Narasimha Tantra?

June 16, 2004

All the books I've read state that Narasimha is the fourth Avatar of

Vishnu (and Vishnu-worshippers and Shiva-worshippers are frequently

portrayed as being at loggerheads against each other).

But I've also seen Shaiva murthi-presentations which have Narasimha as a

deity on display.

What exactly is the relationship between Shaivas and Narasimha? Would a

Narasimha devotee wear a Tulsi mala, or a Rudraksha mala? Paint a tilak

or a tripunda on his/her forehead? Are Narasimha devotees vegetarian?

(Narasimha isn't!)

-- Len/ Kalipadma

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:54:29 -0000 "malyavan_tibet"

<malyavan_tibet writes:

> Worshipping narasimha is well within the worship of shiva.

> I dont know who gave you these wrong ideas.

>

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June 17, 2004

, kalipadma@j... wrote:

>

> All the books I've read state that Narasimha is the fourth Avatar

>of

> Vishnu (and Vishnu-worshippers and Shiva-worshippers are frequently

> portrayed as being at loggerheads against each other).

Only for a brief period in history. This is my personal observation.

I may be wrong.

Shiva Worshippers: There are many kinds of Shiva worshippers.

Shiva worshippers who are smartas: They worship Shiva and also other

deities which include Narasimha, Vishnu and other avataras.

Most Shaktas/Kaulas worship Narasimha too. Srividya upasakas(a good

number of them happen to be great Shiva bhaktas) make use of

Narasimha mantra for some purposes.

Shaivas: I dont know of any Shaiva who worships Narasimha, but some

Shaiva temples have vaishnava devatas and they worship Vishnu in

Shiva temples.

>

> But I've also seen Shaiva murthi-presentations which have

>Narasimha as a

> deity on display.

You are most probably referring to the Sarabheshvara avatar/form of

Lord Shiva. This is a very terrible form of Parameshvara.

>From a distance the form looks like Nrisimha murti.

Sarabheshvara: Shiva in the form of a Sarabha. An english

approximation to Sarabha form would be a Griffon.

>

> What exactly is the relationship between Shaivas and Narasimha?

Shaivas who are smartas worship Narasimha as part of panchayatana

puja. I read somewhere that the Rudram(the vedic hymn in praise of

Rudra/Shiva) is used to worship Narasimha Bhagavan.

There is a verse in praise of Shiva in a work called ParaShambhu

Mahimna stotra(a shaiva work), where the shloka is actually embedded

with a very powerful Nrisimha mantra. ParaShambhu means ParamaShiva.

>Would a

> Narasimha devotee wear a Tulsi mala, or a Rudraksha mala? Paint a

>tilak

> or a tripunda on his/her forehead? Are Narasimha devotees

>vegetarian?

If the worshipper is a smarta he is likely to wear Tulasi or

Rudraksha according to his taste. If the worshipper is a Vaishnava,

he will most probably wear Tulasi or Padma mala or if there are any

other specific malas prescribed in their agamas.

Tilak: A smarta Nrisimha bhakta may wear either urdhvapundra or

tripundra. A vaishanava Narasimha worshipper will most probably wear

only Urdhvapundra(the standard vaishnava tilak ).

Ex: The late Acharya of Sringeri is known to be a great Nrisimha

Upasaka. Due to his intense upasana of Nrisimha Bhagavan, with an

certain mantra of Nrisimha, he is often considered as the very

personification of Lord Ugra Nrisimha.

He wore tripundra and Rudrakshas. He is also a great Srividya

upasaka.

2)Vaishnava upasakas: So many.. like Shri late Mukkur

LakshmiNrisimhachariar etc..They wear urdhvapundra, tulasi and padma

malas.

Also the Vaishnava acharyas of Ahobhila mutt in Andhra who are

exclusively Nrisimha upasakas.

Ofcourse all of them are vegetarians with some Kaulas and Bengal

Shaktas being an exception(I might be inaccurate here).

A majority, say like 95% of them are vegetarians.

I talk about people who do sadhana using Nrisimha mantras received

from their respective traditions.

>

> -- Len/ Kalipadma

>

> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:54:29 -0000 "malyavan_tibet"

> <malyavan_tibet> writes:

> > Worshipping narasimha is well within the worship of shiva.

> > I dont know who gave you these wrong ideas.

June 17, 2004

and Sharabha has Narasimha hanging from his legs.

Satish Arigela <satisharigela wrote:--- In

, kalipadma@j... wrote:

>

> All the books I've read state that Narasimha is the fourth Avatar of Vishnu

(and Vishnu-worshippers and Shiva-worshippers are frequently portrayed as being

at loggerheads against each other).

Only for a brief period in history. This is my personal observation. I may be

wrong.

Shiva Worshippers: There are many kinds of Shiva worshippers.Shiva worshippers

who are smartas: They worship Shiva and also other deities which include

Narasimha, Vishnu and other avataras.Most Shaktas/Kaulas worship Narasimha too.

Srividya upasakas(a good

number of them happen to be great Shiva bhaktas) make use of Narasimha mantra

for some purposes.

Shaivas: I dont know of any Shaiva who worships Narasimha, but some Shaiva

temples have vaishnava devatas and they worship Vishnu in Shiva temples.

>

> But I've also seen Shaiva murthi-presentations which have Narasimha as a deity

on display.

You are most probably referring to the Sarabheshvara avatar/form of Lord Shiva.

This is a very terrible form of Parameshvara.From a distance the form looks like

Nrisimha murti.Sarabheshvara: Shiva in the form of a Sarabha. An english

approximation to Sarabha form would be a Griffon.

>

> What exactly is the relationship between Shaivas and Narasimha?

Shaivas who are smartas worship Narasimha as part of panchayatana puja. I read

somewhere that the Rudram(the vedic hymn in praise of Rudra/Shiva) is used to

worship Narasimha Bhagavan.

There is a verse in praise of Shiva in a work called ParaShambhu Mahimna

stotra(a shaiva work), where the shloka is actually embedded with a very

powerful Nrisimha mantra. ParaShambhu means ParamaShiva.

>Would a Narasimha devotee wear a Tulsi mala, or a Rudraksha mala? Paint a

tilak or a tripunda on his/her forehead? Are Narasimha devotees vegetarian?

If the worshipper is a smarta he is likely to wear Tulasi or Rudraksha according

to his taste. If the worshipper is a Vaishnava, he will most probably wear

Tulasi or Padma mala or if there are any other specific malas prescribed in

their agamas.

Tilak: A smarta Nrisimha bhakta may wear either urdhvapundra or tripundra. A

vaishanava Narasimha worshipper will most probably wear only Urdhvapundra(the

standard vaishnava tilak ).

Ex: The late Acharya of Sringeri is known to be a great Nrisimha Upasaka. Due to

his intense upasana of Nrisimha Bhagavan, with an certain mantra of Nrisimha, he

is often considered as the very personification of Lord Ugra Nrisimha.

He wore tripundra and Rudrakshas. He is also a great Srividya upasaka.

2)Vaishnava upasakas: So many.. like Shri late Mukkur

LakshmiNrisimhachariar etc..They wear urdhvapundra, tulasi and padma malas.

Also the Vaishnava acharyas of Ahobhila mutt in Andhra who are exclusively

Nrisimha upasakas.

Ofcourse all of them are vegetarians with some Kaulas and Bengal Shaktas being

an exception(I might be inaccurate here).

A majority, say like 95% of them are vegetarians.

I talk about people who do sadhana using Nrisimha mantras received from their

respective traditions.

>

> -- Len/ Kalipadma

>

> On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:54:29 -0000 "malyavan_tibet"

> <malyavan_tibet> writes:

> > Worshipping narasimha is well within the worship of shiva. I dont know who

gave you these wrong ideas.

/

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June 17, 2004

, sankara menon <kochu1tz>

wrote:

> and Sharabha has Narasimha hanging from his legs.

Thanks for adding this. Interestingly, Vishnu is praised as Sharabha

in Vishnu Sahasranama.

Rgds

>

> Satish Arigela <satisharigela> wrote:--- In

, kalipadma@j... wrote:

>

> >

> > But I've also seen Shaiva murthi-presentations which have

Narasimha as a deity on display.

>

> You are most probably referring to the Sarabheshvara avatar/form

of Lord Shiva. This is a very terrible form of Parameshvara.From a

distance the form looks like Nrisimha murti.Sarabheshvara: Shiva in

the form of a Sarabha. An english approximation to Sarabha form

would be a Griffon.

June 17, 2004

So, I actually know of no Nrisimha tantra. I just postulated such because of the

two great mantra treatises and upanishads, the Nrisimha