ŚHRĪ NARASIṂHA in the Words of ŚHRĪ MĀTĀJĪ
"During My Narasiṃha Incarnation I had to grow My nails like a tiger to kill the devil Hiraṇyakaśhipu, and that's why these are like this."
1900-0000 Quote on Nails
"At the time of Narashima [Narasiṃha ] (half man half lion in the upper part) man [men] achieve a self-conscious domination over animals and natural forces. Short man (Vamana) was enlightened with the idea that he could capture the three worlds (triloka) of earth, heavan and hell. This incarnation brought forth the idea in the human mind that he can overpower three worlds (Triloka)[.] It should be understood that Vishnu's incarnations, line of evolution leads the way toward higher[,] wider and deeper awareness which is the true index by which the creation's development can be measured."
1902-0000 Handwritten Note on Viṣhṇu's Central Path related to The Book of Ādi Śhakti, Chapter 2
"You cheat Śhaṅkarjī and take away His wife, but then you will be in trouble.
And whatever boon He gives, there is always a loophole that gets created due to His innocence. He gives a complete blessing. But in that, there will be one or the other loophole due to which the demon gets killed.
You know in Narasiṃha Avatār, He had given a boon. Once the demon got caught up, he was killed.
Rāvaṇ was given a boon, he was killed. Kaṃsa was given a boon, he was killed. Narakāsur, Mahiṣhāsur, all were killed, after taking boons.
This loophole is also part of Śhaṅkarjī's innocence."
1973-0910 Public Program (Hindi), Bholāpan (Innocence), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (place not sure)
"Today's topic is 'The experience of God's Love'.
The experience of God's Love has been described in many books of ours but nobody believes in them.
For example, when Prahlād, in whose presence Narasiṃha incarnated, was asked, "What do you want?", he replied, "Tav Charaṇa arvinde prīti" [The love of Your Lotus Feet], that is, "O God, give me the love of Your Lotus Feet."
Such a Prahlād is not there in the world nowadays nor is there any chance of a Narasiṃha Incarnation. That is why all that feels like a lie. It feels that all that is a lie and has no meaning, the concept of Incarnations and other things is false and have been said simply to fool people."
1975-1222 Public Program (Hindi), Day 1, Prabhu ke Prem kā Anubhav (Experiences of Lord's Love), Gita Mandir Hall, Bharatiya Vidyā Bhavan (3rd floor), 29, Kulapati K.M. Munshi Mārg, Chowpatty, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
"This area, according to Indian mythology, is governed by a Power called Lakṣhmī, which on one side gives us our sustainance [sustenance] and on the other side guides it [us] how to behave.
And from the same Power, the Male Form of that Power incarnates, again and again, to guide the people, in human form.
This Incarnation in the beginning was a fish, when we were fishes. When we were tortoises, It was a tortoise, when we were reptiles It was a tortoise. Then we were quadrupeds, we ... It was a boar. Then later on It became half man and half uh half lion. Then It became a small man, short man. Then It became the very strong man, Paraśhurāma. Then He came as Śhrī Rāma. At His completion, He came as Śhrī Kṛiṣhṇa."
1980-0419 Public Program, Day 4, Spiritual Evolution of Man, Paris, France
"But the biggest blessing: should be able to love the Almighty. This is the biggest blessing.
Prahlād was intelligent, that is why when the Almighty appeared in the form of Narasiṃha, He asked Prahlād, "What do you want? Ask anything from this world." He was Viṣhṇu in person. What did he ask for? "Tav Charaṇa Ravinde" [(let me be a) lotus flower at Your Feet].
Even an eight-year-old boy had this wisdom. If one gets this like Nectar, then nothing else is needed."
1980-1209 Talk to Sahaja Yogis (Marathi), Day 1, Sane Gurujī Vidyālaya (English Medium) School, Bhikoba Waman Pathare Mārg, Near Dadar Catering College, Shivaji Park, West Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
"One has to understand: that God stands in His purity. He it's [is] a pure being.
And He likes our wisdom! He doesn't like people who are stupid and foolish! He likes wise people. Wise people, like Prahlād.
Prahlād was an eight year old boy, when his father Hiṇak ... Hiraṇyakaśhipu challenged him, Śhrī Viṣhṇu appeared in a pillar.
You know in a Narasiṃha Avatāra.
And He killed his father.
And then He asked this little boy, of eight years, Prahlāda, He says: "My child, My devotee, what do you want?"
He could have asked for anything!
Sākṣhāt Viṣhṇu was there, but what does he say? "Tava Charaṇa aravinde prīti." "Give me love at Your Lotus Feet. O my Lord, that's all what I want! To love You at Your Lotus Feet."
If you have your pure love for God, He'll give you wisdom. If you do not have your purity, you go there to ask for this thing and that thing.
'Give me a transfer,' specially government servants [laughter]. They are never satisfied: they want to have transfers all the time.
'Give me a promotion.'
'Give me a son.' When you get a son, 'Give me a job for my son.' [Some laughter.] When he gets a job, 'Get him a wife.' [Some laughter.]
Poor Gaṇeśha must be tired!
This is what it is: this is not religion, this is not God, this has nothing to do with spirituality.
You have to ask for one thing: "Tava Charaṇa aravinde prīti."
"O Lord, let me be at Your Lotus Feet so that one day my Kuṇḍalinī would be awakened and that my Ātmā would be enlightened within my awareness. Let me keep my life so beautiful," "Ye chādar Ṛiṣhi Muni jann odhi, Odhi ke meli kini chadariya, Dāsa Kabīr jatan se odhi, Jaisi ki taisi rakha dinī chadariya." "
1981-0207 Public Program, Day 3, Introduction to Nābhī and Void, Mavlankar Hall, Constitution Club of India, Vithal Bhai Patel House, Rafi Mārg, Sansad Mārg Area, Behind Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi, India
"Uh then from there we go to Paṃḍharapūr, I mean, so you stay in Paṃḍharapūr.
From Paṃḍharapūr we go -- this is the longest route we have to take -- so we go round to Narsiṃghpur, which is close by, about one and a half hour, where you see a temple which is of Narasiṃha Avatāra, of the Prahlāda's time.
It's very interesting but I won't be with you. But it's very interesting to know that Prahlād, who lived thousands and thousands of years back, much before Śhrī Kṛiṣhṇa, his mother was abducted from Multān.
It's in the North, towards the Pakistan. It is now in Pakistan.
And the king was ruling there.
And the ... the ... the uh lady was brought to a guru who was staying in this place, where you will be going, near the Rivar [River] Nirā.
Now you know My name is also Nirā. Nirā means marine, mh ... Marie or what you call the marine.
And this gentleman stayed there. Uh-uh-ah-ah I should say the uh-uh, she was abducted by Mis... uh ... Indra. Indra is the King of all the Gods. And this gentleman, Mister Indra, when he went and saw the guru who was staying in that āśhram, was Śhāṇḍilya, which is ... which is My gotra. My father's gotra is Śhāṇḍilya.
......
So the Śhāṇḍilya, you see, [unclear] this little boy stayed with Śhāṇḍilya, at the age when he was of five years of age, I think, and he used to play along the river.
And there we are trying to get a plot of land which is of twenty-five acres of land, for our future, real Āśhram we'll have, near the river, bank of River Nirā.
And the something, in My childhood I've written some poems with the bank, on the bank of Nirā River. I've written, long time back some poems, but I don't know where are they. But I wrote some poems about it.
So, I knew that we'll be settled down there.
You should have a look at the temple and should have a look at the Nirā uh River and the place where we are going to have our uh-uh-uh Āśhram.
Now, this one is, you will be going down there.
And now, this boy uh-uh was making a statue of Narasiṃha which was going to incarnate it.
And then guru Śhāṇḍilya told Indra that, "Don't do like this. You return this lady back to her husband, though he is a rākṣhasa," Hiraṇyakaśhipu, "doesn't matter. This child is going to bring forth the Advent of Narasiṃha."
So he returned her back.
And when he returned her back, you see, then you know what happened and Narasiṃha Avatāra took place.
And after thousands of years back ... later, then one of the Peśhwās built this temple there, of Narasiṃha. And he put one statue of Śhrī Viṣhṇu there.
But Śhrī Viṣhṇu appeared in his, uh this thing, in his dream, they say so, and told him that, 'Prahlāda has already made My statue, of Narasiṃha, in that place, you go and find it out.'
So they found out a statue made out of sand.
And that is still there, kept there. And that is always looked after.
So it's a very interesting place. And you'll say ... see that temple is very interesting, you'll like it.
And from there, from -- but don't allow anybody to touch your forehead, again I say! None of them are realized Souls there. But the temple is good."
1982-1220 Talk to Sahaja Yogis, Instructions for Maharashtra Tour, Lonavala (67 kms NNW of Pune), Maharashtra, India
Śhrī Mātājī: And when ... I was a little girl, about seven years, I used to write poetry, as you do. And ... and the ... I wrote a eh-eh series of poems uh uh called uh 'On the bank of Nirā River'. My the name is Nirmalā but in the family I am called as Nirā, in My family. 'On the bank of Nirā River'.
[During the translation:] [unclear].
So-oo, uh actually I did not know, so there was a river with that name in uh ... I mean, I knew in a way, but uh that's not known in India that there's a river called Nirā.
Uh-uh then it happened that ... uh ... there was uh-uh-uh [Madhukar Bhikobā] Dhumāḷ, and the ... he told Me that uh-uh-uh there's a gentleman, his brother-in-law, who has got uh-uh-uh lot of land, and the he would like to sell it. So-o-oo, I said, "That's a good idea. But where is it?" He says uh-uh-uh, "On the bank of Nirā River." [Laughter.] So he said, "He wants to sell it to You alone," to Me alone. I mean he wanted to give Me actually free before. But then we said, "We'll buy it." He just wanted to give Me, in person, that land. So I said, "Why? What is it?" He said that, "Since he came to Sahaja Yoga, he has been so much blessed. And this land was taken by government, you see, in the sealing. But they returned it saying that, 'This is a surplus land we have taken, we want to return it.' So he wants to give that land to You."
So, I went to see the land. And the ... I found the vibrations were tremendous, and now we have got the land. And the, it is ... it is the river flows like this, you see, in the same way as we have the bandhan. And inside that is the land, about twenty-five to thirty acres of land.
And the ... later on, you see, we found out that the family -- every family in India has got a gotra, means the university of the ... of the enlightened teachers, who ... who were there for families, you see, for fourteen thousand years now we had this one, Śhāṇḍilya as our uh gotra, Śhāṇḍilya. He was a Muni, he was a Ṛiṣhi, see it.
Sahaja Yoginī translator: What was the name?
Śhrī Mātājī: Śhāṇḍilya.
Sahaja Yoginī translator: Śhāṇḍilya.
Śhrī Mātājī: Ah.
And then we discovered that that was the land of his āśhram. And that he looked after Prahlād in his childhood, by whose effort the ...
You don't know Grégoire this stor[y]? Oh, I must tell you the whole thing in a big way. Oh, I didn't know.
You see, this uh Prahlād, uh cha ... Prahlād's mother was pregnant.
It's, fourteen thousand years back it's the story is.
And the ... the uh her uhh ... the lady's husband was a rākṣhasa, Hiraṇyakaśhipu, when this uh Narasiṃha Avatāra took place.
Grégoire de Kalbermatten: Vielleicht erzähle ich weiter. Śhrī Mātājī sagt: auf diesem Land, das jetzt unser Land geworden ist für unser Hauptquartier hat dieser Heilige Prahlād erzogen. Prahlād ist ein Bursche, vor vierzehntausend Jahren, der durch seine Dedication die Inkarnation von Śhrī Viṣhṇu als Narashiṃha [Narasiṃha] ... uh ge-ge-ge ... provoziert hat.
Śhrī Mātājī: Yeah.
And the ... he lived uh-uh-uh very near. He lived uh very near Lahore. See, at that time, the ... the father, Hiraṇyakaśhipu.
Grégoire de Kalbermatten: [Translats.]
Śhrī Mātājī: Yeah.
And the ... this uh ... uh-uh-uh boy was not born, but uh uh, Indra, you see, Indra, the, uh what you call, the Kau oh ... King of the Kauravas, ...
Grégoire de Kalbermatten: Gods.
Śhrī Mātājī: ... you see, brought this lady to Śhāṇḍilya Muni, on his way. He wa... he just brought her there. Uh he was thinking that because her husband was a demon, so it is better that he marries her.
Grégoire de Kalbermatten: Ah!
Śhrī Mātājī: [unclear].
Grégoire de Kalbermatten: [Translats.]
Śhrī Mātājī: All right.
So, this uh ... oh boy was born in the ... this boy was born in that āśhram, of Śhāṇḍilya.
And the Śhāṇḍilya Muni told this Indra not to worry about this lady. "Because uh this boy will be responsible for the Advent of Narasiṃha Avatār."
Now, uh this boy grew there till five years of age.
Then he was sent back to the father and you know the story of Prahlāda.
This river, uh Nirā, flows like this, you see, and another river called Bhīmā meets it there. And in the triangle is a big temple built about three hundred years back, of Narasiṃha, by one of the Peśhwās, one of the kings of Maharashtra.
And then uh, I mean, after that some people also helped him, because it took some years to build it. And the, you see, when the thing was built and when the statue was installed, of Śhrī Viṣhṇu, you see, uh Prahlāda appeared in the dream of the person who had taken up the responsibility of doing that. And he says, 'I have already made the statue of Narasiṃha in ... in uh-uh-uh ... sand, and you should go and pick it up and bring it, just take it here. I've already made [it] for you.'
At the age of five years, he'd already made the future statue of Narasiṃha.
So-o-o, they brought the statue, clay, I mean, imagine, made out of a ... they saw the statue, on the bank, made on ... in the sand. And they brought it, and nothing broke. And they brought it, and kept it in the temple, you can see it, it is there, still, just the same.
1983-0907 Conversation with Sahaja Yogis, About Indian Projects, Vienna, Austria
Sahaja Yoginī: Śhrī Mother, I was wondering: did You name her Narasiṃ-ha or Narasiṃ-hī?
Śhrī Mātājī: You put it Narasiṃha? Who gave her [the] name?
Sahaja Yoginī: You did!
Śhrī Mātājī: Where was that?
Sahaja Yoginī: In New York, at the Kṛiṣhṇa Pūjā last year. 1984-0819 Talk to Sahaja Yogis (Janmāṣhṭamī Day), Money Matters, Chastity, Self-respect, Dalai Lama, Precious Stones, and Individual Workshop, the day after Śhrī Kṛiṣhṇa Pūjā, Tent, Backyard, House of Judy Gaddy, 442 Liberty Road, Englewood, NJ, U.S.A.]
Śhrī Mātājī: Nārasiṃhinī [Nārasiṃhī].
Sahaja Yoginī: Nārasiṃhunī [Nārasiṃhī]?
Śhrī Mātājī: Yeah.
Sahaja Yoginī: Nārasiṃhunī [Nārasiṃhī]! Oh!
Śhrī Mātājī: [To the baby girl:] I gave you the name! [Her mother laughs.]
She was born -- when was she born?
Sahaja Yoginī: On July the fifth.
Śhrī Mātājī: Uh, that's why, because she's a Leo.
Sahaja Yoginī: Mother, Cancer [June 22 to July 22].
Śhrī Mātājī: You can give her another name also, now simple one.
[After 11 seconds:] That's a Power of Goddess, you know.
[To the baby girl:] Oh-ho! Somebody's coming up! Ah-ha-ha-ha! [Laughs.]
[after 13 seconds:] You can call her Kesar. Kesar.
Kesar means uh the power of the lion. Kesar. Keśhar: kesarī means the lion, and the kesar is the power of the lion. Same thing as Narasiṃha.
That's easier, Kesar.
Sahaja Yoginī: Kesar!
Śhrī Mātājī: [unclear].
Now look at her!
Sahaja Yoginī: How ...?
Śhrī Mātājī: What does she want?
Sahaja Yoginī: Mother, would You tell me how to spell it, [laughing:] so I know.
Śhrī Mātājī: K-e-s-a-r.
Sahaja Yoginī: "K-e-s-a-r."
Śhrī Mātājī: Kesar.
Sahaja Yoginī: Mh-hm. Thank You!
Śhrī Mātājī: All right.
1985-0531 Śhrī Devī Pūjā, Steady Yourself, Āśhram, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
"Now the land we have got in Nirā is that Āśhram place. Just imagine sahaja! That is the land we have got!
And then, now it has come out in the newspapers, somebody went and did the research, after I purchased the land, that this, there was, a uh meeting between the Nirā River and the ri... river [gap]
...... some king came all the way here and built that.
So imagine, the Śhālivāhanas knew the Nirā is going to come in them: I'm called as Nirā in My family, you see.
And on that Nirā River we have got this land.
And this also with a very mysterious thing because, you see, one man had given this land to the government. You see, and this land I wanted, I liked it. He said, "The government won't release it, how can You have this land?" I said, "I want to have this land only!" People didn't understand why I wanted that land, I insisted. Then they said, "The government won't release it."
But suddenly he got a letter one day saying that, "Government think they've taken a surplus land, this land is yours." So he sold it to us and that's how we got it.
Now, Prahlāda was born there. He lived there till five years of age and used to go and play there.
Then Śhāṇḍilya Muni told Indra that, "You leave this lady here because out of her will come out Prahlāda, who will bring forth the promised Narasiṃha Avatāra. So you just don't worry and you go South."
And there he came and he got the Suchindra [Suchandra] here. That's how he got Realization.
Now, this Prahlāda went there, you know what happened then.
But here, about Peśhwāī time, they tried to build a temple of Narasiṃha. And they spent lot of money to fill up the place and they did it but they could not do much about the temple, it was half done.
Then one fellow, about three hundred years back, decided to collect some money to build the temple and he built the temple.
In his dream came Prahlāda and he told him that, 'I have already made the statue of Narasiṃha on the River Nirā. You go and find it, on the bank you'll find.'
He went there and he saw the statue, made out of ordinary sand. For so many years is there. He picked it up, brought it, and is back there, and it is still there full of vibrations, see the vibrations. We have seen it.
And in that temple there is on top of the gopuram [Entrance building to a Hindu temple in southern India, often topped by a tiered tower of massive proportions and intricate decoration] you see a little dhārā [stream] of water coming all the time so much."
1986-0125 Pūjā, Why We Have Failed in Our Pursuit of God (The Whole System Has to Be Changed), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
"The Devaloka was formed here, and Devas were here, they ruled here, no doubt, but in the human awareness they were brought down to the human level.
Like Zeus was Paraśhurāma. Paraśhurāma: the One who was an Incarnation to announce the Advent of Śhrī Rāma. And He came before Śhrī Rām, eah ... died also very much before Śhrī Rām. But they painted Zeus as a man who, who was a womanizer.
So, all Gods were brought to the level of human beings, with ... 'bestowed' with all the weaknesses, you see. Actually 'decorated' with all the weaknesses. [Laughing:] Like that.
And that is responsible for the downfall. Because this part of the country is on the pattern of Devaloka, reflection of that, but this Devalok is now, we see is, has become, just the opposite. Because Deities have been brought down to such a low level, to such degrading [unclear things].
Even mythology, also, in India, talks about Them, like this. Not to such an extent.
Like Zeus they don't talk, but about Indra they talk.
And the ... like Indra's description comes like this: that the King Hiraṇyakaśhipu's wife was living, his wife, Hiraṇyakaśhipu's wife, was a saintly lady, and Hiraṇyakaśhipu was ruling in the area of uh, you can say Kandahar and Afghanistan and all these places, and from here, Indra went down, and took away the wife.
I mean They incarnated. The Gods incarnated here.
And Indra went down, he took away the wife of Hiraṇyakaśhipu with him, to save her. And he went down and stayed in an āśhram in Maharashtra, where there's a river flowing with My name, Nirā.
So the --- now see the how the combinations are -- the Śhāṇḍilya Muni, who was the guru of My family, that's why My gotra is Śhāṇḍilya, it was in his āśhram he [Indra] stayed.
[After a Sahaja Yogi says, "Hm,":] So the Muni Śhāṇḍilya told: that, "See, this lady is a very pure lady, don't disturb her. And out of her will come a very great Saint, who will, by his own devotion, make the Incarnation of Narasiṃha."
This is the God uh Viṣhṇu which comes as the ...
[Afte Guido Lanza says, "Half lion,":] ... half kae [what].
"And He will kill this asura."
Now, part of the Egypt was also ruled by this Hiraṇyakaśhipu, part of the Egypt.
See the how significant everything is.
So, this Narasiṃha came, when -- you know about Prahlāda's story, all right.
So, this little boy played there around and he made some s ... things. And there's a temple, very near -- you have seen Narasiṃha's Temple.
[After Guido Lanza says, "Narasiṃha, yeah,":] And that, you have seen the statue made out of sand.
[After Guido Lanza says, "Yes, Śhrī Mātājī,":] That was made by Prahlād.
And he came into the dreams of someone and said that: 'In your temple, you please put the statue I have made.'
And they went round the Nirā River, and found it and put it there.
So, see the relationship, how it is.
Now this Hiraṇyakaśhipu was killed by Narasiṃha.
Narasiṃha, as you know, is the Incarnation of Śhrī Viṣhṇu, because he had, this Hiraṇyakaśhipu, had a blessing of Brahmadeva, that: 'Not any animal can kill him. Not any human being can kill him. Not on the land or in the sky, and not with any weapon,' all so many blessings he had taken.
He had closed all the lines, you see [laughs], [laughing:] so that nobody should kill him.
But actually, he did not know there are ways and methods. [Some laughter.]
So, Śhrī Viṣhṇu took the form of Narasiṃha. Is: that He became the siṃha, means the-ee lion, and the lower portion of a man.
And it so happened that Hiraṇyakaśhipu asked Prahlāda: "Where is your God?" He said, "It, He's everywhere!" So he said, "All right. Is He in this uh pillar?" He said, "Yes! He's in this pillar also."
So he hit the pillar -- see, the pillar must have been the same style as you make, Greek style, [laughing:] pillar of stone.
So he knew that: 'In the pillar how can anybody be? It's a stone.'
He hit it, but the pillar broke, out of which came out Narasiṃha, with long hands and claws. And He took that Hiraṇyakaśhipu, and put him on His lap, because, "Neither on the sky nor in the ground," [laughing:] on [some laughter], and with His claws, because they were "not weapons," He opened his stomach and killed him.
So, because he was also ruling in Egypt, the people of Egypt made their -- uh they were Ass... Assyrians. Assyrians are asuras.
[After Guido Lanza says, "Acchā. ......":] [unclear] were not ... they were the ones who were asuras. That's why they were called Assyrians.
So they made the statue of their god Sphinx the other way round than Narasiṃha. So, the upper part of the Sphinx is that of man, and the lower part of uh that statue is that of lion.
This is very ancient story I'm telling you.
So how the Greeks went to India, long time back, because all these devas were Greeks.
And these devas were, like Indra, what he did, then Varuṇa, and all these things.
But, I think, the ... because the whole idea got perverted, whole thing, they could not see the proper image of their uh-uh-uh ... of their faces, in their meditation. Because they perverted them, so, they could not see. And they saw perverted faces. They saw them nude, and that kind of thing, which was all their own imagination, working. Because they were indulging into all kinds of immoral things, so, they made it absolutely, what you call, a eh-eh-eh ... very immoral type of uh relationships and things among them. So that was their own ideas, and they put it. But also, as a result of that, they could never see the body or the faces of these Devatās properly. So they made them more like uh ... I mean quite ugly-looking faces they made."
1989-0524 Śhrī Pallas Athena Pūjā, The Origins and Role of Greece, House of Stamatis Boudouris, Athens, Greece
[A birthday card drawn by one of the Sahaja Yogis is presented. Śhrī Mātājī remarks that Her face is been drawn rather large, making Her look like Narasiṃha.]
1991-0326 Talk to Sahaja Yogis, Transit Lounge, Airport, Singapore
"Everybody knows everything in Maharashtra, which place is holy and which is not. We are aware of everything because Maharashtra State is like a temple.
You go anywhere in Maharashtra, there will be a jāgṛut sthāna.
I had been to one such place called Vīr. We can clearly see the impression of Kārttikeya.
Then there is Nīrā River. There is place called Narsiṃghpur where they have [Jwālā] Narasiṃha idol, which is made of sand [śhāligrāma-śhilā] and there is water dripping from somewhere, which nobody knows. It is still the same as it was found. There is not a single scratch, despite of the dripping water."
1991-1221 Śhrī Mahālakṣhmī Pūjā (English + Hindi + Marathi), Jayasiṅgapura (37 kms E of Kolhapur), Maharashtra, India
"I would say, in India, traditionally, people are dhārmik, very dhārmik. The reason is for ancient times we have talked of dharma, we had Saints, and then there was a kind of a tradition built in for thousands of years.
At that time, we had, also, Egypt with us.
But in Egypt, and also in Greece, something went wrong with them. That, we'll take the case of Greece, where they make all the Gods look like human beings. They brought down the level of Gods from dharma to adharma. And in Egypt, because of the kings of those countries, who were very much interested in the death, in their uh-uh-uh, what you call, graves, in building pyramids, all such things, not building up inside the dharma.
This is a reason why in Egypt also, the dharma went down very much, and ultimately, now, Islam established there.
Islam came because people were adhārmik.
Also, in Greece they accepted Orthodox Church because people be... had become adhārmik.
But these religions themselves were adhārmik! They could not instill dharma within themselves, so how could they instill dharma into these people?
And this happened very much in these countries.
And Viṣhṇu's uh ... Avatāraṇ, as they say, as a eh-eh Narasiṃha, came very near, very near Greece, and very near Egypt. That is in Peshawar. In Peshawar, these things happened. So, it was very close also to Egypt, and to Greece.
But they became very much against Viṣhṇu. Because they thought their king was killed by Them [Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed by Śhrī Narasiṃha after his brother Hiraṇyākṣa was killed by Śhrī Varāha] and all that. So all these rākṣhasas entered into the area, in Afghanistan and then they came to-oo Egypt and to uh ... Greece, and tried to bring all the Gods and Goddesses to the ground.
Long time back. Must be at least ten thousand years back, when Prahlāda brought in the Incarnation of Śhrī Viṣhṇu.
These rākṣhasas, went into their ... called as asur... asuras. Ass... Assyrians they call, but asuras they were.
And if you go to Egypt you'll find the Sphinx there, just the opposite of what Narasiṃha was: the man is in upper lev... uppered ... uh-uh part, and the lion is in the lower part. But Narasiṃha is just the opposite: Narasiṃha is the lion in the upper part, and ... the hu-man in the lower part. So they created this kind of a[n] image which were [was] just the opposite of Viṣhṇu. Because just to show that uh, 'We have another ...'
[Aside:] [unclear].
'We have another kind of a big uh-uh Incarnation, which is just the opposite, and can fight Viṣhṇu very well.'
With these rākṣhasas entering into these people, they developed a very aggressive nature. Fighting nature, aggressive nature, they developed their muscles in Greece very much.
And the whole of history of Greece if you read, is really maddening. One fighting another, another fighting another, they were killing each other, they were ... I mean, there's no end to it.
Till Alexander came to India and he saw a culture which was dhārmik, and he was quite surprised: how these people lived with symbols and all that. He said, "All right, I had enough of it." He went back.
But in Egypt also, they could not understand dharma, at all. Because, they believed in the dead, all kinds of a black magic and all that.
So when the Islam came, they accepted Islam.
So here [in Greece] came Christianity, and there [in Egypt] came Islam."
1994-0713 Śhrī Viṣhṇu Pūjā, The Basis of Dharma, Paris, France
"There's a ... I bought a land near the River Nirā -- that's My hown ... home name, Nirā. And this land I just bought it just like that without thinking. And what they told that their guru, Śhālivāhanas' guru was Śhāṇḍilya, and this place belonged to him, long time back, which was an āśhram of Śhāṇḍilya. Exactly the same!
And that land [once] I bought, very surprising, then in the newspaper it came out everything about that land. And that, this land was the p[l]ace where a great dis uh devotee of Śhrī Viṣhṇu, Prahlāda, was playing.
So you must have heard about Prahlād.
He, his mother had a husband in a, long time, Hiraṇyakaśhipu was her husband, horrible rākṣhasa. So she ran away from there and who help[ed] was Indra: he brought this lady to the place of guru Śhāṇḍilya.
And Śhāṇḍilya told him, Indra, that, "You don't put any effort for her, I'll look after her. And the child that is going to be born to this lady is going to get the Avatāra of Narasiṃha."
You know Narasiṃha is the man and the lion.
He said, "How can that be?" He said, "It is so." So Indra left her there.
The child was born: till five years that child used to play in that grand land which I bought, when I didn't know about it. But I just saw it, I was surprised.
But when the child grew up, up to five years, he had to go back to his father.
I don't know, how many of you read about Prahlāda? Raise your hands, I would like to know.
The little boy Prahlāda -- ūpara karo [do it above], let Me see -- who was killed and tor... I mean, he was ... this [his] father tried to kill him and torture him. But he had certain boons, so Śhrī Viṣhṇu apprea ... appeared as ... uh Narasiṃha, means the lion and the human form. And then He killed this Hiraṇyakaśhipu, the father.
Now, imagine how much [laughing:] the gate was that thousands of years back, this must have happened, and that I should purchase that land only.
And there is a very beautiful temple built about three hundred years back by Maharashtrians.
So, the story is that Prahlāda came into the dream of the people who wanted to built the temple and told them that, 'I've already made a statue of Narasiṃha along the River Nirā.'
Imagine the name of the river is also Mine.
'And if you can walk along the banks of Nirā River, very close to the temple, I have made the statue in sand.'
Is a miracle!
So went there, they went there and they saw that statue.
They brought it back and installed it in that temple.
And is still there, made of sand [śhāligrāma-śhilā].
Also they say there's a kind of a river or a water flow op up to, very small one, just like the finger, flows down from the top, God knows how.
So, now see the value: the value of money which was collected to built this temple had such an old value.
So, the value is not money! This one should understand."
1997-1102 Diwālī Pūjā (3rd day after Diwālī Day), Śhrī Lakṣhmī (Symbols, Lakṣhmī Principle, Difference between Money and Lakṣhmī, The Hidden Weapon of Lakṣhmī Devī, and Her Mahāmāyā Character), Sintra (29 kms NW of Lisbon), Portugal
"His channel is the evolutionary path, and His Ten Incarnations of the Virāṭa have helped mankind to evolve:
......
iv. Man Lion ...... Narasiṃha Avatāra"
The Book of Ādi Śhakti, Chapter 1: Creation, the Eternal Play, Page 14
"Śhrī Viṣhṇu took His fourth Incarnation as Narasiṃha, half man with the upper part half lion. At this point in evolution, man achieves a self-conscious domination over animals and natural forces. This Incarnation also expressed an intermediary step in evolution between the animal and the human stages. Narasiṃha's role was to kill a major devil called Hiraṇyakaśhipu."
The Book of Ādi Śhakti, Chapter 2: Divine Incarnations -- Ambassadors of God, Page 31
Jay Śhrī Mātājī!