[Advaita-l] Narayana - Word

[Jay Nelamangala]

Dear All,

> >    the Term 'Narayana' has not been used in the whole of Srimad
> > Bhagavad Gita even once.

Two gems that came out of mahAbhArata are - Geetha and VishNu-sahasra-nAma.
They say,  each word in VSN has one many many different meanings.
Thus between Geetha and VSN,  all the names of the Lord that humans will
ever need
are convered.

So,  instead of worrying about why a particular word has not been used in
Geetha,
let us study some of the different meanings of the word NArAyaNa.

1) 'ara'  and  'dOsha' (defect) are synonyms.  'nan' means that which is
opposed.
For this reason, the word nArAha means attributes that are opposed to
defects.
Therefore NArAyaNa means the basis of these attributes.

The attributes of a thing in this world are all prAkrita,  attributes of
NaarAyaNa are aprAkrita and aloukika.  Geetha says,
"guNebhyascha param vEtti mat bhAvam sO adhigacchati"

2) Nan. means absence.  Hence NArAyaNa is so called because He is not the
basis of defects.  In the Geetha,  SriKrishna comes down heavily on those
who find defects in Him as "pra-dvi-SHa-ntO-(a)bhya-sU-ya-kAH"

3) For the reason that Naara is related to nara,  that it does not perish,
that it does not
lead to pain or that it is produced by Veda which is defectless,  it (Naara)
means
knowledge.  NaarayaNa is so called because It is the basis of knowledge in
the
sense of Itself being Its Object.  Geetha says "jnAnam jnEyam hridi
sarvasyaviShTitam",
"vEdaischa sarvaihi ahamEva vEdyO".

4) nAraaha means muktAha or liberated,  because the liberated are free from
defects,
free from pain and free from destruction.   NaarAyaNa is so called because
It is the
bassis of the liberated.  Geetha says "pootAha mad bhAvam Agataaha".

Thus,  even though one many not find the word "NaarAyaNa" in the Geetha,
every notion associated  with that word, is there in the Geetha.
Our job is to look for it.

Harihi Om Tatsat,
Jay Nelamangala.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at braincells.com>
To: <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 12:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Narayana - Word


> On Wed, 21 May 2003, venkata  subramanian wrote:
>
> > Dear all
> >
> >    the Term 'Narayana' has not been used in the whole of Srimad
> > Bhagavad Gita even once.
> >
>
> At first I was going to say I don't believe you but apparently you are
> right!  I wonder what is the significance of such an omission?  Certainly
> it used elsewhere in the Mahabharata.  Indeed the first words are
> "nArAyaNa namaskrtya"
>
>
> -- 
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/
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