Glory of Nara and Narayana
The very first verses in ‘Jaya’ are usually recited after having bowed in obeisance before Narayana (Lord) and Nara, (the supreme human being), Goddess Saraswati and sage Vyasa as mentioned below.
Narayanam namaskruthya
naram chowa narothamama
Deveem saraswatheem
vyaasam thatho jayamudheerayet ||
The above verses convey that ‘I bow down to Lord Krishna, who is Narayana (The Supreme), Arjuna (the supreme human being) and Goddess Saraswati’. Nara, mentioned here in the verse, is considered to be Arjuna in his previous birth. Arjuna’s identity with Nara is established throughout the epic.
They both performed penance for many years at Badrika Ashram (Badrinath) which was named after Goddess Lakshmi when she protected the meditating Lord Vishnu from the heat by covering Him with the Badri tree.
Badrinath
‘Badri’ refers to a berry that grew abundantly in the area, and ‘Nath’ means “Lord”. Badrinath or Badrinarayana Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu which is situated now in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand, India. The temple is also considered one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Badrinath being one of the most legendary temples, has numerous mythical tales associated with it. According to one mythological tale, Lord Vishnu had performed punctilious reparation at this place. During His intense meditation, He was unaware of the severe weather conditions. To protect Him from the scorching Sun, His spouse Goddess Lakshmi acquired the shape of Badri tree and spread it over Him.
Witnessing this, Lord Vishnu was pleased by her devotion and hence He named that place as ‘Badrikaashram’.
The temple has colourful walls. Inside the temple lies the idol of Lord Badrinarayana, which is made up of Shaligram stone (i.e., black stone). Lord Vishnu is in standing posture holding Shankh, Sudarshana chakra and other two hands are in yoga mudra position i.e. the idol here depicts Lord Vishnu sitting in a meditative posture.
Other than Lord Badri Narayana there are idols of other deities also such as Goddess Lakshmi, Nara & Narayana, Lord Hanuman, Kubera, Goddess Durga, Narasimha, Narada, Ganesha, Uddhava and vahana (vehicle) of Lord Vishnu, Garuda. This holy place is considered one of the eight Swayam Vyakta Kshetras or self-manifested idols of Vishnu. The main shrine area houses the black stone image of Lord Badrinarayana, sitting under a gold canopy, beneath a Badri Tree.
The mountains around Badrinath are described well in the Mahabharata when the Pandavas were said to have died one by one while ascending the peak in the mighty Garhwal mountains called “Swargarohini” which means ‘Ascent to Heaven’. The Pandavas passed through Badrinath and the town of Mana, 4 km from Badrinath, on their way to Svarga which is heaven.
Origin of Nara Narayana
Nara and Narayana took birth as sons of Dharma and his wife Murti, who was a daughter of Daksha. It was said that Narayana took birth in four forms – Nara, Narayana, Hari and Krishna. Out of these, Nara and Narayana travelled to the hermitage of Badri in their golden wagons and engaged themselves in staunch austerities.
In Dwapara Yuga, Nara and Narayana were more popular due to their reincarnation as Arjuna and Krishna. But the epic highlights their identity as the sacred ancient sages, born to defend dharma by opposing the demons. These two inseparable sages took avatars on earth for the welfare of mankind.
Arjuna’s identity as Nara is because of his being born as Indra’s son and one among the five as Pandavas. There arose a situation when sage Nara has to incarnate along with Narayana. On the other hand, Indra has to take birth on earth to endure the curse of Lord Shiva. Both these inevitable conditions were merged and resulted in Arjuna’s birth.
The Story of Nara-Narayana and Karna
It is said that once a demon, who had pleased Brahma with his devotion, was granted a special boon that his life existed in the thousand kavachas (armours) that Brahma bestowed upon him and because of which no one can kill him. But, if any one of his enemies were to remove the kavachas (armours) from his body, then he would lose all his powers. The Creator also granted him another boon that one who takes away even one kavacha from him will have to fight with him for a hundred years.
He began to exercise his powers for both good and evil purposes, as a result of which he was named as Sahasrakavacha (a man with a hundred armours). On hearing devas’ pleas, Lord Vishnu decided to help them and descended on earth in the form of two men, named Nara and Narayana. These two men challenged Sahasrakavacha to a battle, which the asura willingly accepted.
On the day of the battle, Nara engaged Sahasrakavacha in the confrontation for a hundred years while Narayana, the Lord Himself sat down to do penance. After a hundred years, Nara managed to remove one kavacha from the demon’s body.
Meanwhile, Narayana took up the battle. Thus, alternating with each other, Nara and Narayana continued fighting with the asura, till he was left with only one kavacha on his body. Now Sahasrakavacha realized that he was left with the last kavacha and if that too was ripped off his body, he would die. So, he went and hid himself behind the Sun. With Sahasrakavacha having left the field, Nara and Narayana returned to heaven.
After a long time, a son was born to Kunti with the blessings of the Sun. The child was named Karna and he was born with a single kavacha. This proved that Karna was none other than Sahasrakavacha who had taken rebirth as Karna.
So, once again Nara and Narayana who were Arjuna and Lord Krishna fought together in the Kurukshetra war and killed Karna in Dwapara Yuga. Thus, the inseparable Krishna and Arjuna were successful in finishing off a mighty demon like Sahasrakavacha.
Let us always remember that every reason behind the Lord’s incarnation is unique and most importantly for the welfare of mankind.
