MELKOTE SRI YOGA NARASIMHA
A very beautiful corridor and mandapam. We come to artha mandapam, from where devotees go in line to worship Sri Yoga Narasimha inside. The Lord is in seated pose. With both lower hands on the knees, the Lord graces in the yoga style. Large eyes. Cave like mouth. Arjuna was consoled not to worry by this mouth only. How Sri Narasimha came to Thiru Narayanapuram? This place is called Pancha Bhagavatha Kshetram [பஞ்ச பாகவத க்ஷேத்ரம் ]. Five sages sat here with a desire to view the Lord here. They were Vyasa, Ambarisha, Kumbarisha, Sukha and Rukmangatha. They meditated and prayed the Lord to appear before them. The Lord wanted to know in which form was He to appear to them. They wanted the Lord to appear in Sri Narasimha form as He appeared to the child devotee Prahalada. The Lord appeared as Sri Yoga Narasimha and continues to grace all devotees. So, by visiting this place one can have Darshan of Sri Thiru Narayana, Sri Yoga Narasimha, apply various sacred water [Theertham] and also enjoy the enchanting beauty of Nature. Unlike other places where the ambiance is warm and sultry, this place is very cool and pleasant. We see many hills around and at the feet of these hills, many ponds [theerthem] are there. There are eight ponds called Ashta theertham. We will now proceed to study further sloka 20. In sloka 18, Arjuna requested the Lord to explain in detail His empire and His yogam or auspicious qualities. He was not satisfied even if he listened to it any number of times. In sloka 20, Sri Krishna gave a very precise reply. The Lord dwells in all living beings. He is the inner soul or antharathma in every soul. We are worshiping Lord Sri Narasimha. He appeared from a pillar. Prahalada told that the Lord is in everything, be it an atom or a pillar. Bhutam means matter and includes living beings. Hiranyakasipu doubted the statement of Prahalada, He is everywhere. That is all are His body and He is the atman for all. This relationship is sarira - atman bhavam. So, the Lord replies Arjuna that all His body are His empire. Arjuna wanted to know the glory and auspicious qualities of the Lord. He replied in the Second line of sloka 20: that He is the beginning, middle and end of all. That is He is the Cause for the creation of all; Cause of sustaining all created; and, He is the Cause for the annihilation of everything. He is thus Cause for creation, protection and destruction of everything. He is the Cause and the Universe is effect. This is karana - karya bhavam. From this we learn that everything is His property. Our present atman owns the present body. But we do not know what bodies we owned in earlier births nor we know which bodies we are going to dominate in future. But the Lord owns everything not only the present, but the past and future. Sri Andal says 'yetraikkum yezhezh piravikkum...' [எற்றைக்கும் ஏழேழ் பிறவிக்கும் உந்தன்னோடே உறவேயாம் மற்றை நம் காமங்கள் மாற்று ]. So we can not be separated from Him and we are integral part of Him. This is called apruthak siddha viseshanam. Here we have to note an important message. Upanishads say He is anta pravishta:, that is He is pervading all. Atmana: antara:, He is the inner soul. But we are ignorant of this. We should clearly understand the body-soul concept. Which can be called a body? and which can be called its soul? This is very elaborately explained by Swami Ramanuja, in his Sri Bhashyam. If certain conditions are satisfied then we can regard one as soul and the other as body. That which is exclusively for the other is called body and the other is soul. That one should not have any need for itself. Our body does not have any separate requirements or private agenda. What the soul desires the body does. That which is exclusively for another, supported by the other, obeys commands of the other and is for the pleasure of the other, is body. The other is soul or atman. If we are to be the body of the Lord, then we have to live only for Him, serve only Him, obey only His commands, be supported only by Him and be only for His pleasure. It is not like what we think we own properties like house or car. They can be sold, when they are not regarded as our property. Atman and Paramatman relationship can not be separated. In the next relationship, the Lord talks of the cause- effect. We call mud pot, meaning pot made of mud. Gold pot means pot made of gold. Mud and gold are cause and pot is effect. Mud and pot are nominative cases. But by putting them together we do not use the instrumental case of grammar, but mean pot made of mud. Similarly, the Lord is the Cause and we are effect. Just like we read mud pot, both being in nominative case, our association with Lord can be read by having both the Lord and others in same nominative case; but the relationship is that of mud and pot, in the example mud pot. We will see that the Lord is going to list so many, starting from sloka 21 to sloka 39, and all and He would be in nominative case alone. We should therefore understand the relationship by appropriate application of the case. When we say Hill Sri Narasimha, it may mean Sri Narasimha seated on the hill. But it also means the Sri Narasimha in the hill, as a soul in a body. The Lord is Cause and the hill is effect. In the list He is going to tell we should therefore, understand that He is the atman for the other He mentions; He is the Cause and the other is effect. Due to these two factors, we can mention both in the same case.
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