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Sri Nrusimha PanchAmrutha Sthothram : Part 1

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • April 4, 1997 


Dear Members of the Bahkthi Group : 

I will cover a beautiful eulogy attributed traditionally
to Sri RamachandrA . This sthothram is  delectable to
listen . Hence it has been described as equivalent in rasanai 
to the tasting of  PanchAmrutham , which is made up of many fruits , 
honey , and sugar . The DevAs , who enjoyed listening to the most 
delectable sthuthi described it as"PanchAmrutham Anutthamam ".
The DevAs felt that the experience of listening to this sthuthi 
composed by Sri RamA was unsurpassed (AnutthamAm ) 
in taste , better than any PanchAmrutham made up of the usual
ingredients. Hence they described it as " PanchAmrutham 
Anutthamam " or invincible PanchAmrutham from the point of 
view of its "taste " to the ears .

Sri RamachandrA with Sowmithri stopped at Ahobilam 
on his southward trek towards LankhA to fulfill his avathAra
Kaaryam . He worshipped Sri Narasimhan of Ahobila Kshethram
and received His blessings and with the power of those blessings
destroyed the evil RavaNA and returned home victorious with His 
consort  . Hari vamsam in the section on Sesha Dharmam 
(chapter 47 ) describes Sri RamA"s sojourn at Ahobilam .
The sthothram composed by Sri RamA in front of PrahlAdha Varadan 
is known as " Sri Nrusimha PanchAmrutham ". There are five slokas 
that Sri RamA used to offer His salutation to BhagavAn Narasimhan .

SRI NRUSIMHAAYA NAMA : 

INTRODUCTORY  SLOKAM
******************************

AhObilam Naarasimham gathvA Rama: PrathApavAn I
NamaskruthvA Sri Nrusimham asthousheeth KamalApathim II

In this slokam , Sri Nrusimhan is described as KamalApathi 
or the consort of MahA Lakshmi , who does not leave Him even for 
a second. Hence , the ArchA murthy worshipped by Sri RamA 
could very well be MaalOlan or Lakshmi Narasimhan , who 
is the Aaradhana Murthy of Ahobila Mutt Jeeyars today. 

The slokam indicates that Sri RamA prostrated first before 
the Lord of Ahobilam ( Kaayika namaskaraNam ) and then 
offered His vaachika salutation ( Asthusheeth ) .

The first line of this slokam states that the valorous 
Sri RamA (PrathApavAn ) made a deliberate  journey  
to Ahobilam ( gathvA ) and offered his homage to 
Lord  Narasimhan. 

FIRST SLOKAM 
*****************

Govindha Kesava JanArdhana Vaasudeva 
Visvesa Visva Madhusoodhana Visvaroopa I
Sri PadmanAbha Purushotthama PushkarAksha 
NaarAyaNAchyutha Nrusimha NamO NamasthE II

This verse is a testament to the " Madhura Vaak "
of Sri RamA described by HanumAn in Sundara Khaandha
Slokam section : " SatyavAdhee Madhura Vaak dEvO 
VaachaspathiryathA " ( Sundara KhAndham 34.29) .
HanumAn describes Sri RamA to Sri SitA as the 
one with " Madhura Vaak " and as a competitor to 
Brahaspathi , the Deava Guru , in His meaning-laden 
speech (Artha Pushti ) . 

In this slOkam , Sri RamA uses 12 NamaskArams 
( If one counts the Naamam , NaarAyaNAchyutha ,
as one Naamam . These NaamAs chosen by 
Daasarathi are the ones celebrated in VishNu 
Sahasra nAmam . RaamA chose these celebrated 
names to eulogize " Naarasimha Vapu: SrimAn 
KESAVA : PURUSHOTTHAMA ". One can hear the echoes
of Vishnu Sahasra Naamam (VSN) again and again here .
For instance , when RamA slautes Narasimhan
as PadmanAbhan , we hear the echo of the sixth 
verse of Vishnu Sahasranaamam :

" ApramEyO Hrishikesa: PADMANAABHO amara Prabhu ; "

When RamA addresses BhagavAn Narasimhan as 
" SRI PADMANAABHAN " , one is reminded of the 
DwAdasa Naama Panjara Sthothra section saluting
Padmanaabhan :

" hrudh padmE PadmanAbhO meh
  sahasrArka samaprabha : I
  SarvAyudha: Sarvasakthi: Sarvajna :
  sarvathOmukha : " 

Sri RamA reached Ahobilam to seek the blessings
of the Lord , who used just His nails as a weapon ,
even though He is served by SarvAyudhams and 
is the embodiment of Sarva Sakthi . BhagavAn Narasimhan 
gave the boon of his sarva sakthi to RamA to
complete successfully His avathAra Kaaryam . 

Sri RamA's choice of the naamam " SRI PADMANABHA "
reminds one of the prefix , Lakshmi , which goes before
the name of the Lord of Ahobilam ( Lakshmi Narasimhan ). 
One is also reminded of the consort of the ArchAmurthy of 
Thiruvananthapuram (PadmanAbhan ) revered as " Hari Lakshmi ".   

The twelve names (Dwaadasa Naama) chosen by RamA 
to construct the golden cage/house ( Panjaram) for 
BhagavAn of AhObilam are :

1. Govindha(190th VSN ; The protector of those , who 
know the words ) 
2.Kesava(23rd VSN; one who has lovely locks of hair/Pidari ) 
3.JanArdhana ( VSN 129; the destoyer of persons
who are antagonistic )
4.Vaasudeva(334th VSN; He who pervades and sports )
5. Visvesa( Close to VSN 118 : Om Visva YonayEa nama:)
6. Visva (full in all aspects, 1st naamam of VSN)
7. Madhusoodhana( an epithet for VishNu and is also the name for 
honey bee; RamA's sancharam as a Bramaram (bee) around
Bhagavan NarasimhA can also be the reference ) . 
8. Visvaroopa ( Close to VSN 90 ; Om VisvarEthasE Nama: ) 
9. Sri PadmanAbha( 48th VSN; One who has  alotus in His navel)
10. PurushOtthama (24th VSN )
11.PushkarAksha (40th VSN; the lotus eyed one)
12. NaarAyaNAchyutha ( AchyuthAnandha Govindha NaarayaNa 
       namOsthu tEh ).

The remaining four slokams end with either the line ,
" Tham Naarasimham SaraNam gathOsmi " or 
" Tvaam Nrusimham sathatham NathOsmi ". 
I will cover the SaraNAgathi performed by Sri RamachandrA
to BahgavAn Narasimha in the next posting .

BhagavAn Sriya: Pathi: Sriman NaarAyaNa: 
BhakthAnAm Abhaya^nkara: Dushta Nigraha 
Sishta paripAlana Kshama: saraNAgatha 
Vathsala : NaarAyaNAchyutha Nrusimha 
,Thubhyam  NamO Nama :  

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan