Worship
of Yoga-Nrsimha
Ekangi Radha dd asked:
>I`m looking for bona fide
informations about the worship of Yoga Nrsimha;
>standarts of worship, who can do
this and stories, pastimes connected with
>Yoga Nrsimhadeva.Could you tell me
where can I found any informations about
>Yoga Nrsimhadeva ( puranas-exept
Nrsimha Purana, Vedic literature).
Iconically this form of Nrsimha is found
is several temples in India. The one that springs to my mind is Melkote, in
Karnataka near Mysore. The is a cave below the temple which is siuated on top
of a mountain inwhichit is said that Bhakta Prahlada slept and it is also said
that Lord Nrsimha visited there on his way back to Vaikuntha (like the story of
Nrsimha Pole in Mayapur). According to this Lord Nrsimha taught yoga to Prahada
in this place.
Concerning
Yoga forms of deities:
1. They are usualy worshipped by
ascetics.
2. They are usually situated in remote
forest, or mountain locations.
3. They therefore don't usually get a
great deal of worship (unlike Bhoga deities situated in areas of large
populations)
Concerning
Yoga Nrsimha:
1. The form of Yoga Nrsimha is sometimes
found alone and also occurs on the back side of the deities of Sudarsana
Chakra.
2. Yoga Nrsimha form is sitting with
legs crossed. There is a band that goes around the from the knees around the
back. This is a aid that Yogis use for sitting for long periods in meditation.
Usually there are four hands the top two hold the Chakra and Sankha. The lower
hands are resting on the knees palmdown.
3. The form of Yoga Nrsimha that is
combined with Sudarsana has four hands each carrying a Prayoga Chakra (Chakra which is ready to
throw ie seen edge on, not displayed flat).
Worship
of Nrsimha:
1. All Vaisnavas are elligible for the
worship of Lord Nrsimha.
2. The usual form worshipped is Laksmi
Nrsimha.
3. Information on Nrsimha and mantras
for His worship can be found in Nrsimha Purva and Uttara Tapani Upanisads,
Ahirbudhnya Samhita, and Hari Bhakti Vilasa.
4. Nrsimha Gayatri is found in the Maha
Narayana Upanisad (sometimes refered to as the Fourth Valli of Taittireya Upanisad). This mantra
needs to be recited with Svaras as it is Vedic sanskrit.
5. Nrsimha Anustubh mantra can be used
as a Dhyana Mantra in the worship and is found in Hari Bhakti Vilasa. (Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati received this mantra from his father Srila
Bhaktivinode Thakura)
6. There is also a Nrsimha Mala Mantra
(108 syllables).
7. Nrsimha bija mantra is found in Hari
Bhakti Vilasa (in the same section as the Anustubh mantra). It should be used
in the mula mantra which is simply the
bija followed by Nrsimha in dative singular, followed by namah. Optionally Om
can be prefixed to this mantra, before the bija mantra.
8. If the worship includes Prahlada,
Sudarsana, Pancajanya, Laksmi (which it should) then mula mantras, gayatris and
in some cases (Sudarsana) mala mantras for these are available.
9. For daily Nama Arcana use the 12
Upavyuha names of Visnu (same as tilaka mantras), this can be expanded to the
24 names of Visnu (used in Visesa Acamana in Arcana Paddhati), and for more
special occasions (or if you have more time) there is available the 108 names
of Nrsimha and the 1008 names
also.