Thread by @DefiledGod

When bhagavAn narasimha was angry, all the gods could not pacify him.

I had mentioned earlier that this is because he had totally assumed the manner of a lion, and seeing his own reflection in hiraNyakashipu’s blood, thought there was another lion challenging prahlAda!+

The gods had never before seen bhagavAn in this manner. Thus, they sought the mediation of shrI.

The bhAgavata and padma purANas have slightly different versions of how shrI ensured bhagavAn was pacified+

As I have said before, as per AchAryAs like vedAnta desikan, shrI performs mediation in 2 ways - by her motherly affection, she advises the jIvAs to turn towards bhagavAn, and by her beauty, she seduces bhagavAn to make him obey her and favor the jIvAs+

There is a kalpa bheda between the padma and bhAgavata purANAs in terms of her pacifying narasimha.

While she mediates on behalf of the gods, the manner she performs her task differs, being one or the other of the previously mentioned ways

First, the padma purANa's account+

ऊचुः प्रांजलयो देवीं प्रसन्नं कुरुते प्रियम् . त्रैलोक्यस्याभयं स्वामी यथा दद्यात्तथा कुरु

[The gods said, with hands in anjali mudrA, to lakshmi, “Pacify your beloved husband. Act in a manner that the master of all offers assurance of fearlessness to the three worlds”.]+

इत्युक्ता सहसा देवी प्रियं प्राप्य जनार्दनम् | प्रणिपत्य नमस्कृत्य प्रसीदेति उवाच तम् ||

[Being thus spoken too, devI, went to her beloved husband, janArdana. Bowing and offering salutations of “namaH”, she said, “Become inclined to favor”.]+

“ जनार्दन” – One who is fit to be worshipped by all. Why? Because he is shrIyaH-pati.

Brahman in the Veda is identified as the consort of shrI; she precipitates his famous auspicious attributes which are enjoyed by the jIva. Hence, he becomes accessible for worship by her+

तां दृष्ट्वा महिषीं स्वस्य प्रियां सर्वेश्वरो हरिः | रक्षःशरीरजं क्रोधं तत्याज प्रीतवत्क्षणात्

[Seeing his beloved wife ie, her beauty, Hari, who reaches all who seek him by her mediation ( सर्वेश्वर), gave up his anger and became immediately inclined to favor.]+

The above reveals mediation of devI by appealing to bhagavAn.

Her beauty quells his anger & removed the demeanor of a lion he had imposed upon himself by his will, upon which he becomes सर्वेश्वर - etymologically means, "he who reaches all who seek him" as per Bhattar +

But we have a different account in the bhAgavata purANa, as follows

साक्षात् श्रीः प्रेषिता देवैर् दृष्ट्वा तम् महद् अद्भुतम् अदृष्टाश्रुत-पूर्वत्वात् सा नोपेयाय शङ्किता+

[shrI herself, was requested by the gods but could not approach bhagavAn due to fear on seeing the uniquely wonderful form of narasimha, the like of which was never seen before]+

Why does the purANa say she was fearful to approach him? The fear was not because she feared him. Because in the bhAgavata, rather than appealing to bhagavAn, she decides to bring out the glory of the devotee, prahlAda+

She did not fear bhagavAn. Her fear was this, "If I approach this form of bhagavAn, who as narasimha does not know any tattva other than his bhakta prahlAda, he may not accede to my request to be appeased in favor of the gods"+

She is ever present on his chest, so there is no scope for fear for her part. Her fear was that bhagavAn, who had completely assumed the demeanor of a mother lion protecting her cub (prahlAda) would be mistrustful of the gods and would reject them+

She wanted the gods to gain bhagavAn’s favor through prahlAda.

“अदृष्टा” – this form has never before been seen by her, ie, it is a form purely assumed for the sake of prahlAda, & so it should be approached through prahlAda. bhagavAn only knows prahlAda in this form.+

So in this case, when she was prayed to by the gods, she suggested prahlAda must approach him. 

The very next shloka indicates this,

प्रह्रादं प्रेषयाम् आस ब्रह्मावस्थितम् अन्तिके

[prahlAda was requested by brahmA, who was situated very nearby…]+

Note the words, “अवस्थितम् अन्तिके” – this brings out the mediation of devI. brahmA was proximate in location and hence directly saw devI’s fear that bhagavAn may reject even her appeals.

Thus, by her action, brahmA understood it must be prahlAda who requests bhagavAn+

Thus, her mediation worked here in the sense that she communicated this to brahmA by her action, that he should seek prahlAda. "अवस्थितम् अन्तिके" signifies it was because brahmA was near, that he could understand what she wanted+

So, in the bhAgavata, she mediates by showing her motherly affection on the gods, by advising them to seek the help of prahlAda, a devotee through her action. In the padma purANa, she directly appeals to bhagavAn by attracting him with her beauty. This is kalpa bheda+

Only the manner of mediation changes, but not her actual role. In both cases, she is the means for attaining bhagavAn's anugraha.//