śrīnṛsiṃhārtikyam

A Sanskrit āratī by Mayūreśvara, son of Rāmanandana — the third of his in this corpus, after those to the Sun and to Dattātreya — and the best of the three. Its first stanza compresses the whole story into one sentence: Hiraṇyakaśipu built up his own arrogance, anger, hatred and pretence, and you, to make your servant's word come true, split the pillar and stood there blazing like the sun. The second contains the line the hymn is remembered for, a reproach folded into praise — you have shown compassion everywhere, and yet not to this one child — and then asks for release from the net of becoming, adding that the splendour in your claw is not in any sword. The third asks to be protected as Prahlāda was protected from his father, and signs itself with the poet's own name: give the peacock that is your devotee a place at your lotus feet, as the raincloud does.