Mahabharata (translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, 1883-1896), Book 3, Varna Parva, Chapter CLXXXVIII (188) Īs per texts like the Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Garuda Purana, and the Padma Purana, Narayana is Vishnu himself who incarnates in various avatars.Īccording to the Bhagavad Gita, he is also the 'Guru of the Universe'. They move not according to their will but as they are moved by me. Governed by my ordinance, men wander within my body, their senses overwhelmed by me. And, O Brahmana, whatever is obtained by men by the practice of truth, charity, ascetic austerities, and peace and harmlessness towards all creatures, and such other handsome deeds, is obtained because of my arrangements. Space with the cardinal points are my body, and the Air is my mind. Fire is my mouth, the earth my feet, and the Sun and the Moon are my eyes the Heaven is the crown of my head, the firmament and the cardinal points are my ears the waters are born of my sweat. And, O best of regenerate ones, I am he called Dhatri, and he also that is called Vidhatri, and I am Sacrifice embodied. I am Siva, I am Soma, and I am Kasyapa the lord of the created things. I am king Vaisravana, and I am Yama, the lord of the deceased spirits.

I am Vishnu, I am Brahma and I am Shankara, the chief of the gods. I am the Creator of all things, and the Destroyer also of all. I am Narayana, the Source of all things, the Eternal, the Unchangeable. Hinduism A depiction of Narayana at the Badami Cave Temples in Karnataka In the Vedas and the Puranas, Narayana is described as having the divine blackish-blue color of water-filled clouds, four-armed, holding a Padma (lotus), Kaumodaki (mace), Panchajanya shankha (conch), and the Sudarshana Chakra (discus). He quotes, 'This Nārāyana of the Āryan pantheon seems to be the supreme being of the Mohenjo-Darians, a god who was probably styled Ān, a name still kept in Tamil literature as Āndivanam, the prototype of the historic Siva'. He asserts that this is also the reason why Narayana is represented as lying on a serpent in the sea. To this end, he states that the etymology of the deity is associated with the Dravidian nara, meaning ‘water’, ay, which in Tamil means 'to lie in a place', and an, which is the masculine termination in Dravidian languages. Keny proposes that Narayana was associated with the Dravidian, and ultimately, the Indus Valley Civilisation, prior to his syncretism with Vishnu. 'Yana' (Sanskrit यान) means 'vehicle', 'vessel', or more loosely, 'abode' or 'home'.'Nara' (Sanskrit नार) means 'water' and 'man'.

'Narayana' is also defined as the 'son of the primeval man', and 'Supreme Being who is the foundation of all men'. This definition is used throughout post-Vedic literature such as the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana.

Om namo narayanaya pronunciation