Mantra Raja Pada — opening verse

Notes · scriptural context, prerequisites, phalas

The 'king of mantras' of the Narasimha tradition. Its single anushtup verse is attested in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (10.1.7) as part of the Maha::na:ra:yana Upanishadh sequence, and elaborated in the Sankarsana Samhita of the Pancharatra. Twelve compound names are gathered into one sloka — Ugra, Vi:ra, Maha::-Vishnu, Jvalanta, Sarvatomukha, Nrisimha, Bhi:shana, Bhadra, Mrithyu-mrithyu, Nama:mi, Aham — and each is laid (nya:sa) upon a specific limb: head, brow, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, throat, heart, navel, knees, feet, and finally the whole body. Sri: Vaishnava acharyas — most notably Vedanta Desika in his Manthra:rtha-praka:sika: — treat it as the seal of the avatara: one verse that contains the full ugra-and-saumya nature of the Lord. Recitation in 32 rounds is prescribed in the Sankarsana Samhita; 12 rounds (one per pada) is a common compromise. Best chanted at sandhi-vela: — dawn, noon, and dusk, the very junctions at which the Lord originally manifested. Phalas described in the source: removal of maha:-bhaya (great fear), repulsion of black magic and mantra-prayoga directed against the chanter, healing of fever, and protection of children from graha-ba:la:-pi:da:. Formal initiation is preferred for the nya:sa application; the verse itself may be devotionally chanted by any earnest sadhaka. Doddacharya in the Ramanuja parampara famously used this very mantra at Sholingar.