nA ya na

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 13 Aug 2007, 10:11

Can someone post the meaning of the mantra nA rA ya na and then the meaning of the word nA ya na (with the letter rA removed)? Is the letter rA very important to this mantra? If so, why? Can someone please explain? Thank you.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 13 Aug 2007, 10:47

Please refer to discourse of Kanchi Paramacharya on 'tAraka nAma' - rAma
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/ ... ntra3.html

shadjam · Post by **shadjam** » 13 Aug 2007, 21:34

Thanks, vgvindan.

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 15 Aug 2007, 19:37

vgvindan: This topic reminded me of something I came across a few years ago. The ten incarnations (avatArs) of vishNu are said to be manifestations of nara and nArAyaNa. I wonder whether you could comment further.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 15 Aug 2007, 21:07

Please refer to - http://www.srimannarayana.com/25.htm
http://srimadbhagavatam.org/canto11/chapter4.html

UrvaSi is stated to be born of the thigh (Uru) of Narayana

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 16 Aug 2007, 00:27

http://kirtimukha.com/chinnamma/sahasra/sloka26.html

The shabdhAha nArAyaNah and narah are the 246th and 247th nAmas in SrI viSNu sahasraNama. They both occur in the 24th slOka.

26.246 - nArAyaNah
The Supporter of the hosts of souls.Om nArAyaNAya namah. All the previous nAma-s referred to nArAyaNa through His other incarnations or through His many guNa-s. Now SrI vyAsa gives the name that only refers to mahA-vishNu, and that is not used to refer to anyother gods (such as the nAma-s rudra, Siva etc., which also occur in thevishNu sshasranAma to refer to mahAvishNu). SrI Bhattar points out that this nAma is spoken of in every upanishad, and the veda itselfgives the derviation of the name nArAyaNa thus - yacca ki~ncit jagat sarvam dRsyate SrUyatepi vA | antar-bahiSca tat-sarvam vyApya nArAyaNah sthitah || "Whatever object there is in the Universe that is seen or heard,nArAyaNa remains pervading all that, both inside and outside". SrI Bhattar gives several references to bring out the greatnessof this nAma. "nArAyaNAya vidmahe vAsudevAya dhImahi | tanno vishNuh pracodayAt || (taitti. nArAya. 6.1.28) "nArAyaNa param brhma tattvam nArAyaNah parah | nArAyaNa paro jyotir-AtmA nArAyaNah parah ||(taitt. NArAya. 6.11) "eko ha vai nArAyaNa AsIt| na brhamA na ISAnah na Apah naagnishomi yau na eme dyAvA pRthvI na nakshatrANina sUryah na candramAh| (mahopanishad) etc. SrI Sankara gives the following interpretation: nara refers to Atman; nAra refers to ether and the other effects produced from it; He,as their cause, pervades them and they are thus His abode (ayana).Hence He is named nArAyaNa. He gives the following quote frommahAbhArata supporting this interpretation: "narAjjAtAni tattvAni nArANIti tato vidhuh | tAnyeva cAyanam tasya tena nArAyaNah smRtah || (anu.Parva. 13.1.2) "The tattva-s are called nAra since they are sprung from nara(Atman); He is called nArAyaNa as they are His abode". Anotherinterpretation he gives is "narANAm jIvAnAm ayanatvAt pralaya iti vA -Whom the jIva-s appraoch and enter (He is the abode of the beings duringpralaya). This is supported by 'yatpryantyabhisamviSanti' - Whom theyapproach and enter - taittirIya upanishad 3.1. Or He is nArAyaNa sinceHe is the seat of the nAra-s or the tattva-s - nArANAm ayanam yasmAttasmAn-nArAyaNah smRtah - brahmavaivartapurANa. (Note that this thirdinterpretation is that He is their seat, whereas the firstinterpretation was that they are His seat). Manu-smRti gives thefollowing definition - "Apo nArAh iti proktAh Apo vai narasUnavah | tA yadasyAyanam pUrvam tasmAn-nArAyaNah smRtah ||(manu-smRti 1.10) "nAra refers to waters (the panca-bhUta-s before theyinter-mixed and became visible through forms etc.) which He created. Asthey are His original abode (i.e., during prlaya), He is called nArAyaNa". SrI satyadevo vAsishTha draws the parallel between theworld being born out of the waters in which nArAyaNa is floating, andthe child that is born out of the mother's womb after being supported bythe waters in the mother's body. In narasimha purANa, we have the following - "nArAyaNAya nama ityayameva satyah samsAra ghora visha samharaNAya mantrah | SRNvantu bhavyamatayo yatayo'starAgA uccaistarAmupadiSAmyaham Urdhva-bAhuh || (narasimha purANa18.31) "This is the real mantra that destroys the deadly poison ofsmasAra - nArAyaNAya namah. This I proclaim loudly with uplifted hands;let the ascetics, with passions curbed and inteleects clear, listen tome". SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri reminds us that the mantra-devatA thatwe worship through the gAyatri mantra is SrIman nArAyaNa - dhyeyah sadAsavitRmandala madhyavartI nArAyaNah. The dharma cakram writer refersus to divya-prabandham - "nalam tarum Sollai nAn kaNdu koNdEn nArAyaNAennum nAmam" to remind us of the greatness of this nAma japam. It is very important to note SrI Bhattar's concluding statementof his vyAkhyAnam on this nAma. He points out that the secret of thissacred mantra should only be properly learned by approaching an AcArya,and not by reading the explanations like the one presented. His wordsare that he does not want to say anything more on this nAma because itsgreatness can only be learned from an AcArya, and is thus a matter thatshould be seen by four eyes (the two eyes of the disciple and the twoeyes of the AcArya) and not by six eyes viz. he does not want to addhis two eyes further. So no amount of explanation on paper can bringout the greatness of this nAma.

26.247 - narah
a) He who is imperishable.b) The Leader.Om narAya namah. SrI Bhattar gives the meaning that nara refers to one withimperishable possessions, both sentient and non-sentient (both of whichare eternal by nature). SrI Sankara gives the meaning "Leader" to nara, and gives thequote from vyAsa (the source is not identified in my book) - nayati itinarah proktah paramAtmA sanAtanah - Because He directs everything, theeternal paramAtman is called nara. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha also starts with the root as nR nayeto lead, and gives the meaning as nayati - One who leads, or nRNati -One who takes things away. He is nara since He takes this Universe fromkalpa to kalpa through many kalpa-s. nara also refers to water orfluid, since this takes things from one place to another as it flows.That there was only water everywhere before sRshTi took place issupported by the following vedic quote - tama AsIt tamasAgUDhamagre'prakRtam salilam sarvamA idam (Rg 10.129.3). The dharma cakram writer points out that just as a mother leadsa child with the child's welfare in mind, and does not mind discipliningthe child for its own good when the child goes and eats dirt, or theteacher tries to discipline a student who is not learning the knowledgefrom the teacher, so also nara, viz. mahAvisNu, leads us all for ourgood even if He has to mete out some punishment occasionally to get ourways straightened out.

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 16 Aug 2007, 17:26

Wow that was an elaborate explanation. Yes, the last sentence makes good wisdom and jibes with the purpose of the avatAra. The gatekeepers of vaikuNTha, jaya and vijaya's constant antagonisms were in fact the impetus for the avatArAs. The account of the story is that they were born in pairs, i.e. hiraNyaksha-hiraNyakaShipu, mArIca-subAhu, khara-dhUShaNa, kumbhakarNa-rAvaNa etc. and nara and nArAyaNa (vishNu and ShEsha according to different interpretations) undertook the incarnations to bring them to justice.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 16 Aug 2007, 22:40

kmrasika,

I thought jaya and vijaya were cursed by sanakadi munis for 3 lives as paramAtma's virOdi. So the list only hiraNyAkSa-hiraNyakaSipu, rAvaNa-kumbhakarNa and SiSupAla-dantavaktrA. I have never heard of mArIcA-subhAhu in that list. naraha and nArAyaNa indicate only SrImannArAyaNa. AdiSESa has no part in this chapter. Only when AdiSESa was born as lakSmaNa, balarAmA and svAmi rAmAnujar that he came down with the amSa of SrImannArAyaNa. May be you can correct me with reference to the puraNa where nara takes an avatara.

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 17 Aug 2007, 16:31

ksrimech,
fine thread. could you give me the puranic reference for the 3 amsa avataaras of Adisesha as Lakshmana, Balarama and Ramanujar?.i know possibly this is a deviation, but would love to know. and also i am not able to access the URL :http://kirtimukha.com/chinnamma/sahasra/sloka26.html which you have given those excellent references. was trying to find out the whole. could you also let me know who is referenced to as Bhattar? if there is any alternate link , please let me know and i will try accessing, looks very detailed

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 18 Aug 2007, 02:00

bhaTTar here is parASara bhaTTar. He is the 12th achArya in the SrIvaiSNava guru parampara. He is the person who wrote the commentary on SrIviSNu sahasranAmA according to viSiSTadvaita theology. He is also the author of the magnum opus SrIrangarAjastavam in which he uses the vEdas to prove viSiSTAdvaita theology and the paratvam (Supreme Nature) of SrImannArAyaNa. Sorry for not reference that.

As far as the references are concerned, I may not be able to give you any reference for AdiSESa as svAmi emperumAnAr. Its based on svAmi mudaliyANDAn's, svAmi vEdAnta dEsikan's and pinazhagiyarAm perumAL jIyar's guruparamparA prabhAvam references. Sorry to have brought it up against nArAyaNaha and naraha discussion.

But I will try and get you quotations for AdiSESa as lakSmaNa and balarAma from purANAs in the next couple of days. We have references about lakSmaNa in SrIrAmAyaNam and kamba rAmAyaNam as well. Of course, kmrasika can quote from the itihAsAs as well. We can also easily deduce the avataraNam of SrImannArAyaNan from tiruppArkaDal to take avataras from tiruppArkaDal (kSIrAbdhi).

Please try getting to the website http://kirtimukha.com/chinnamma/sahasra/ and 26th slOka. If you cant, we shall try some thing else.

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 18 Aug 2007, 07:18

thanks ksrimech... had some problem trying to get that URL. wil try again surely. could you give me a good version of kambar available in chennai? are there any good engish transations for the same?