Devotee: Maharaj, could you explain the significance of the worship of Nrsimhadev in the Gaudiya–Vaisnava sampradaya.
Srila Govinda Maharaj: Nrsimhadev is described as Bhakti-vighna-vinasana: He is the killer of all the obstacles on the path of devotion. If the devotees make their obeisance to Nrsimhadev, and He is happy with them, then He will remove all the obstacles to their devotional life. The service of Nrsimhadev is in santa-rasa, and although the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas are praying to other forms of the Lord, such as Rama, Nrsimha, and Vaman, their only prayer is, «Make me perfect for the worship of Sri Krishna.» This is the line of the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas. They are not exclusive worshippers of any other incarnations of Lord Krishna. They exclusively worship Krishna, and more explicitly, only that Krishna who is worshipped by Srimati Radharani, who receives the service of Radharani, and who has so much love for Radharani. That is the Krishna worshipped by the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas.
Actually, in his exclusive devotional mood, Srila Guru Maharaj was not so enthusiastic for the devotees to visit Nrsimha Palli and worship Nrsimhadev there. The worship of Nrsimhadev is not in the line of exclusive devotion to Krishna. Of course, this is a very subtle point, and it should not be considered as an offence to Sri Nrsimhadev. What was the mood and conception of Guru Maharaj, that I can convey that to you. When devotees wanted to go to Nrsimha Palli, Guru Maharaj would say, «Why are you going to Nrsimha Palli? You pray to Nityananda Prabhu, and He will give everything to you.» But our intelligence and mentality are always mixed with mundanity, so sometimes we may think that Nrsimhadev can give us more help in our devotional life. It is true that Nrsimhadev can give us much help, but the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas are not thinking in that way. They worship Nrsimhadev and make their dandavat pranams to Nrsimhadev, but all their attention will be under the guidance of Radharani for the service of Krishna. This is the Gaudiya–Vaisnava line.
We have heard fr om Guru Maharaj that Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur would often chant on the roof of his house, and every morning at 4 o’clock a great wind would pass over his roof in the direction of Mayapur. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur expressed his understanding of this miraculous wind as being Sri Nrsimhadev every day going to see the arati of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. So, although ordinarily it may be difficult to conceive, we can conclude that Nrsimhadev is also very eager to see the worship of Sriman Mahaprabhu.
Your father may be a very big, rich, and famous man, and another’s father may also be a very big, rich, and famous man. You may have much wealth, and I may be poor, but I am steadfastly devoted to my father even though my father may be poor, may not be important, or may not be famous. That is the mood of the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas. They do not care to know who is very big and who is very small, they only know their own Guru and their own path of life. In this way, they are proceeding under the guidance of Sri Guru in the Rupanuga line, worshipping Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu, who is nondifferent fr om Radha-Krishna. Their life’s goal is shown by Rupa Goswami Prabhu, that under the guidance of Lalita Devi we will give service to Radha-Krishna, and our supreme guardian is Srimati Radharani. This is the exclusive mood of the Gaudiya–Vaisnavas.
In Nrsimha Palli, you will see there are many people searching after mundane wealth. They are making puja to Nrsimhadev, binding a stone to the tree, and praying, «I need this. I want that.» Somebody is asking Nrsimhadev, «Please give me a child.» Another is asking, «Give me some wealth», another, «Cure me or my son fr om this disease», and they are hanging a stone, and after getting their desired result, they remove their stone and offer some puja to Nrsimhadev. In this way, this mundane worship is being conducted in Nrsimha Palli.
Sometimes our devotees