Throughout last year I was praying for the protection of Krishna. Naturally that led me to specifically pray for the continued protective blessings of Lord Nrsimhadeva, the form of the Lord who is particularly known for protecting His devotee Prahlada in a time of trouble.
If true prayer is reciprocated by intense feelings of actually being protected, then I suppose you could say my prayers were certainly answered.
My attraction for, and dependence on, this avatar of Krishna has not diminished, and I have been given great solace in reading about Him and chanting the verses sung by Sri Prahlada.
I was present in Mayapura, India, in 1977 when Srila Prabhupada gave a series of classes about Lord Nrsimha. He spoke of the apparent contradiction in the appearance of the Lord; that the palms of His hands are as soft as a pink lotus, yet His nails are as hard as a chisel. If my memory serves me correctly, as Srila Prabhupada was speaking he was raising his own hand.
I have been re-reading a book by Mukkur Lakshminarasimhacariyar Swami, a great devotee of the ‘Man-Lion God’ who dedicated the final twenty years of his life to the performance of 108 yajnas for the glorification of his Lord. His books are filled with verses, descriptions of lila, and revelations to great devotees, as well as glorification of the blessings to be obtained by worshipping Narasimha.
The English version which I have, named Ko Data, or ‘Who is the Giver?’ was a tirtha-mahatmya, a description of the place of Mattapalli, a Deity of the Lord who revealed Himself in a dream to a devotee. I found the book very devotional, and was sad to learn that the author had passed away in 2001, after performing 107 yajnas.
The temple at which he worshipped is inside a cave within a forest in Andhra Pradesh, and is one of several in the area. I have been to A.P. only once before, back in 1986.
Another famous temple in this area is Ahobila Mutt, the home of Malola, a beautiful Deity of the Lord with Lakshmi. This particular Deity was actually physically handed over to a great devotee during a vision. This devotee, Yathindra Shatakopan, is thus the acarya of the current line of gurus influential in this region, and the Deity of Malola is now the object of great devotion for the branch of the Sri Vaishnava community who serves Him. Part of the seva-puja is that He is taken on tour to various other temples and homes, and in this way gives great spiritual satisfaction to the devotees. You can see a recent video clip of Him being offered a ceremonial bath here.
I wish all my readers the full blessings and protection of Lord Nrsimha and urge you to ask Him to protect your spiritual journey by chanting the Nrsimha mantras every morning, along with your chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
The Vaishnava Voice 
Hare Krishna,
I enjoyed this article as well as the video. Although I am from South India, I have never been to this temple. Its now added to my list. Thank you.Regards,Manoj
Adiyen,
I think you should pay a visit to Shrine at Ahobilam and Mattapalli. There is no birth or death once you visit these shrines. It is very peaceful and you’ll enjoy the lords mercy.
Sampath Kumar
Dear Prabhu,
Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble respects. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I just recently purchased the book you mentioned in this article from an Indian book fair in my city Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It is an amazing account of the Lord’s appearance in this sacred place. There are some very nice romanized Sanskrit verses describing the Lord’s man-lion form. I believe its worth chanting these mantras for our devotional well being by appealing for the Lord’s protection. Could you also guide me to some other similar verses for my spiritual strength as I am undergoing some material problems which is affecting the quality of my sadhanas?
Thank you and may you always be blessed by Srila Prabhupada and Lord Narasimhadev. Haribol!
Your servant,
Sudakaran Sangaran
Thank you for your good wishes Sudakaran. May He always bless you too.
Since Sri Prahlada is the chief of the devotees of Lord Narasimha, his prayers have the greatest authority, so we often chant a selection of his prayers that appear in the Srimad Bhagavatam, seventh canto, ninth chapter. There is another powerful prayer that occurs as the eighth verse of the 18th chapter of the fifthth canto and I have reproduced this below. There are more mantras collected here: http://www.salagram.net/nrsimha-page.html which you may enjoy reciting. Let me know how you get on.
om namo bhagavate nara-simhàya namas tejas-tejase àvir-àvirbhava
vajra-nakha vajra-damstra karmàshayàn
randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svàhà.
abhayam abhayam àtmani bhùyisthà om kshraum
TRANSLATION:
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all
power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts,
kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material
world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that
by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in
this material world.
Srimad Bhagavatam 5:18:8.
Dear Krpamoya Prabhu!
Please accept my humble obeisancess, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Thank you for the wonderful text on Lord Narasimha! Would you (or any of the readers) happen to know where could one purchase this book in Europe? Thank you very much.
Adiyen,
This article that you have put up on this site is very good. Apart of this the renowned author Sri Mukkur swamigal has published many books and most of them happen to be in tamil, which is being translated now to english. Throughout my lifetime this swami has been a great source of inspiration towards devotional path. His book especially on “Kurai ondrum illai” is well known and describes the in depth devotional path to the supreme lord. So far a set of around 8 volumes on just 4-8 nama’s of the lord is described in the eight volumes. It is sad that this great swamin attained Acharya’s feet (as we call in Sri Vaishnava sampradaya) at a very early age.
Dear Sampath Kumar, Namaste and thank you for writing. Yes, it is my regret that I never managed to meet Mukur Swami. I remember being in Sri Rangam some years ago and I saw his picture and learned that he was a great devotee of Nrsimha. But at that time I could not visit. And now he has passed on. It is a great loss. My friend went to visit him in Chennai and told me of his experiences.
The book sounds very interesting indeed and I will surely get a copy when it is in English. Do you go to Mattapalli? I have not been there yet, neither Ahobilam.
Guruji,
I have read Sri Mukkur’s articles on the 1008 namas of the Lord when it was serialised in a Tamil magazine.Though I don’t have the books.I have personally experienced the Lord’s grace [through the advice Sri Lakshminarasimhachariar gave through the magazine ] and will forever remember his generosity in giving diksha through that medium.It also brought to me the power of the word.
pranams
So you received your diksha in Ahobilam or when the acarya was on tour?
Sri Mattapally nAdham PranathOsmi Nithyam Namaha
ekamEva kShEtram Mattapally kShEtram
nAnyath kShetram Mattapally Thulyam
ekamEva smaraNam Mukkur Swamy Smaranam
nAnyath smaraNam Mukkur Swamy Thulyam
Dear Devotees:
Salutations!
adiyen chanced to visit this website and thrilled to see this discussion on kOti vAk dhAnam Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar. Towards facilitating the blissful experience of the holiest of Nrusimha rUpam at Sri Mattapally, Sri Swamy and his son Sri ML Srinivasan have set up a Yagna Vatika and Vasadhi Gruham (Guest house) at Sri Mattapally. ThadhIyAradhana is provided to all without discrimination on all days in the facility.
Sri Gopal manages the annadaanam and accommodation facilities and can be contacted at. Ph. +91 94406 57333
adiyen
R.Srinivasan
Chief Belief Officer
Sri Swathi Nrusimha Maha Yagna Trust
Adiyen
I am from srivaishnava community’ I think everyone should pay a visit to both these wonderful temples. My personal experience is very astonishing. The priests were performing thirumanjam to the lord chatravada narsimhan chanting taitriya Upanishad. I was sitting way back and chanting in chorus. I could feel the vibrations of the Lord tapping his feet as a mark of thalam. It was not me alone who experienced it but all the devotees. Who where present there. At the end of the function one of them came and asked me about it. I simply said I could feel the same. Mukkur Lakshmi narsimhachar is one of our acharya. I miss him a lot especially his writing. He is a source of inspiration to all.
DA San
Sampath kumar