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The first 7 verses presented here are in the nature of "PoorvapeeDikai" - Introductory. The actual StOtram starts from verse 8.
yEvam surAdaya:
sarvE brahma rudra puras sarA:/ "Thus (even after praising the Lord) Brahma, Rudra and other Devas were unable to approach the presence of Lord Nrisimha, who was full of anger and hence unapproachable"
"Seeing the anger of the Lord not quenched, His consort, Sri MahAlakshmi was sent by the dEvas. She too, did not approach Him because His appearance was neither seen nor heard of ever before"
"The Brahma said to
PrahlAda who was standing near- Oh! Dear child! Go near and appease the
Lord who is
"The child PrahlAda who was very devoted to the Lord consented and slowly approached Him and with folded hands fell down on the ground prostrating"
"Lord Nrisimha saw
the child who lay prostrated before Him and was moved by His own
unbounded grace, liftedhim up and placed His hand on his head (as a mark
of blessing) which hand was like a lotus and which always a refuge for
all those who were afflicted by the effects of the serpent like evil
fate" sa tathkara
sparsadutha akhilAsubha: "PrahlAda, on the touch of the Lord's hand was at once freed from all sins and realized His grace and became very elated with joy and began to shed tears of joy and meditated upon Him in his own heart (mind)"
" PrahlAda said " Devas including Brahma and all Rishis of old have not been able to fully worship the Lord. Such being the case, by what praise from me (who is born of asura origin) will ever please Him" manyE dhana
abhijana roopa thapa: srutha Oja: "I think that mere riches, family, beauty, penance, skill, strong will, bodily appearance, fame, strength of body, bravery, intelligence and yOga practice - all these twelve are not useful for the worship of the Lord, if wanting in Bhakti. Was not the Lord pleased with the worship by a wild elephant (Gajendra) which was devoid of all these?" viprAth dvi
shaDguNayuthAtharavinDa nAbha " I think that a chanDALa, with bhakti, is far superior to a Brahmin who is possessed of all the above 12 attributes but wanting in Bhakti, for that ChaNDALa with Bhakti, purifies himself and his whole clan, whereas that proud Brahmin does not purify even his own self" naivAtmana: prabhu:
ayam nijalAbha poorNO "The Lord is wholly self-contained. He does not care for any offering from anybody. But, He accepts such offerings only for doing good to the devotees who make such offerings. The effect of grace bestowed by the Lord is so clear and certain just as one's own image is surely reflected in a mirror" tasmAth aham
vigatha viklava Eeswarasya "Hence, I, though low by nature and birth, shall praise the Lord's glory in all ways and by all possible efforts. Any soul or jiva though environed in the body by its karma, gets purified by such praise of the Lord" SarvE hyamee
vidhikarAs thava stavadhAmnO "Oh! Lord! The Gods, Brahma and others, are just like us, your servants. They are equally afraid of approaching you. These AvatAras of yours have been taken by you more for sports and for the purpose of bringing good to the world and also for pleasing yourself" Tath yascha manyum
asuras cha hatha: tvayA adhya " Oh! Lord! Please control your anger. My father has been killed by you today. Good men will hereafter be most happy just as ordinary men become pleased by killing scorpions and serpents. Let all these Gods now present go to their respective abodes. Let this avatAra of yours be hereafter the object of meditation for men to get rid of all fears in their lives" na aham bhibEmi
ajitha thE athibhayAnakasya- " Oh! Lord! You are invincible. I am not afraid of your appearance. Your mouth, tongue, brows and curved teeth are all awe inspiring. You are wearing the garland made of the intestines of my father. Your mane is wet with blood. Your ears are standing erect indicating your greatest anger. The elephants that are bearing the earth are terribly trembling on hearing your roars. Your nail ends are always used in splitting the very hard chests of your enemies. These Brahma and other Gods may be afraid of you. But, I am not" thrasthOsmi aham
kripaNa vatsala dussaha ugra- " Oh! Lord! You are all fragrance. You are really the friend and protector of the weak. I am caught in the whirls of samsAra wheels. The grip is tight. I am bound to this body as the effect of my own good and bad deeds. When will you be pleased to free me from this bondage and make me join your holy feet which are the only means of salvation (i.e) Moksha or Absolute bliss?" tasmAth priya
apriya viyOga sayOga- "Oh! Lord! The Immeasurable! In all the cycles of births I am met with miseries where they are not expected and on some occasions with some so called fleeting pleasures. I am burnt with sorrows. Whenever I try to solve these miseries, the remedy itself is leading to another misery. I am in the whirlpool of samsAra going round and round. As a remedy for all such ills, I pray that you make me a humble servant of yours- always engaged in your service" sOham priyasya
suhruda: para dEvatAyA: " Oh! Lord Nrisimha!
, in the company with those devotees (Bhaktas of yours) who concentrate
upon and have their abode in your holy feet, I shall always praise
your qualities and get rid of these prakrits which
are the result of changing TriguNas, and I shall always be singing
your stories of the several AvatAras and thus cross the several
samsAric miseries very easily" bAlasya na iha
saraNam pitharou Nrisimha "Oh! Lord Nrisimha! Oh! All pervading! If you are not pleased, even parents will not be the protectors of their offsprings; medicines will not have any effect on the sick; the boat will not protect the man drowning in the sea. If there is not yet that grace, all the remedies prescribed for the suffering souls in samsAra will be powerless"
yasmin yathO yarhi
yEna yasya yasmAth "That creative or destructive force which is found in any form, which is having its origin from anywhere, which is visible in whatever manner or form, which is working, for whom meant it may be and for any source and which is the author or destructor of whatever thing found in this world, whether it is the actual parent or the Brahma, the creator of the universe - it is all your nature and none else" mAyA mana:
srujathi karma mayam baleeya: " Oh! Lord! Your mAya (moolaprakriti) is the creator of that mind which is the effect of one's own good and bad deeds, which is capable of roaming anywhere as it pleases and hence, which is strongest and not easily controllable. For this creation of the mind, your mAya takes the period of the ever moving time and consequent changing of the TriguNas (Satva, Rajas and Tamas). Such being the case, who else except you Oh! Lord! can help this soul to cross or get out from the whirls of the wheels of this samsAra?" satvam hi nitya
vijitha AatmaguNa: svadhAmnA " Oh! Lord! All
pervading! The GuNas are under your control. You have subdued the
same. Your Sakti creates the bodies for all the souls and sustains the
same. Even time is ruled by you. Hence, will you please drag me out of
the sixteen shafted wheel of samSsAra? I have surrendered myself
completely to you. There is no other go for me except your holy
feet. I am your refugee SaraNAgathan." drishTA mayA divi
vibhO: akhila dishNyapAnAm "Oh! Lord! The Absolute without a second! Generally men in this samsAra wish and pray for long life, wealth and greatness which are enjoyed by all the minor Devas and even by Devendra in the heaven. Such long life etc, purely depended upon my father's anger, pleasure and bending of the brows indicative of displeasure. Such a father of mine has been destroyed by you. I have seen all of them" tasmAd amoo: thanu
bruthAm aham aasisha: gnya " Oh! Lord! Knowing as I do, that all the long life, wealth and prosperity that are enjoyable from Brahma downwards are transient and impermanent and fleeting, I do not want them at all. Those worldly pleasures etc. are all subject to you. Hence, take me in the assembly of your servants who are at your service" kutra Asishah:
sruthi sukhA: mriga thrishNa roopa: " People know fully well that long life, wealth and prosperity though pleasant, are only a mirage at the time of their enjoyment. Yet, they try their best to attain them; And, they do not show any inclination for renunciation." kve aham raja:
prabhava: Isa! tamO adhikE asmin " Oh! Lord! Where am I, who am the origin of RajOguNa and who has been born in the asura clan, which is the seat of TamOguNa? Where is your grace to one born so low as I am? You, in your infinite grace have placed your Lotus holy hand on my head: but not even on Brahma, Siva and MahAlakshmi who have not been deserving of your blissful grace." na yEshA parAvara
mathi: bhavathO na thu syAth " It is only man who makes a distinction between high and low in this world. For you, Oh! Lord! There is no distinction. To you, all are equal. For example, the reward one derives from kalpaka tree depends upon the way one worships the same. The degree of the reward ultimately lies in the degree of worship of that tree. There is no distinction between high and low so far as that tree is concerned. That kalpaka tree is impartial. So also you are." eEvam janam
nipathitham prabhavA hi koopE " Oh! Lord! I am already fallen into the well of samsAra which is full of snakes (worries). I am always inclined to fall more and more into such a well by coming into contact with men who always are eager to fulfil their worldly desires; yet, you have saved me by sending the Deva rishi NAraDhA to initiate me into the holy teachings and to make me your own. Then, how can I ever think of leaving the service to your real devotees whose motto is - SERVICE FOREVER." math prANa
rakshaNam anantha pithur vadas cha " Now, Oh Lord! The Immeasurable! You have saved me and you have killed my father. These two things you have done first with a view to establish your Bhakta Sri NAraDa's words and then to make false my father's words " I am now going to kill you. If there is any Iswara besides me, let him now be your protector. I will cut off your head." yEka: tvamEva
jagad Etath amushya yath tvam "Oh! Lord! You are the one. You manifest yourself in the beginning, middle and end of this universe. You exhibit yourself in those three different stages of existence. You create this world by your own mAya as an effect of the interchanging TriguNas and you enter into the created world and you exhibit yourself in all the forms of your own creation. Thus, you are the manifestation of this world creation" tvam vA idam sad
asad eesa! bhavAn tatha: anya: " You are the Lord of this universe which is of soul and matter. Yet, you are out of this universe. The idea that this body is itself the soul is false. The creation, protection and destruction of this universe are all imbedded in the earth. The seed disappears and the result is the tree which grows in the earth as time passes on." nyasya idam
Aatmani jagad vilaya ambhu madhyE " In the praLaya stage of this universe, you place all these souls in a secure position and you are immersed in yOga sleep closing your eyes. Even then you are doing this for your own pleasure, yet being detached. You are not at all affected by these worldly attachments." tasyai thE vapu:
idam nija kAla sakthyA " You, after the yOga nidra, get up from the deep slumber and begin to create the universe again i.e. you exhibit yourself again. Then, from your divine navel springs up a lotus flower, just as a Banyan tree rises up from a small seed. The lotus flower is a very big one" tath sambhava:
kavi: athO anyath apasyamAnah: " From that flower, Lord Brahma was born. Then, Brahma did not see anything except himself and that flower. He was curious to know how he and the flower came. He went round and round. No success. Then, for full one hundred Brahma-years he dived into the praLaya ocean. Even then he could not see the Lord who was the cause of that lotus flower. This, however, is nothing strange. How can a seed be again observed when the seed has sprouted?" sa tvat AatmayOnir
athi vismitha aasritha abjam " Then, that Brahma performed Tapas for a very long time and became purified in mind. Then he saw you, Oh! Lord!, all pervading, in a subtle fashion, just as one feels smell in the earth. How were you then? You were all exhibiting yourself in all your Bhuta-sookshma and Indriyas (senses). Such are you. Oh! Lord!" yEvam sahasra
vadhana angri sirah: kara Ooru- " That same Brahma then saw your awe-inspiring form full of mAya, with thousands of faces, mouths, ears, hands, thighs, noses etc. and realized that you are the one mahApurusha and derived immense pleasure" thasmai bhavAn
haya siras thanuthAm cha bibhrath " Oh! Lord! You took the form of Hayagriva and killed the two asuras, Madhu and KaiTabha, who once stole away the Vedas and you restored the same to Brahma. All great men proclaim that that Hayagriva form of yours is producing Sattva guNa and Sattva is most pleasing to you." iththam nru
thiryag rishi dEva jasha avatArai- " Thus, you, Oh!
Lord! You take several AvatAras in the shape of man, beast, rishi,
dEva and fish and become manifested as the protector of the afflicted
souls and the killer of wicked men like RavaNa. Oh! MahApurusha! You are
at the same time in the several AvatArs, do maintain the limits of na yEtan
manas thava kathAsu vikunTa nAtha " Oh! Lord of VaikunTa! My mind is tossed by going after sinful deeds. Hence, I become fully troubled by attachment towards worldly desires. Further, I am always troubled by the care and anxiety for me and my family, wealth etc. Hence, I become powerless. Then how can I, with a useless mind, be inclined to repeat your stories and how can I go on inquiring after your Paratva i.e. How can I realize your holy self?" jihvA ekatha:
achyutha! Vikarshathi mA avithruptham " Oh! Achyuta! What is my unfortunate position? My senses all drag me here and there. For instance, my tongue goes after sweet and tasteful things; my sensual organs are insatiable; my stomach is unfillable; my sense of touch craves for soft things; my nose craves for fragrant things; my eyes are always fleeting and going after seemingly beautiful objects; my hands and feet won't keep to one place for a second. In one word, these senses drag me here and there just as one's several co-wives will drag their husband without giving him a second's rest." yEvam sva karma
pathitham bhava vaitharaNyAm " Oh! Lord! You are always out of the samsAra and are looking out upon your created universe. What do you see? This stupid world is caught in the ever moving VaitharaNi river of this samsAra. In this world, one is afraid of the other by his birth, death and even of the chance of one eating away the other's possessions. Why? This is due to the world being carried away by the stupid attachment to their bodies (Prakriti) which leads to one another's friendship or hatred. Lord! Please be gracious to look upon these stupid folk and have pity on them and be their protector at once" kO nu athra thE
akhila gurO: bhagavad prayAsa: " You are the world teacher. You are the protector of the destitute. What is the difficulty for you to lift not only myself but also all those dear and near to me from the depths and miseries of this samsAra? You are the cause of creation, sustenance and destruction of this universe. We not only worship you but also your dear Bhaktas" naiva udvijE
parama! hEy! Bhava vaitharaNyA; Oh! Highest Lord! I am not afraid of the samsAric vaitharaNi river, because I am always immersed in the amrutha ocean of singing your brave and heroic deeds of your several AvatAras. But, I am really sorry for those fools who are carried away by the unbearable kArmic deeds which are all done for the fleeting, impermanent and false satisfaction of the several Indriyas." prAyENa dEva
munayas sva vimukthi " Oh! Deva! Generally Rishis are always selfish. They are only engaged for their own salvation. They don't care for the advancement of others. Hence, they always prefer solitude and go to forest to do penance; Not so am I. I do not want liberation from this samsAra for myself alone. I do not like to leave behind these souls who are beside me and who out of ignorance, are caught in the whirlpool of samsAra. I do not find any other liberator for them except you. Oh! Lord! Have mercy on them too!" yath maithunAdi
gruhamEdhi sukham hi tuchcham " The apparent enjoyment of a Grihasta i.e. the householder is sexual pleasure. But, it is no pleasure at all. It is a trifle. Really, such sexual pleasure is nothing but the cause of misery. It is like scratching the body with the fingernails to ease itches. But, this leads to further itching and "growing pains". Further, the more one gets addicted to worldly pleasures, the more discontented one becomes. But, very rarely we come across a few bold men who resist such sensual and sexual enjoyment" mouna vratha
srutha thapO adhyayana sva dharma- "Oh! The Supreme Lord! Meditation, observance of all the Sastric commands, reading of Vedas, performance of penance, observing all the varNa AchAras, expounding vEdas to others, chanting holy mantras in solitude and other meditation and concentration - are surely the means of attaining Moksham. But, NOT FOR ALL. They are so only for those who have conquered their senses. For those who have not so conquered, these modes of life become means of eking out their livelihood. For those who do all these things for pomp and show, they will lose that character of eking out livelihood also. Such being the case, how can they become means of attaining salvation? They will be the means of salvation only for those who have subdued their senses." roopE imE
sadasathee thava vEda drishTE " All the objects, animate and inanimate are as proclaimed by Vedas, Oh! Lord! your forms. Not only that they form respectively the seed and the sprout, they are also exhibited by you. Great Rishis by their yOga abhyAsa found out your art amidst those objects just as fire (is found out) by rubbing wood" tvam vAyu: agni:
avani: viyad ambu mAtrA: " Oh! The Great Lord! You are everything- VAyu, Agni, Earth, Ether and Water, the senses and their GuNas, all the five PrANa Vayus, Mind, Buddhi, AhamkAra. All these are yourself. You possess all good qualities and you are rid of all bad qualities. All that are within the reach of the mind and speech are nothing but yourself" na yEthE guNA na
guNinO mahA dAdaya: yE " Oh! Lord! You are the only one deserving of all praises. All the guNas, and those that are the effect of these guNas i.e. Mahath, Manas, Devas and Manushyas etc. have beginning and end. They do not know you. Great ones have by their austerities found you out among all those things and have refrained themselves from worldly desires and attained VairAghya and as a consequence thereof realized you and are keeping absolutely motionless" thath thE
Mahththama ! namah sthuthi karma poojA " Oh! Lord, the Supreme! There are six ways to attain that Bhakti towards you viz., (1) Prostration (2) Praising you (3) Offering Poojas to you (4) Doing Dharmas (5) Meditation of your holy feet (6) Hearing stories about you. These are the ways of real devotees, bhaktas and SannyAsis. Except by such sEva, it is not possible to reach the path of such SannyAsis or to become a Bhakta of yours." yethAvad varNitha
guNO bhakthyA bhaktEna nirguNa:/ " Sage NArada said to Yudhishtra as follows: Lord Nrisimhamurthi was immensely pleased with the wonderful and humble praises of His devotee, Sri PrahlAda who was standing close by with bended knees and spoke to him thus." vatsa! PrahlAda!
Badram thE preethO aham thE asurOththama/ " Sri BhagavAn said: "Oh! Child! PrahlAda! All happiness to you! Ask of me any boon. I am immensely pleased with you. I am the fulfiller of all the prayers of my devotees" mAm apraNeetha
Aayushman darsanam durlabham hi mE/ "Oh! Long living one!. Long life to you! Oh! PrahlAda! If one does not please me, it is impossible for him to have my Darsan. If one attains my Darsan, then he shall not be in the least deserving to suffer any pain whatsoever. There will be no room for the least sorrow for such a man who has had my Darsan" preeNanthi yEva hi
mAm dheerA: sarva bhAvEna sAdhava:/ " All good men (i.e) SAdhus always try to please me by all possible ways. They are really men desirous of attaining Moksha. They are really the blessed people. They please me, who is the bestower of all wishes of my devotees" yEvam
pralObhyamAnOpi nvarai: lOka pralObhanai:/ " That great one among Asuras (i.e) PrahlAda, even though tempted by the Lord Himself with tempting boons which will naturally entice ordinary common folks, he did not desire for such boons since all his concentration and meditation was upon BhagavAn Himself and no others" ForewordSri D.T.Tatachar Swami: "The StOtra contains
55 SlOkas.The first 7 are Introductory. They describe how even after
killing Hiranyakasipu, The Lord looked so ferocious (ugram) that Brahma
and other Devas were afraid to approach Him and requested
Mahalakshmi to pacify the Lord. Since she had also never seen such
rage before, she could not take bold to approach. Brahma then deputed
PrahlAda for the purpose. The next 43 SlOkas represent the StOtram proper. The last 5 SlOkas describe how pleased with the devotion of PrahlAda offered to grant any boon he wished saying that those who meditated on Him would get all they desired. The 43 SlOkas contain the essence of Tattva, Hita and Purushartha which form the bastion of VisishtAdvaita SiddhAntam." Sri Uttamur Swami Says: This AvatAram is unique in many respects:
Sri D. Ramaswamy Iyengar observes:
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