Lord Narasimha

नरहर्यष्टकम्

(Narahari Ashtakam)

Vadiraja Tirtha

Also known as narahari ashtak · yaddhitam tava bhaktanamasmakam nrhare hare

Eight verses by Vādirāja Tīrtha, the Mādhva teacher, who signs the closing verse. It is built as a series of commands rather than requests, and the imperative is always the same verb — hara, destroy — placed so that it rhymes against the god's own name, Hare and Narahare, at the end of nearly every line. The descriptions are correspondingly violent and precisely observed: the roaring mane, the knotted brows and the hard curved glance; the ears thrown back and the mouth opened wide; the chest blazing like a crest of flame and the cruel spread of the claws; the fangs terrible and the tongue flickering; the whole net of the worlds inside his belly and ten million weapons raised in his hands. The final verse states its own purpose plainly: whoever reads this newly made Narahari Aṣṭaka destroys his enemies in a moment by Nṛsiṃha's grace.

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Script: Devanagari (देवनागरी) — also the script of Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and Konkani.

॥ श्री नरहर्यष्टकम् ॥
(श्रीवादिराज तीर्थ विरचितम्)
यद्धितं तव भक्तानामस्माकं नृहरे हरे ।
तदाशु कार्यं कार्यज्ञ प्रळयार्कायुतप्रभ ॥ १॥
रटत्सटोग्र भ्रुकुटीकठोरकुटिलेक्षण ।
नृपञ्चास्य ज्वलज्ज्वालोज्ज्वलास्यारीन्हरे हर ॥ २॥
उन्नद्धकर्णविन्यास विवृतानन भीषण ।
गतदूषण मे शत्रून् हरे नरहरे हर ॥ ३॥
हरे शिखिशिखोद्भास्वदुरः क्रूरनखोत्कर ।
अरीन् संहर दंष्ट्रोग्रस्फुरज्जिह्व नृसिंह मे ॥ ४॥
जठरस्थजगज्जाल करकोट्युद्यतायुध ।
कटिकल्पतटित्कल्पवसनारीन् हरे हर ॥ ५॥
रक्षोध्यक्षबृहद्वक्षोरुक्षकुक्षिविदारण ।
नरहर्यक्ष मे शत्रुपक्षकक्षं हरे दह ॥ ६॥
विधिमारुतशर्वेन्द्रपूर्वगीर्वाणपुङ्गवैः ।
सदा नतांङ्घ्रिद्वन्द्वारीन् नरसिंह हरे हर ॥ ७॥
भयङ्करोर्वलङ्कार वरहुङ्कारगर्जित ।
हरे नरहरे शत्रून्मम संहर संहर ॥ ८ ॥
वादिराजयतिप्रोक्तं नरहर्यष्टकं नवम् ।
पठन्नृसिंहकृपया रिपून् संहरति क्षणात् ॥ ९ ॥
॥ इति श्रीमद्वादिराजपूज्यचरणविरचितं नरहर्यष्टकं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

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