Lord Nrsimhadev resolves a father's dilemma
9th September 2006
My father and mother, living at Bakura district, Catna village, are initiated devotees of the Gaudiya Math. My name is Gauranga. I had joined the ISKCON Sri Mayapur temple six months ago, and after finishing the three months bhakta training course, I was put in the school preaching service.
A few days ago just before Jhulan Purnima (the Lord's swing festival), my father came to take me back to my house with a request from him aand other family members that I should sit for the higher board examination and get a degree. I also had a slight desire to go and see my mother. However on hearing my father's intention, devotees, concerned devotees made heartfelt requests. One even fell at his feet, begging him not to take me back to the world of maya (illusion). My father, being a Vaishnava (devotee of the Lord) himself, fell in a great dilemma. Finally he took shelter of Lord Nrsimhadev and prayed to Him for guidance. That night Lord Nrsimhadev appeared in my father's dream. The Lord was in a very calm mood. He rubbed the palm of his hand on my father and said, "My dear son, you go. Your son shall remain here at My lotus feet." Upon seeing the Lord, my father, completely startled, started to pay obeisances. Then Lord Nrsimhadev disappeared. My father happily told my incharge that I may remain and continue to serve here. I also called and informed the other family members that I was not ready to appear for any kind of examinations this year.
Please Help Me!
On the 10th of December, 2006, while taking the bhakti shastri course in Mayapur, Deepak Gupta from Delhi, suddenly contracted chicken pox. Hoping against hope he consulted three doctors--aleopath, homeopath and ayurvedic. All three confirmed the same thing: "Take complete rest in isolation for for at least twenty days." Deepak became really upset because his parents had let him come to Mayapur only after his repeated requests over a long period of time. Now he would have to miss the courses as well as the association of sannyasis and other senior teachers.
After suffering intensely for three days, Deepak just couldn't tolerate it any more so he made his way to the temple. He arrived just after sandhya aroti (evening worship). As he stood before Lord Nrsimhadev, he said, "Dear Lord just look at my pitiable condition (his whole body aching and covered with sores). Please help me." Then he joined the que for the Deity's mahaprasadam (sanctified remnants). The startled pujari, seeing his condition, gave him some prasadam and called for the security guard, who escorted him out from the temple and told him not to come back with such a contagious disease.
Deepak returned to his room depressed at the thought of having to suffer like this for another seventeen days or so. At 2 a.m. the next morning, Deepak awoke feeling very energetic. He got up to take a shower, and to his delight and surprise, he saw that the sores on his body had gone. All the marks had just disappeared. He attended the whole morning program without feeling any trace of fatigue. Deepak says, "I am really thankful to Lord Nrsimhadev for what He did for me in the holy dham. He saved my life. I could not tell you the pain I was getting and He cured me in just one day."
Letter from Andharupa devi dasi
Hare Krishna. My name is Andharupa dasi initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1975 at Miami Florida. I was asked to tell my story of my cure from Hepatitis C.
The summer of 2004 His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja visited New Ramana reti temple in Alachua Florida. I approached Maharaja and asked him for his blessings for my departure from this world. My illness: Hepatitis C of 3rd stage fibrosis of the liver. I was undergoing medical treatment for a duration of 48 weeks with only 45% chance to be cured with many side affects. Jayapataka Maharaja said to me "You see this staff? It was touched to Lord Nrsimhadev in Mayapur." Then he touched it to my head. That night I had a dream my body was diseased with leprosy and started to fade away. The next morning I had a phone call from the University of Florida. The doctors told me "Congratulations. You are Hepatitis C free. The viral count is non reactive in just 8 weeks!" The doctors were amazed especially for I had genotype 1, the deadly type of Hepatitis C.
When I started this treatment I prayed to Lord Nrsimhadev every day, "Whatever your desire, You may take me from this world or you may cure me. Whatever you see fit. However, please allow me to always be engaged in your pure devotional service." Thank you Lord for giving me a second chance.
Thank you for your time.
Gratefully yours, Andharupa dasi
Government Doctor's Inspiration
Dr. Bashudev Das is a Bangladesh Government doctor. His 20 year old daughter Mistee Das who is a medical student, became very sick in March 2006. She was diagnosed with a life-threatening germ cell tumor in the ovary. They brought her to Mumbai, where treatment started. But soon the doctors gave up on her. Dr. Das went to visit the ISKCON Temple in Juhu, where one devotee gave him a leaflet about the upcoming Nrsimha Caturdasi festival in Mayapur, which he attended. There he received a small book of pastimes of Lord Nrsimhadev in Mayapur. He read in the book some of the miraculous cures that Lord Nrsimhadev had performed, and was convinced that by Lord Nrsimhadev's mercy his daughter would be cured. He went back to Bangladesh and contacted Lord Nrsimhadev's pujari in Mayapur. He requested him to offer a special offering to Lord Nrsimhadev to save his daughter's life. Immediately Mistee's health started to improve. Now gradually she is returning back to her normal state.
Basudev Das became so inspired by Lord Nrsimhadev's mercy that he printed the book of His pastimes and distributed it in Bangladesh. He says, "I feel every person should pray to Lord Nrsimhadev for personal and spiritual development."
Miracle at Mayapur
On October 28th, 2006, Chakravarty Raj, the 14 year old son of Radha Kanta Gopal das and Padma Radhika devi dasi was injured when a fire cracker burst in his face. He was immediately rushed to hospital. The doctors said that he suffered from 2nd degree burn injuries on his face and suggested (1) facial dressing immediately, (2) chemical crafting after a fortnight and then (3) plastic surgery after 6 months or 1 year.
Next morning, the parents requested Pankajanghri Prabhu to offer special offerings to Lord Nrsimhadev for the speedy recovery of Chakravarty Raj, which were duly performed.
For the next 2 days, he was just lying in bed without much movement. He could not even open his eyelids. He was then taken to Disha eye hospital at Barackpur, where they found that the carina (the white portions of the eyes) took the burn injury and the pupils were unharmed. Hence, there would be no problem with his sight and a treatment of 15 days would cure the carina.
On 2nd November morning, Padma Radhika devi dasi approached her Guru Mahraja, His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, and told him of what had happened. He gestured that he will pray for him and applied Nrsimha oil on her forehead. The same morning, Chakra was taken to Kolkata for treatment of his facial injuries
After getting an opinion at the Apollo Hospital in the morning, Chakravarty was taken to the Railway Hospital at Howrah. One of the senior Doctors tested him and confirmed that it was a second degree burn and sent him to the dressing room for initial facial dressing. But within 3 minutes one of the staff from the dressing room rushed out yelling and took the parents inside. Upon seeing Chakravarty the parents stood there motionless, struck with wonder and amazement. There was Chakra, standing and smiling, with no trace of any injury or mark on his face!! Nrsimhadev ki jai.
When asked for clarification, the Doctor and others present in that place could not give any valid reason. One of them said, "You can go back in your temple and ask you Lord about it. "yeh tho apke Bhagavan ka chamarkar hai." "This is your Lord's miracle."
All glories to Lord Nrsimhadev and all glories to Sri Sri Radha Madhava.
Padmaradhika devi dasi, Principle of Bhaktivedanta National School, Sri Mayapur.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
"I Want My Eyes Back"
On a warm December morning last year, around 11:00 a.m., as I sought the association of the magnificent Lord and prayed to His dear most devotee Prahlada, I found myself involved in one of His temple lilas (pastimes), much to my astonishment
After offering my obeisances to the captivating Prahlada, who stands next to his beloved Lord with his hands folded and his small body decorated with fresh fresh flowers and beautiful ornaments, I prayed, "My dear Prahlada, you are expert in receiving all kinds of blessings from Lord Nrsimhadev. ou even received the blessings of forgiveness for you demoniac father, Hiranyakasipu. Please ask you Lord to bless this poor sould with the destruction of everything that stands in the way of her devotional service. Show me the way to real happiness."
Then, as i stood meditating on the Lord's beauty and mercy, I heard a very sweet, deep voice: "I want My eyes back!" At first, I ignored it and kept my mind in the mode of prayer. But the voice spoke a second time: "I want My eyes back!" Attempting again to disregard this clear message raised a burning and almost a painful sensation in my heart. I was dumbfounded. What was I to do? Then the voice continued: "Go to the pujari." Okay, I thought, I have nothing to lose. If the pujaris think I am crazy, I will at most lose a bit of my false ego.
Praying to the Lord to give me the strength to carry out His order, I paid my obeisances and almost breathlessly headed for the pujari rooms. There I found Jananivas Prabhu reading the Srimad Bhagavatam. The atmosphere in the room was extremely serene and otherworldly. I stood there for several minutes and waited for him to notice me. Then, after I told him what happened, he asked me to go see his twin brother, Pankajanghri Prabhu, the actual pujari of Lord Nrsimhadev.
Somehow I felt that I didn't have to do more at this point."
The following day, as I approached the magnificent form of Lord Nrsimhadev, my mind buzzed with doubt. "What if that voice was just my mind, demanding the healing of my eyesight, which has been very poor and painful for the past six week?"Thinking in this way, I prayed for an answer. The voice spoke to me again, this time with a more serious and firm tone: "you will get your eyes back when I get mine!" His form always emanates a soft light, and my heart felt peaceful and warm. I felt overwhelmed with unusual confidence, as if my head were touching the sky.
The next morning, at 2:20 a.m., I woke up fully refreshed and wide-awake. It was unusually early for me, as I usually get up around six O'clock. A soft voice urged me to rise, bathed and attend mangala-arati (early morning worship)-- which I did.
After the ceremony was over, the same voice urged me to follow Pankajanghri Prabhu from Lord Nrsimhadev's altar into the pujari room. I felt very embarrassed and had tears in my eyes. I also felt a kind of unwillingness in my heart to reveal my mind to him.
As he was preparing the articles for the Lord's abhisheka, I started to talk to him. Pankajanghri Prabhu listened attentively to my story. Then, without saying anything, he smiled and gave me maha sweets from Lord Nrs
imhadev's plate.
The following morning, when my daughter returned from the temple, she was shouting, "Mommy, they changed Nrsimhadev's eyes! He has beautiful red eyes now." And as the sweet deep voice had promised, my eyesight was miraculously cured--within three days.
All glories, all glories to the merciful Lord Nrsimhadev in Sri Mayapur.
[Editor's note: Lord Nrsimhadev originally had red eyes. One day, a devotee came to Mayapur and offered two precious yellow stones for His eyes, and the pujaris reluctantly changed the eyes on the Deity. They felt happy when the Lord revealed that He wanted His original red eyes.]
Atmarati Dasi, who joined ISKCON in 1980 is from Greece, and she wrote this article for Mayapur journal in 1997,
After offering my obeisances to the captivating Prahlada, who stands next to his beloved Lord with his hands folded and his small body decorated with fresh fresh flowers and beautiful ornaments, I prayed, "My dear Prahlada, you are expert in receiving all kinds of blessings from Lord Nrsimhadev. ou even received the blessings of forgiveness for you demoniac father, Hiranyakasipu. Please ask you Lord to bless this poor sould with the destruction of everything that stands in the way of her devotional service. Show me the way to real happiness."
Then, as i stood meditating on the Lord's beauty and mercy, I heard a very sweet, deep voice: "I want My eyes back!" At first, I ignored it and kept my mind in the mode of prayer. But the voice spoke a second time: "I want My eyes back!" Attempting again to disregard this clear message raised a burning and almost a painful sensation in my heart. I was dumbfounded. What was I to do? Then the voice continued: "Go to the pujari." Okay, I thought, I have nothing to lose. If the pujaris think I am crazy, I will at most lose a bit of my false ego.
Praying to the Lord to give me the strength to carry out His order, I paid my obeisances and almost breathlessly headed for the pujari rooms. There I found Jananivas Prabhu reading the Srimad Bhagavatam. The atmosphere in the room was extremely serene and otherworldly. I stood there for several minutes and waited for him to notice me. Then, after I told him what happened, he asked me to go see his twin brother, Pankajanghri Prabhu, the actual pujari of Lord Nrsimhadev.
Somehow I felt that I didn't have to do more at this point."
The following day, as I approached the magnificent form of Lord Nrsimhadev, my mind buzzed with doubt. "What if that voice was just my mind, demanding the healing of my eyesight, which has been very poor and painful for the past six week?"Thinking in this way, I prayed for an answer. The voice spoke to me again, this time with a more serious and firm tone: "you will get your eyes back when I get mine!" His form always emanates a soft light, and my heart felt peaceful and warm. I felt overwhelmed with unusual confidence, as if my head were touching the sky.
The next morning, at 2:20 a.m., I woke up fully refreshed and wide-awake. It was unusually early for me, as I usually get up around six O'clock. A soft voice urged me to rise, bathed and attend mangala-arati (early morning worship)-- which I did.
After the ceremony was over, the same voice urged me to follow Pankajanghri Prabhu from Lord Nrsimhadev's altar into the pujari room. I felt very embarrassed and had tears in my eyes. I also felt a kind of unwillingness in my heart to reveal my mind to him.
As he was preparing the articles for the Lord's abhisheka, I started to talk to him. Pankajanghri Prabhu listened attentively to my story. Then, without saying anything, he smiled and gave me maha sweets from Lord Nrs
imhadev's plate.The following morning, when my daughter returned from the temple, she was shouting, "Mommy, they changed Nrsimhadev's eyes! He has beautiful red eyes now." And as the sweet deep voice had promised, my eyesight was miraculously cured--within three days.
All glories, all glories to the merciful Lord Nrsimhadev in Sri Mayapur.
[Editor's note: Lord Nrsimhadev originally had red eyes. One day, a devotee came to Mayapur and offered two precious yellow stones for His eyes, and the pujaris reluctantly changed the eyes on the Deity. They felt happy when the Lord revealed that He wanted His original red eyes.]
Atmarati Dasi, who joined ISKCON in 1980 is from Greece, and she wrote this article for Mayapur journal in 1997,
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Some Pastimes of Lord Nrsimhadev.
Pastime One
Lord Nrsimhadev's pujari had a very startling dream in which the director of the Temple called him and told him to bring some diesel oil, saying, "We are going to sacrifice Lord Nrsimhadev."You are going to what?!" exclaimed the pujari." "Yes we are going to sacrifice Lord Nrsimhadev."
"You can't do that, this is crazy."
"Just bring the diesel will you?"
“Ok, I will bring the oil but I don't want anything to do with this, it doesn't make any sense.”
After some time the pujari returned to the temple and was totally shocked to see that everything had been completely burned by a great fire and all that remained of the Deity was his feet and ankles. Early next morning he approached the chief pujari and asked if he could explain the meaning of this terrible nightmare. After thinking for awhile, he began to smile and said "Oh yes, you see yesterday was the start of jaladan (the festival of dripping water on salagram for one month), but we forgot to observe it, therefore Lord Nrsimhadev is letting you know that He is burning up and you should immediately begin the jaladan," which we did!
Pastime Two
Once, Lord Nrsimhadev's worship was going on as usual when the pujari noticed that one flower fell from Nrsimhadev's garland. The pujari asked the visitors if anyone was offering any special prayers to Lord Nrsimhadev. The visitors in front did not say anything, but from the back one lady came forward with tears in her eyes. She said, "My daughter got married about four or five years ago and she has no issue. The people in my son-in-law's house consider it inauspicious. So I was praying to Nrsimhadev that He might help her in her desperate situation." Then the pujari said, "Your prayer is granted, the symptom is that this flower fell from Nrsimhadev's garland. Please take this and keep it nicely. You can wash this flower and give the water to your daughter to drink." Then the lady left, and later the pujari forgot the incident.
After one year, the same devotee, along with her daughter, son-in-law and a newborn baby came smiling to Nrsimhadev. She reminded the pujari about the prayer she made one year back, as a result of which her daughter gave birth to a very nice baby boy, whom they named Prahlad. And once again they offered a very nice puja (offering) to Lord Nrsimhadev.
Pastime three
One of our Namahatta devotees, Kalyanit dasi, has two daughters, the elder one is Prathibha and the younger is Anubha. Both of them are married, and they have grown-up children. They both live in the same city, Berhampur. Once the husband of Prathibha fell extremely sick and was in a coma, near to death. Along with the other relatives the younger sister, Anubha, was also in great anxiety about her brother-in-law's situation. She went to the hospital, and as she was a devotee, she prayed to Lord Nrsimhadev (at ISKCON Mayapur) to help her brother-in-law. She came home and went to bed with a heavy heart. At the end of the night she had a dream in which Lord Nrsimhadev came near to her and told her, "Don't worry, your brother-in-law is ok." And then her dream broke. In the morning the news came from the hospital that the patient was doing well, his saline drip and oxygen had both been removed, and he was now able to talk.
Pastime four
There was a fight in a village, and in the course of the fight one person was attacked with acid as a result of which his whole face was burnt and terribly disfigured. The sight of one of the eyes was completely lost and the other eye had only about 10% vision. The doctors said that the remaining eye, through which he had 10% vision, would also go blind very soon. They suggested taking the patient to Vellore (South India) for further treatment, to see if they could do something about it. At that time a devotee who was there, suggested that they should pray to Lord Nrsimhadev for the recovery of his eyes. As a result they prayed to Lord Nrsimhadev (at ISKCON Mayapur). The next day, much to the doctor's surprise, it was found that the patient could see everything very nicely.
Pastime five
One Russian lady used to make tulasi garlands for Nrsimhadev every day. Being pleased with her, Nrsimhadev's pujari gave her one of Lord Nrsimhadev's false finger nails as prasad. She took it and kept it with her. That night she had a dream in wich she saw that Lord Nrsimhadev had come to her and was sitting one her bed. The Lord then put His fingers with His long nails inside her heart and pulled out something black and said "You see this? This is not love, it is lust. And there is still more here. What shall I do with it?" She could not reply, and her dream broke. The next day she went before Lord Nrsimhadev and asked Him to throw it far away.
Pastime Six
The father of one of the devotees of ISKCON your forum used to argue with him saying, "Why do we have to worship Nrsimhadev, when Radha Madhava are there?" The boy tried to make his father understand that Krishna and Nrsimhadev are non-different, but his father was not very convinced in this regard. During Nrsimha Caturdasi 2003, this boy, along with his father, came to the temple and was watching Lord Nrsimhadev's Abhisek ceremony. Suddenly the boy's father saw Madhava's face in place of Nrsimhadev's. He turned to Radha Madhava and again he looked back at Nrsimhadev and found Nrsimhadev's face as Madhava's still. This contineud for about 20 seconds. In this way he realized that there is no difference between Madhava and Nrsimhadev.
Pastime seven
During 2004 Kavipriya devi dasi of South Kolkata, a disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, made some bracelets for Lord Nrsimhadev. Somehow or other she could not come to Mayapur and offer them to the Lord. In the meantime she started becoming sick in different ways. She went to the doctors and tried various treatments, but there was no cure. Lastly the doctors said that her problem was thyroid. As a result, she would eventually be unable to move.
As she was in great anxiety, thinking what to do, all of a sudden she remembered about Lord Nrsimhadev and the bracelets which she was supposed to offer to Him. Even though she was ill, she made the endeavor to come to Mayapur to give Him the bracelets. After offering them to Lord Nrsimhadev, all the symptoms of illness were totally removed within three days.
All glories to Lord Nrsimhadev!
Pastime Eight
“Thank You, Lord Nrsimhadev.”
On april 22, 2005, Revati Sundari devi dasi, age 8, was climbing on the roof of the bamboo playhouse in the Grhastha park in Sri Mayapur dham. To her great surprise she fell through the roof, landing on her head, and the roof caved in on top of her. She was in shock for an hour, shaking and crying and incoherent. She also had concussion. Gaura Baba, our wonderful homeopathic vaishnava doctor, treated her for concussion and shock and suggested a scan.
After three days, Revati woke up in the night vomiting black blood. We rushed her off to Kolkata. On the way, clear fluid was leaking from her nose, then violent nosebleeds started.
We took her straight to a good pediatrician, who immediately called in the top neurologist in the city. He ordered a CT scan and then, seeing the results, he sent us to a very good neurosurgeon, who has his own private hospital. Revati was admitted straight away.
The symptoms continued through the night, and we found out that the clear fluid from her nose was the brain fluid (CFS)leaking out. The scan clearly showed a fracture in the floor of her brain, from which the brain fluid was escaping. Also her brain was swollen and blood was pooling there, causing pressure. She had extreme pain in her head which was unabated since the accident. The doctors worked on her for a couple of days, giving her medicine intravenously. The whites of her eyes became totally red. She was like a limp rag with little interest in anything.
Finally the doctors said that the next morning, early, they would do a special scan showing all the sections of her brain to determine the exact extent of the injuries and then would probably decide to operate to repair the damage. They would tell us their decision by 9 am.
I phoned Pankajanghri Prabhu, explaining the situation and asking him to please pray to Lord Nrsimhadev. He immediately said he would do a full puja (offering) between 5 and 7 am, complete with abhisekha and everything else. This was the time of the special scan.
The next morning when I met the doctors, they were looking amazed and said that the new scan showed that the injuries were miraculously almost healed. All the symptoms such as pain, violent nosebleeds, brain fluid leakage, vomiting, etc. had abruptly stopped.
When I went in to see Revati, she was sitting up in bed looking bright-eyed and fresh, and her eyes were fully white again. Thank you, Lord Nrsimhadev!
In gratitude and love, your servant Racitambara dasi
Pastime Nine
Lord Nrsimhadev shows His mercy even to a non-devotee.
Yasoda Mata's 85 year old foster father passed away two months ago.
During his stay in the hospital, Yasoda Mata prepared a tape recorder and played the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra all day long in his ward. Her foster father was actually in semi-coma, but miraculously when he heard the maha-mantra, gradually he awoke and with closed eyes he appeared to be enjoying the music and the sound vibration.
He started to follow the tempo by tapping his hand on the edge of his bed. His finger ring made the sound like "don, don, don" "don don don"..." He looked like he was totally meditating on the Maha mantra. Suddenly he spoke, "Look! There is a huge five-clawed man, and his head looks just like a lion's. He is coming into my ward. Don't you see him? He is coming." The foster father still with eyes closed said. "Oh, yes, I forgot you all cannot see him, but he is really here. I do not know who he is."
At that moment Yasoda Mata and her daughters looked at each other in great surprise and answered, " Father, He is Lord Nrsimhadev," "What dev???” he asked. “I don't know Him. But He is nodding His head to tell me that He is."
Yasoda Mata felt great ecstasy in hearing this, for in her house she keeps a model of the Nrsimha Deity from Mayapur and had been offering heartfelt prayers to Him so that her father could leave the body without any attachment and that his soul can become Krishna's devotee in his next birth.
Continuously her father said, "Look, He is smiling to me and starting to speak again. Oh, He is telling me that I have to learn to chant what you are chanting now. What exactly are you chanting?" He said.
"It is a mantra to call the holy name of Lord," Yasoda Mata replied.
"I don't know what mantra, but please teach me," he said.
"All right father, please repeat after me and listen carefully--Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." Yasoda Mata taught her foster father word by word patiently. Without taking a long time, he learned and tried to chant, and chanted so nicely.
The next day he passed away with tranquility.
During that weekend we devotees here congregated together to do the kirtan(chanting) for Yasoda Mata's father at the funeral service. Yasoda Mata prepared the prasadam garland, Ganga water, tulasi and put tilak on her father, which have all been done nicely and properly according to her guru maharaj His Holiness Giridhari Swami's telephone instruction. Her foster father's face looked so peaceful. His cheeks were a little pink and his body was soft. After some customary ceremonies, the body was sent to the incinerator. A few hours later the people who work in the memorial service came to us and and exclaimed to us in amazement, "We have never seen anyone's ashes look so white and beautiful like jade as your father's! What happened to him? What were you chanting for him? Could you write it down for us? We want to learn and we think we can also chant while doing our service here."
Why the Lord personally appeared before someone who we consider is not a devotee proves the scriptural statement that if one is always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, all their family members will be benefited as well. From Lin Tulip, Taiwan, 20th March 2006.
Lord Nrsimhadev's pujari had a very startling dream in which the director of the Temple called him and told him to bring some diesel oil, saying, "We are going to sacrifice Lord Nrsimhadev."You are going to what?!" exclaimed the pujari." "Yes we are going to sacrifice Lord Nrsimhadev."
"You can't do that, this is crazy."
"Just bring the diesel will you?"
“Ok, I will bring the oil but I don't want anything to do with this, it doesn't make any sense.”
After some time the pujari returned to the temple and was totally shocked to see that everything had been completely burned by a great fire and all that remained of the Deity was his feet and ankles. Early next morning he approached the chief pujari and asked if he could explain the meaning of this terrible nightmare. After thinking for awhile, he began to smile and said "Oh yes, you see yesterday was the start of jaladan (the festival of dripping water on salagram for one month), but we forgot to observe it, therefore Lord Nrsimhadev is letting you know that He is burning up and you should immediately begin the jaladan," which we did!
Pastime Two
Once, Lord Nrsimhadev's worship was going on as usual when the pujari noticed that one flower fell from Nrsimhadev's garland. The pujari asked the visitors if anyone was offering any special prayers to Lord Nrsimhadev. The visitors in front did not say anything, but from the back one lady came forward with tears in her eyes. She said, "My daughter got married about four or five years ago and she has no issue. The people in my son-in-law's house consider it inauspicious. So I was praying to Nrsimhadev that He might help her in her desperate situation." Then the pujari said, "Your prayer is granted, the symptom is that this flower fell from Nrsimhadev's garland. Please take this and keep it nicely. You can wash this flower and give the water to your daughter to drink." Then the lady left, and later the pujari forgot the incident.
After one year, the same devotee, along with her daughter, son-in-law and a newborn baby came smiling to Nrsimhadev. She reminded the pujari about the prayer she made one year back, as a result of which her daughter gave birth to a very nice baby boy, whom they named Prahlad. And once again they offered a very nice puja (offering) to Lord Nrsimhadev.
Pastime three
One of our Namahatta devotees, Kalyanit dasi, has two daughters, the elder one is Prathibha and the younger is Anubha. Both of them are married, and they have grown-up children. They both live in the same city, Berhampur. Once the husband of Prathibha fell extremely sick and was in a coma, near to death. Along with the other relatives the younger sister, Anubha, was also in great anxiety about her brother-in-law's situation. She went to the hospital, and as she was a devotee, she prayed to Lord Nrsimhadev (at ISKCON Mayapur) to help her brother-in-law. She came home and went to bed with a heavy heart. At the end of the night she had a dream in which Lord Nrsimhadev came near to her and told her, "Don't worry, your brother-in-law is ok." And then her dream broke. In the morning the news came from the hospital that the patient was doing well, his saline drip and oxygen had both been removed, and he was now able to talk.
Pastime four
There was a fight in a village, and in the course of the fight one person was attacked with acid as a result of which his whole face was burnt and terribly disfigured. The sight of one of the eyes was completely lost and the other eye had only about 10% vision. The doctors said that the remaining eye, through which he had 10% vision, would also go blind very soon. They suggested taking the patient to Vellore (South India) for further treatment, to see if they could do something about it. At that time a devotee who was there, suggested that they should pray to Lord Nrsimhadev for the recovery of his eyes. As a result they prayed to Lord Nrsimhadev (at ISKCON Mayapur). The next day, much to the doctor's surprise, it was found that the patient could see everything very nicely.
Pastime five
One Russian lady used to make tulasi garlands for Nrsimhadev every day. Being pleased with her, Nrsimhadev's pujari gave her one of Lord Nrsimhadev's false finger nails as prasad. She took it and kept it with her. That night she had a dream in wich she saw that Lord Nrsimhadev had come to her and was sitting one her bed. The Lord then put His fingers with His long nails inside her heart and pulled out something black and said "You see this? This is not love, it is lust. And there is still more here. What shall I do with it?" She could not reply, and her dream broke. The next day she went before Lord Nrsimhadev and asked Him to throw it far away.
Pastime Six
The father of one of the devotees of ISKCON your forum used to argue with him saying, "Why do we have to worship Nrsimhadev, when Radha Madhava are there?" The boy tried to make his father understand that Krishna and Nrsimhadev are non-different, but his father was not very convinced in this regard. During Nrsimha Caturdasi 2003, this boy, along with his father, came to the temple and was watching Lord Nrsimhadev's Abhisek ceremony. Suddenly the boy's father saw Madhava's face in place of Nrsimhadev's. He turned to Radha Madhava and again he looked back at Nrsimhadev and found Nrsimhadev's face as Madhava's still. This contineud for about 20 seconds. In this way he realized that there is no difference between Madhava and Nrsimhadev.
Pastime seven
During 2004 Kavipriya devi dasi of South Kolkata, a disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, made some bracelets for Lord Nrsimhadev. Somehow or other she could not come to Mayapur and offer them to the Lord. In the meantime she started becoming sick in different ways. She went to the doctors and tried various treatments, but there was no cure. Lastly the doctors said that her problem was thyroid. As a result, she would eventually be unable to move.
As she was in great anxiety, thinking what to do, all of a sudden she remembered about Lord Nrsimhadev and the bracelets which she was supposed to offer to Him. Even though she was ill, she made the endeavor to come to Mayapur to give Him the bracelets. After offering them to Lord Nrsimhadev, all the symptoms of illness were totally removed within three days.
All glories to Lord Nrsimhadev!
Pastime Eight
“Thank You, Lord Nrsimhadev.”
On april 22, 2005, Revati Sundari devi dasi, age 8, was climbing on the roof of the bamboo playhouse in the Grhastha park in Sri Mayapur dham. To her great surprise she fell through the roof, landing on her head, and the roof caved in on top of her. She was in shock for an hour, shaking and crying and incoherent. She also had concussion. Gaura Baba, our wonderful homeopathic vaishnava doctor, treated her for concussion and shock and suggested a scan.
After three days, Revati woke up in the night vomiting black blood. We rushed her off to Kolkata. On the way, clear fluid was leaking from her nose, then violent nosebleeds started.
We took her straight to a good pediatrician, who immediately called in the top neurologist in the city. He ordered a CT scan and then, seeing the results, he sent us to a very good neurosurgeon, who has his own private hospital. Revati was admitted straight away.
The symptoms continued through the night, and we found out that the clear fluid from her nose was the brain fluid (CFS)leaking out. The scan clearly showed a fracture in the floor of her brain, from which the brain fluid was escaping. Also her brain was swollen and blood was pooling there, causing pressure. She had extreme pain in her head which was unabated since the accident. The doctors worked on her for a couple of days, giving her medicine intravenously. The whites of her eyes became totally red. She was like a limp rag with little interest in anything.
Finally the doctors said that the next morning, early, they would do a special scan showing all the sections of her brain to determine the exact extent of the injuries and then would probably decide to operate to repair the damage. They would tell us their decision by 9 am.
I phoned Pankajanghri Prabhu, explaining the situation and asking him to please pray to Lord Nrsimhadev. He immediately said he would do a full puja (offering) between 5 and 7 am, complete with abhisekha and everything else. This was the time of the special scan.
The next morning when I met the doctors, they were looking amazed and said that the new scan showed that the injuries were miraculously almost healed. All the symptoms such as pain, violent nosebleeds, brain fluid leakage, vomiting, etc. had abruptly stopped.
When I went in to see Revati, she was sitting up in bed looking bright-eyed and fresh, and her eyes were fully white again. Thank you, Lord Nrsimhadev!
In gratitude and love, your servant Racitambara dasi
Pastime Nine
Lord Nrsimhadev shows His mercy even to a non-devotee.
Yasoda Mata's 85 year old foster father passed away two months ago.
During his stay in the hospital, Yasoda Mata prepared a tape recorder and played the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra all day long in his ward. Her foster father was actually in semi-coma, but miraculously when he heard the maha-mantra, gradually he awoke and with closed eyes he appeared to be enjoying the music and the sound vibration.
He started to follow the tempo by tapping his hand on the edge of his bed. His finger ring made the sound like "don, don, don" "don don don"..." He looked like he was totally meditating on the Maha mantra. Suddenly he spoke, "Look! There is a huge five-clawed man, and his head looks just like a lion's. He is coming into my ward. Don't you see him? He is coming." The foster father still with eyes closed said. "Oh, yes, I forgot you all cannot see him, but he is really here. I do not know who he is."
At that moment Yasoda Mata and her daughters looked at each other in great surprise and answered, " Father, He is Lord Nrsimhadev," "What dev???” he asked. “I don't know Him. But He is nodding His head to tell me that He is."
Yasoda Mata felt great ecstasy in hearing this, for in her house she keeps a model of the Nrsimha Deity from Mayapur and had been offering heartfelt prayers to Him so that her father could leave the body without any attachment and that his soul can become Krishna's devotee in his next birth.
Continuously her father said, "Look, He is smiling to me and starting to speak again. Oh, He is telling me that I have to learn to chant what you are chanting now. What exactly are you chanting?" He said.
"It is a mantra to call the holy name of Lord," Yasoda Mata replied.
"I don't know what mantra, but please teach me," he said.
"All right father, please repeat after me and listen carefully--Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." Yasoda Mata taught her foster father word by word patiently. Without taking a long time, he learned and tried to chant, and chanted so nicely.
The next day he passed away with tranquility.
During that weekend we devotees here congregated together to do the kirtan(chanting) for Yasoda Mata's father at the funeral service. Yasoda Mata prepared the prasadam garland, Ganga water, tulasi and put tilak on her father, which have all been done nicely and properly according to her guru maharaj His Holiness Giridhari Swami's telephone instruction. Her foster father's face looked so peaceful. His cheeks were a little pink and his body was soft. After some customary ceremonies, the body was sent to the incinerator. A few hours later the people who work in the memorial service came to us and and exclaimed to us in amazement, "We have never seen anyone's ashes look so white and beautiful like jade as your father's! What happened to him? What were you chanting for him? Could you write it down for us? We want to learn and we think we can also chant while doing our service here."
Why the Lord personally appeared before someone who we consider is not a devotee proves the scriptural statement that if one is always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, all their family members will be benefited as well. From Lin Tulip, Taiwan, 20th March 2006.
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