[Advaita-l] Narayanaya in Advaita

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Vivekachudamani we have a verse  नारायणोऽहं नरकान्तकोऽहम्...[I am
nArAyaNa the slayer of naraka/asura] .where it would hardly be correct to
think the name 'nAraayaNa' means the Lord who is the consort of Lakshmi.
In Advaita expressions like  नारायणोऽहं , शिवोऽहम् do not refer to the
personal God.

In the above verse 'nArAyaNa' refers to JnanasvarUpam/akhaNDAkAravRttiH and
'naraka' / narakAsura refers to ignorance/avidyA.

subrahmanian.v


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 7:33 PM, H S Chandramouli
<hschandramouli at gmail.com>wrote:

> HS Chandramouli
>
> So many shruti vakyas have been cited in this thread to highlight the
> advaitic concept of Narayana. However there are so many references in our
> shastras , shruti/purana etc , to Narayana with a definite form, endowed
> with ayudhas/ornaments etc , and involved in so many activities . Many of
> my advaita friends have always had a doubt on advaita's stand regarding the
> reality status of this Narayana vis a vis rest of the creation. This has
> been eulogized so much that while they have no difficulty in accepting the
> mithyatvam of rest of the creation ( mostly interpreted as unreal/false )
> same is not so with regard to this Narayana. Sri Ramanujacharya cites the
> Narayanasukta which according to him refers to this Narayana as the only
> authoritative shruti to identify the Highest Truth ( supported by Sri
> Vishnumaha Purana ) . Ofcourse in most of their discourses the dvaitins do
> not forget to mention that advaita does not  accept the reality of even
> such a Narayana !!!!!!!! Perhaps there is a need to answer the question
> with specific reference to this Narayana. I have tried to answer them as
> follows.
>
> << Narayana as distinct from/different from/ separate from / independant of
> I the Consciouness is Mithya.
>
>      Narayana as same as / nondifferent from / nondistinct from / identical
> with I the Consciouness is Sathya  >>
>
> May be better ways are available to answer the question.
>
> Regards
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 6:09 PM, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Namaste
> >
> > The Narayana name is very holy because Mahabharata and Bhagavata say -
> > Naaraayanam Namaskrutya Naram Chaiva NarOttamam. In Bhagavata the story
> of
> > Ajamila is given. He was a great sinner. But he called his son's name
> > Narayana at the time of death when Yama Dootas were pulling him but God
> > Narayana protected him.
> > The Naaraayana Ashtakshari Mantra is compulsory for Vaishnavas. When they
> > do the Purusha Sukta homa also they say every line from Pursha Sukta and
> > then Om Namo Naaraayanaaya Swaahaa" after each line. It gives a good
> effect
> > for Purusha Sukta Homa.
> >
> > In Advaita Naaraayana is Brahman only. Narayana Upanishad is saying
> > 'Naaraayana Evedagm Sarvam Yadbhutam Yacca Bhavyam. Nishkalo Niranjano
> > Nirvikalpo Niraakhyaataha Shuddho Deva Eko Naaraayanaha. Na Dviteeyo Asti
> > Kashchit. Ya Evam Veda. Sa Vishnureva Bhavati. Sa Vishnureva Bhavati.
> > Everything in past, present and future is Naraayaana only. He who knows
> > this becomes Vishnu. He becomes Vishnu. The Naaraayana Ashtakshara is
> given
> > next by the Upanishad.
> >
> > Complete text of Upanishad.
> > http://www.sathyasaiottawa.org/pdf/Vedam/Narayana_Upanishad.pdf
> >
> > Namo Naaraayanaaya. Namo Venkateshaaya.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> >
> > -Venkatesh
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