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Every year for Nrsimha Caturdasi in Mayapur we celebrate the Lord’s appearance with a grand three day festival. The first day is celebrated with a huge procession throughout the ISKCON Mayapur property and on the second day we perform a three hour long Maha Sudarshana Homa before the Deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva. The third day is observed as Nrsimha Caturdasi. We would like to offer you an opportunity to personally benefit from the Sudarshana Yajna by participating in the offering as explained below.

The Sudarshana Yajna is a very special one. Sudarshana, the divine discus of Lord Vishnu, is invoked along with Lord Nrsimha for the attainment of success in a particular undertaking and for protection from negative forces. It is a type of exorcism that removes evil elements and other troublesome astral entities as well as counteracts curses and spells.

The homa is accomplished with a fire yajna, offerings of Tulasi leaves to the Lord, and recitation of the Purusha Sukta, and the Sudarshana yantra, a copper disc with special sacred symbols is bathed 108 times with the Sudarshana mantras for empowerment and then offered darpan (bath water) from the purified water of kalashes. As usual, this year’s yajna consisting of over 10,000 various offerings will be performed by 9 saintly Mayapur gurukula Brahmin boys.

This year the TOVP Team is again assisting to help coordinate the entire event and we invite all devotees to participate as part of a worldwide Harinama Yajna for the protection and success of the TOVP project and for their personal protection also. To participate we request that you make a vrata (vow) to chant a specific number of extra daily rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra between now and April 26th (India time) for this purpose. Email us at tovpinfo@gmail.com either before you start the vrata or when you complete it on April 26th (India time) with your name, gotra (if any), and the number of rounds you intend to chant per day or have completed by the deadline. Your name will be chanted as part of the offering infused into the water of the bathing kalashes, and then recited again during the darpan (yantra bathing) by the Brahmins performing the yajna.

Last year over 21,000 rounds were chanted in the Harinama Yajna by devotees worldwide and this year we would like to double that number. Besides chanting extra rounds yourself, become a TOVP Ambassador and tell all your devotees friends to do the same by forwarding this email to them. Let’s all work together to make this the best Nrsimha Caturdasi/Harinama Yajna yet so together we can serve Lord Nrsimha to the best of our capacity.

Last year’s Nrsimha Caturdasi also initiated the commencement of the mounting of the Kalashes onto the TOVP domes and the grand installation of the Chakras soon thereafter. This year’s festival initiates the beginning of MISSION 22, the four year marathon to complete the TOVP by 2022. Please pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva and Sudarshana Chakra for Their full protection in the completion of this divine project.

Prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva by Shani (Saturn)

Shani said:

By the mercy of the dust of Your lotus feet which destroy a multitude of sins, grant infinite auspiciousness to Your devotee who always worships Your lotus feet with devotion. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your lotus feet are worshipped by Goddess Lakṣmi, even though She is fickle by nature (cancala) and by Lord Brahmā and Lord Siva whose feet are worthy of worship with devotion. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By contemplating or meditating upon Your appearance, which is expounded in the Vedas extensively, the best of the saints are liberated from the three-fold miseries and from all misfortunes. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By the word of His devotee named Prahlāda, Lord Hari, who is generous and kind, appeared from a pillar and by placing HiraṇyakaSipu on His thighs split open his stomach with His nails. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

You protected your own devotee Prahlāda from a raging fire, the deep ocean, from falling from a tall mountain peak, poison, a mad elephant and the fangs of poisonous serpents. You are omnipresent and supremely generous. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose great form is devoid of imperfections, the best of the saints attained liberation from the ocean of materialistic attachments and obtained unmitigated salvation. O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

By meditating upon He whose form is fearsome, all peace, happiness and prosperity can be obtained, all sins can be obliterated, the fear arising from evil spirits, fevers and unfavorable planetary positions can be removed, O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

Your transcendental fame is sung gloriously in all the divine assemblies of Siva, Brahmā and Indra etc. and whose power is steadfast in wiping out all impurities, O Lord Narsimha, please bestow upon me Your merciful side-long glance.

On listening to the heartfelt prayer composed by Sanideva in the assembly of Lord Brahmā, Lord Hari who is ever compassionate to His devotees, spoke to Sanideva as follows.

Sri Narsimha said:

O Sani, I am pleased with your devotion. Whatever you desire that will benefit the world, ask for that kind of boon and I will grant it.

Sri Sanideva replied:

O Lord Narsimha, O reservoir of compassion, please be kind to me. O Lord of all gods, let my week-day (Saturday) be Your favorite day. O Purifier of all the worlds, may You fulfill the desires of all those who listen to or read this great prayer to You composed by me.”

Sri Narsimha said:

O Sani, let it be so! By virtue of My being the universal protector (Rakṣobhuvana), I fulfill the desires of all My devotees. Please listen to My words let there be no fear of the twelfth and eighth birth positions (and implicitly any unfavorable birth positions) and consequent troubles from you for anyone who reads or listens to this prayer to Me composed by you.

Then Sanideva replied to Lord Narahari that he would follow the Lord’s instructions. Then the joyful saints and sages present there (in Brahma’s assembly) responded with cries of, ‘jaya, jaya!’”.

Sri Krsna told Dharmarāja, “Whoever listens to or recites this conversation between Sanideva and Lord Narsimha in the form of this prayer of devotion will definitely have all desires fulfilled and will always rejoice.”

Thus ends the prayers offered to the universal protector Sri Narsimha by the great soul Sani.