Narayana

This article deals with the religious term, for the mathematician see Narayana (mathematician) , for the ruler of the Kanva dynasty of the same name see Kanva (dynasty)

Vishnu as Narayana on the pincushion-shaped world serpent ananta or shesha ; Relief from the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh , Uttar Pradesh (around 500 AD)

Narayana ( Sanskrit , m., नारायण, nārāyaṇa , Thai : Narai (นารายณ์); literal: "eternal man", " son of man" or "the one who comes out of the water") is a popular form of the divine in Hinduism . He is mostly equated with Vishnu or his avatar Krishna , occasionally with Brahma .

Legend

In the epic Mahabharata , the sage Markandeya reports on a great flood which at the end of time destroyed the entire universe. In the watery desert he meets a child lying on the leaf of a tree who reveals itself to him as Narayana :

In ancient times I called the waters by the name Nara and since the waters were always my ayana , my home, that's why I was called Narayana (who is at home in the water). O best of the born again, I am Narayana, the source of all things, the Eternal, the Immutable.

The divine child comforts Markandeya and announces a new creation.

presentation

Vishnu / Narayana holds a lotus stem with his left hand, which rises from his navel and Brahma is enthroned on the flower . Cham relief, Vietnam (around 700 AD)

The iconography shows Narayana (like Vishnu) mostly with four arms and the attributes wheel or discus ( chakra ), snail horn ( shankha ), lotus ( padma ) and club ( gada ). In a particularly well-known representation of Narayana rests here surnamed Anantashayi when people multiform God between two ages of the world on a snake bed in the cosmic ocean, the ocean of milk . The four-headed Brahma is enthroned on the lotus blossom that sprouts from his navel and, on his behalf, brings forth a new creation.

Hindu tradition also knows a double form in which Narayana appears together with Nara as Nara-Narayana . The term expresses the idea that the human soul (Nara) is the eternal companion of the divine (Narayana) .

In mythology they embody two sages who are said to be reborn later as Krishna (Narayana) and his disciple and companion Arjuna (Nara) .

Mantra

Narayana is worshiped with the Ashtaksharamantra Om namo Narayanaya .

See also

• Budhanilkantha
• Urvashi
• Dashavatara Temple

Web links

Commons : Narayana  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Narayana figure in Budhanilkantha, Nepal - photos + information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mahabharata, Book CLXXXI (Markandeya-Samasya Parva) in Varna Parva Part II)
2. ↑ Annliese and Peter Keilhauer: The visual language of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. DuMont, Cologne 1983, pp. 71 ff, ISBN 3-7701-1347-0