Sketch / Drawing Details:
Title: Lord Narasimha - Half Lion Half Man
Created By: Divyesh Lappawala
Medium: pencil 2H,6B, colors, water, ball pen
Description: Lord Narasimha - Half Llion Half Man (god) killing Hiranyakashipu (demon) and protecting devotee Prahlada
Message
The message from this story is:
- Faith in God is paramount.
- God will always prevail.
- Devotion can be practiced at any time. Age does not matter.
- Evil will be punished.
- God saves his devotees
Hiranyakashipu
He was the powerful demons of his time. Vishnu (God) has killed his brother so he wanted revenge on Vishnu (God) and his followers. He undertook many years of austerity and penance to take revenge on Vishnu. Brahma (God) becoming pleased by Hiranyakashipu's austerities. Brahma thus appears before Hiranyakashipu and offers him a boon of his choice. Hiranyakashipu request following:
“O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you. Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought by any being other than those created by you, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal. Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time”
His wife Kayadu was pregnant during this time and moved to Sage Narada's ashram she lived there and learned about religion and the glory of Vishnu from him. Prahlada within her womb absorbed knowledge.
Prahlada
Prahlada born to Hiranyakashipu and kayadu, an evil king. He had become devotee of Vishnu(God). Hiranyakashipu ordered everyone to worship him and obey him. Prahlad disobeyed his father’s order.
Despite several warnings from his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continues to worship Vishnu instead of him. His father then decided to commit filicide and poison him, but he survived. Then he trampled the boy with elephants, but he lived. Then he put him in a room with venomous snakes, and they made a bed for him with their bodies.
Holika, the sister of Hiranyakashipu, was blessed in that she could not be hurt by fire. Hiranyakashipu finally puts Prahlada on the lap of Holika as she sits on a pyre. Prahlad prays to Vishnu to keep him safe. Holika burns to death as Prahlada is unscathed. This event is celebrated as the Hindu festival of Holi.
How god Vishnu had come in Narasimha avatar to protect Prahlada
Hiranyakashipu furious at the devotion of his son to Vishnu(god) who had killed his brother. Prahlad refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is all-pervading and omnipresent. Hiranyakashipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if 'his Vishnu' is in it:
"O most unfortunate Prahlad, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?”
Prahlada then answers “He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig, he is everywhere” Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and following a tumultuous sound, Vishnu in the form of Narasimha appears from it and moves to attack Hiranyakashipu. in defense of Prahlada .
In order to kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasimha is chosen. Hiranyakashipu can not be killed by human, deva or animal. Narasimha is neither one of these as he is a form of Vishnu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narsimha
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narsimha
