Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.18.7

hari-varshe cāpi bhagavān nara-hari-rūpenāste; tad-rūpa-grahana-nimittam uttaratrābhidhāsye; tad dayitam rūpam mahā-purusha-guna-bhājano mahā-bhāgavato daitya-dānava-kula-tīrthīkarana-śīlā-caritah prahlādo 'vyavadhānānanya-bhakti-yogena saha tad-varsha-purushair upāste idam codāharati

SYNONYMS

hari-varshe — in the tract of land known as Harivarsha; ca — also; api — indeed; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nara-hari-rūpena — His form of Nrisimhadeva; āste — is situated; tat-rūpa-grahana-nimittam — the reason why Lord Krishna (Keśava) assumed the form of Nrisimha; uttaratra — in later chapters; abhidhāsye — I shall describe; tat — that; dayitam — most pleasing; rūpam — form of the Lord; mahā-purusha-guna-bhājanah — Prahlāda Mahārāja, who is the abode of all the good qualities of great personalities; mahā-bhāgavatah — the topmost devotee; daitya-dānava-kula-tīrthī-karana-śīlā-caritah — whose activities and character were so exalted that he delivered all the daityas (demons) born in his family; prahlādah — Mahārāja Prahlāda; avyavadhāna-ananya-bhakti-yogena — by uninterrupted and unflinching devotional service; saha — with; tat-varsha-purushaih — the inhabitants of Hari-varsha; upāste — offers obeisances to and worships; idam — this; ca — and; udāharati — chants.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, Lord Nrisimhadeva resides in the tract of land known as Hari-varsha. In the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I shall describe to you how Prahlāda Mahārāja caused the Lord to assume the form of Nrisimhadeva. Prahlāda Mahārāja, the topmost devotee of the Lord, is a reservoir of all the good qualities of great personalities. His character and activities have delivered all the fallen members of his demoniac family. Lord Nrisimhadeva is very dear to this exalted personality. Thus Prahlāda Mahārāja, along with his servants and all the denizens of Hari-varsha, worships Lord Nrisimhadeva by chanting the following mantra.

PURPORT

Jayadeva Gosvāmī's ten prayers worshiping the incarnations of Lord Krishna (Keśava) contain His name in every stanza. For example, keśava dhrita-nara-hari-rūpa jaya jagad-īśa hare, keśava dhrita-mīna-śarīra jaya jagad-īśa hare, and keśava dhrita-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagad-īśa hare. The word jagad-īśa refers to the proprietor of all the universes. His original form is the two-handed form of Lord Krishna, standing with a flute in His hands and engaged in tending the cows. As stated in Brahma-samhitā:

cintāmani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-

lakshāvriteshu surabhīr abhipālayantam

lakshmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

[Bs. 5.29]

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune." From this verse we learn that Govinda, or Krishna, is the ādi-purusha (the original person). The Lord has innumerable incarnations, exactly like the innumerable waves of a flowing river, but the original form is Krishna, or Keśava.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī refers to Nrisimhadeva because of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja was put into great distress by his powerful father, the demon Hiranyakaśipu. Apparently helpless before him, Prahlāda Mahārāja called on the Lord, who immediately assumed the gigantic form of Nrisimhadeva, half-lion and half-man, to kill the gigantic demon. Although Krishna is the original person, one without a second, He assumes different forms just to satisfy His devotees or to execute a specific purpose. Therefore Jayadeva Gosvāmī always repeats the name of Keśava, the original Personality of Godhead, in his prayers describing the Lord's different incarnations for different purposes.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness