshiped him. It's a very old deity.
Dhruva dasa: So here we can see there's his legs, his right leg, and his right arm, which is resting on the thigh of his right leg. And his left one, which is raised up, and his knee here, and his thigh, and there's his left arm coming up. And on his shoulder, Sri Bhudevi is sitting. And there's his face,
Dhruva dasa: His eye, his mouth, his nostril of a boar. Perfect, you can see his nose, everything.
Dhruva dasa: And Bhudevi has her right arm just around his nostril. And there's his crown and his ear for Varaha Narasimha. Bhargava, Lakshmi Narasimha, Yoga Narasimha, Chatravata Narasimha, Karanja Narasimha, Ugra Narasimha, Krodha Narasimha, and Malola Narasimha. This is the seventh form of the Nava Narasimhas in Ahobilam.
Dhruva dasa: So amazing because at this place where the temple is situated a kund that comes out of a tree. Lakshmi Devi was doing heavy tapas so that the Lord would come and marry her. So she was doing penance under this tree, fasting completely. And by this tapas, the tree created a perpetual spring for her.
Dhruva dasa: Out of his tapas and love for her, he created this, and it flows just behind the temple. And this is the significance of this place is where Lakshmi did tapas to marry Lord Narasimhadev. And after she had done it, and the Lord was pleased, he married her. And this is Malola Narasimha Swami.
Dhruva dasa: He's so old that you can hardly see his form anymore. His face, Lakshmi Devi, the feet. It's very difficult to see this. They have put a new deity underneath him so that people can sharply see his beautiful features, face, smile.
Dhruva dasa: Out of all the deities, the head pujaris and everyone say that this is the most merciful form, because Lakshmi Devi is so happy that the Lord is marrying her. So she's giving blessings.
Dhruva dasa: And many women, they're always coming here. If they cannot have children, they come and they pray to Lakshmi, and they hang pieces of their sarees with jewels, with stones. Whatever the possessions they have, they hang them on the trees, and they offer this to her, and they get blessed like this.
Dhruva dasa: It's so hard to see this form of Prahlad Narasimha. Along the way, there's so many paths. If you don't have a guide, then it's very difficult to find him. At this temple, it's believed that at night, no one stays here, because at night, the demigods come to worship the Lord.
Dhruva dasa: Sometimes you'll see bears. They will come and circumambulate the temple at night, which they did when I was sleeping in here. Now they're building this new temple for him, and a shelter, and everything.
Dhruva dasa: Jai Prahlad Narasimha. You can see he's just relaxing with Lakshmi on his left knee and with Ananta Shesha over his head. This deity is very special because after Lakshmi—the final marriage of her and Lord Narasimhadev—in this form they manifest. So this is the form. They're both very happy and giving blessings.
Dhruva dasa: Also on the side here, we have Gopal and Krishna playing the flute. Going to Gurukul, my father would let me do puja on the main Narasimhadev deity's altar and help dress the deity. And so I was inspired ever since then, doing puja to him.
Dhruva dasa: And just in the recent years, it's become stronger to the point that I just want to find his temples, every temple. So this is the place where Prahlada Maharaj and all of his friends, they would play and do school here.
Dhruva dasa: Traditionally, in the old days, the school was done outside because of the atmosphere. It would help them study more. And when the rishis would come, they would all stay in these little caverns on the side. They would be sheltered from the rain, and then they would come up and have darshan and do big pujas, while at the same time looking over the cliff at the Ugra Narasimha Swami Temple. So it's very amazing.
Dhruva dasa: And the pujaris here believe that it's the best place to come and study the Vedas, Bhagavatam, because of the atmosphere and of yoga. Shanti, peace. It gives peace in the mind and body. What is amazing about this deity is he has three eyes, and never will you see a deity of Yoga Narasimha with the third eye. Third eye means Ugra, anger.
Dhruva dasa: And it's believed by the villagers that on these walls in the cave, Prahlada Maharaj would be writing the Lord's name. Om Namo Narayanaya, like this in Sanskrit, all over the walls in here. Ugra-Stambha Jwala Narasimha.
Dhruva dasa: This is the pillar which the divine killer, Lord Narasimha, emerged from to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu. And just above this little cliff here, resides Jwala Narasimha, the exact spot where he tore apart Hiranyakashipu. It's inside a cave.
Dhruva dasa: For the last thousands of years, people have been coming up this difficult trail to see the Lord, asking for his blessings. People from the age of five years to the age of 80—even 90-year-old men and women—they come here, and then they climb to the Stambha.
Dhruva dasa: It is said that if you do not come to Jwala or the Stambha, then what is the point of coming to Ahobilam? These two places give you the most benefit coming to Ahobilam because they're the hardest to get to.
Dhruva dasa: You have to just really work and climb and climb and suffer, and you finally come and sit in front of him and pray, and he blesses you.
Dhruva dasa: Now we're coming into Rakta Kund—Hiranyakashipu blood. This is Rakta Kund, and we can see the blood coming out of the wall here, inside this little cave. No one knows where it comes from, but that's where it originates. And there's water streaming out of there, and then it flows down into the waterfall. And you have a crystal clear kund that you can bathe in.
Dhruva dasa: And this is right in front of the Jwala Narasimha temple. We're in Jwala Narasimha's cave here. There's three forms of Lord Narasimhadev. There's Sthanu. Sthanu means emerging from the pillar. And there's Hiranyakashipu and Prahlad and the pillar around him. And then Jwala Narasimha tearing to pieces Hiranyakashipu.
Dhruva dasa: Prahlad Maharaj on the side. Jwala means fire, anger. He was so angry he was burning. And then Veera Narasimha, fighting Narasimha, on the side over there. The significance of this place is it has the three forms, how it happened.
Dhruva dasa: Sthanu—he emerged from the pillar. Veera—he fought with him, he grabbed him. And Jwala—he destroyed him.
Dhruva dasa: We're on top of the pillar, Ugra Stambha. This is the exact spot where Lord Narasimhadev appeared. The pillar is not still standing, you see, because he burst out of the pillar. So the whole entire pillar went this way and that way. Destroyed everything for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles.
Dhruva dasa: What is left is where his lotus feet stood. We are standing on top of that. And Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came here when he was doing his South Indian pilgrimage. He stood in this very spot. So this is a very amazing place.
Dhruva dasa: You're on top of the world. You can see everything. You can see before this was something. Something was here. What can we say? We don't know. But the local Sthala Purana, their history, they believe this was once Hiranyakashipu's palace. The Lord did appear here to please his devotees and give them darshan in the age of Kali Yuga.