Pancharatra Anushtup — Narasimha Gayatri

Notes · scriptural context, prerequisites, phalas

The Narasimha Gāyatrī follows the universal triṣṭubh / anuṣṭup pattern of every Vedic gāyatrī — vidmahe (may we know), dhīmahi (may we meditate), pracodayāt (may he impel) — applied to the avatāra by way of two iconic epithets: vajra-nakha (he whose claws are the diamond-thunderbolt) and tīkṣṇa-daṁṣṭra (he of the sharp fangs). Attestation runs through the Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad and the Pancharatra adaptations of the same; both lineages preserve the form unchanged. It is the gāyatrī-rūpa intended for daily recitation at the three sandhyas, complementing the Sāvitrī Gāyatrī rather than replacing it. Vaikhānasa Agama prescribes it specifically before the study of Bhāgavata Purāṇa Seventh Skandha and before any pārāyaṇa of the Narasimha Kavacha; Pancharatra prescribes it before the Mantra Raja Pada Stotra. Phalas described: jaya (victory in lawful contests), tejas (radiance of personality), buddhi-vṛddhi (sharpening of the intellect), and protection from akāla-mṛtyu (untimely death). Recitation count: ten or twenty-eight repetitions at each sandhya is standard; a full forty-eight-day anuṣṭhāna of 108 daily is prescribed before major undertakings. Like all gāyatrīs, ideally received at upanayana from a qualified guru and chanted with the appropriate prāṇāyāma; in the absence of formal initiation, devotional recitation is accepted by Sri Vaishnava acharyas as part of any stotra-paṭha.