Lord Nrsimhadev resolves a father’s dilemma

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 and 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 in charge 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 examination this year.

Please Help Me!

While taking the Bhakti Shastri course in Mayapur, Deepak Gupta from Delhi suddenly contracted chickenpox. Hoping against hope he consulted three doctors–allopath, homeopath,y, and ayurvedic. All three confirmed the same thing: “Take complete rest in isolation 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 anymore so he made his way to the temple. He arrived just after sandhya aarti (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 queue 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 to feel 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 in Miami Florida. I was asked to tell my story of my cure from Hepatitis C.

In the summer of 2004, His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja visited the 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 a 45% chance to be cured with many side effects. 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

Once, Chakravarty Raj, the 14-year-old son of Radha Kanta Gopal das and Padma Radhika Devi Dasi was injured when a firecracker burst in his face. He was immediately rushed to the 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.

The next morning, the parents requested Pankajanghri Prabhu to offer special offerings to Lord Nrsimhadev for the speedy recovery of Chakravarty Raj, which was 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 treatment of 15 days would cure the carina.

On 2nd November morning, Padma Radhika Devi Dasi approached her Guru Maharaja, 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 to your temple and ask you Lord about it. “yeh tho apke Bhagavan ka chamatkar 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.

Experience of devotees: by Pankajanghri das

(note: All of these are narrated by him as it is.)

Mataji who wanted to serve the Lord

During the last Gaura Purnima festival, I called over a devotee in the crowd and asked her to distribute the Lord’s caranamrta to the ladies, which she did. Later, when she brought the caranamrta pot back, she remarked that Lord Nrsimhadeva was very merciful to reciprocate so quickly.

“I was praying this morning that I might be able to offer some direct service to Him, and now you have given me this service.”

“Yes,” I said, “desires are quickly fulfilled in the Dham. Just see, the same day you desire, it happened.”

“No, not the same day–the same moment,” she replied. “The very instant I expressed that desire to serve Him, you called me over.”

“Wow! that is amazing,” I acknowledged. “Did you hear about how one devotee’s eye problem was cured at the same time that Lord Nrsimhadeva’s original eyes were placed back after one donor had bought Him new eyes?”

“Oh, yes,” she told me. “As a matter of fact, I was staying in the same building when Lord Nrsimhadeva spoke to her.” She added, “You know, there was so much energy around that night that nobody could get any sleep.”

Instant mercy of Lord

Just a few days later, another devotee revealed how Lord Nrsimhadeva helped him. “I was suffering intensely. I could not even stand without supporting myself on the column in front of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s altar. I prayed, ‘Please help me. Take away this suffering condition so that I may serve You fully.’ I then felt all my pain moving up and flowing out of my body. It just left.”

While I was hearing this, I noticed another devotee who had come for the darshan of the Lord. Earlier in the morning, this devotee had asked my advice what to do, for she had been afflicted for about two weeks with a severe problem that contaminated her body, that wouldn’t allow her to paint some Deities in Assam, although she had already been commissioned to do it and had an air ticket to go.

“Mataji,” I exclaimed while walking over to her, “Lord Nrsimhadeva is giving instant benedictions. Why don’t you ask Him to remove your problem?”

The very next morning, when she saw me, she said “Thank you so much for the advice! You know, when I arrived home from the temple yesterday, my problem had completely disappeared.”

Lord has a liking for mangoes. And devotees.

Some days later another devotee came to the pujari room and told us about a dream, wherein Lord Nrsimhadeva walked and talked with her just like a father. When she asked how she could serve Him, He told her to offer Him some mangoes. It wasn’t the mango season, but she managed to get some, and we offered them for her. This was the year that His Holiness Gour Govinda Swami left his body in Mayapur.

A few days after this tragedy she came again and said, “Actually, I only told you half of the dream. Lord Nrsimhadeva also said to me, “My pujari is very dear to Me, and I am going to take him back with Me.”

“Oh, don’t do that, please,” I fearfully exclaimed. “We want him to stay here.”

“No, I think I will take him back.”

“And after my pleading with Him for a long time, the Lord firmly announced. ‘All right, then, I will take one of the gurus instead.’”

She concluded by saying, “I told my spiritual master about this dream, and he advised me not to tell anyone. But now, because it has come true, I think I can tell you.”

When I repeated this story to my friend, Visvambhar from Carolina, he said, “This is amazing! My wife also dreamed about Lord Nrsimhadeva and mangoes. You see, yesterday, while she was walking outside the Mayapur campus, she saw a jar of mango pickles in a shop and desired to buy them for Lord Nrsimhadeva. But doubting the purity of the contents, she refrained. However, last night, Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared in her dream and asked, “Where are My mango pickles?”

“There is no need to fear me.”

When Lord Nrsimhadeva first came to Mayapur, all the pujaris were reluctant to worship His awesome form. Bhava Siddhi das was particularly frightened and always very nervous worshiping Him. One night, after putting the Lord to rest, he was leaving the altar, when he heard such a tremendous sound that it made his hairs stand on end. Looking back fearfully, he saw that everything was in place. So he quickly left, locked the door, and paid his obeisances, praying for forgiveness for any offense he might inadvertently have committed. At the end of that night, he was awakened by the shaking of his bed. Bhava Siddhi was sleeping on the top of a bunk bed. So he thought it must be the pujari below him getting up for Mangala-arati (morning worship).

However, when he opened his eyes, he saw Lord Nrsimhadeva sitting on his bed. That fortunate pujari became very fearful, practically to the point of panic. As he tried to get up, Lord Nrsimhadeva place His two hands, which felt like the weight of the universe, on his shoulders. “Be peaceful, be calm,” the Lord consoled him. “I have just come to tell you that when you worship Me in the temple, there is no need to fear Me. Please, give up this fear.”

The Lord then disappeared, but Bhava Siddhi began to run up and down the veranda of the Long Building, where he slept.

“What happened?” asked some concerned devotees. But they received only incoherent replies. They started to think maybe he had gone mad or become haunted by a ghost. Finally, Bhava Siddhi ran over the temple and prostrated himself before the door where Lord Nrsimhadeva is worshiped and offered heartfelt prayers. After some time he became a little pacified and began walking back to his room. “I wonder why everyone is staring at me,” he thought. When he looked down, the answer was obvious: He had gone to the temple in his nightdress.

I saw Bhava Siddhi at last year’s Gaura Purnima festival–he is living in America now–and asked him about that incident. “Yes,” he said. “I still have those two marks from Lord Nrsimhadeva on my shoulders. They are almost gone now, but they are still visible.”

A mother’s cry for her son.

Another time the frantic parents of a runaway boy, after searching all over the country, finally heard that their son was at our Mayapur center. They immediately came and spent the whole day looking for him, inquiring at the reception desk and from individual devotees, but they were not at all lucky in tracing him.

At the end of the day, during the sandhya arati (evening worship) of Lord Nrsimhadeva, his mother was praying with folded hands,” My dear Lord, the last time I came here, I happily participated in the chanting and dancing, but now my heart is broken because of my lost son, and I find no pleasure in life anymore. My Lord, if only my son could be returned to me, then I would also raise my hands and chant ‘Haribol, Hare Krishna.’”

As these words left her mouth, a figure passed and stepped before her and Lord Nrsimhadeva: it was her lost son. Both parents have now accepted Vaishnava initiation, started a nama hatta preaching center, and are enthusiastically preaching the Lord’s glories.