Forms of Lord Narasimha
According to Vedic mythology, Lord Vishnu has descended in various avatars. One of those is Lord Narasimha in which Vishnu manifested himself as half lion and half man to kill demon Hiranyakashyapu. In Hindu scriptures Lord Narasimha himself has more than seventy forms. However, there are nine prominent forms of Lord Narasimha commonly known as Nava Narasimha. The Nine Narasimha forms or Nava Narasimha are as follows.
- Ugra Narasimha – ‘Ugra’ means ferocious. This is the
ferocious form of Lord Narasimha with
Hiranyakashyapu’s body on his lap.
- Kroddha Narasimha – ‘Kroddha’ means anger. This form combines
with the 3rd avatar of Lord Maha Vishnu ‘Varaha’. - Jwala Narasimha – ‘Jwala’ means flame. This is Narasimha with eight
hands tearing Hiranyakashyapu’s stomach with two hands. - Varaha Narasimha – ‘Varaha’ means boar. This form is also called
Prahalada Varadar or Shanta Narasimha. This form is with Goddess
Lakshmi of Lord Maha Vishnu. - Bhargava Narasimha – ‘Bhargava’ means descendants of Lord Shiva.
Lord Parasuraman blessed by Lord Narasimha is known as Bhargava
Narasimha. - Karanja Narasimha – ‘Karanja’ is a tree under which Lord Hanuman
performed penance when Lord Narasimha came. Lord Hanuman did
penance to see Lord Rama. - Lakshmi Narasimha – ‘Lakshmi’ means the goddess of wealth and
happiness. This form is a calm form of Lord Narasimha.
