[Advaita-l] Narayana says he is Vishnu, Brahmaa, etc.

[V Subrahmanian]

Narayana says he is Vishnu, Brahmaa, etc.

In the Aranyakaparva of the Mahabharata, in a dialogue with Markandeya,
Narayana says that he is everything, everyone, including Vishnu:


https://sanskritdocuments.org/mirrors/mahabharata/unic/mbh03_sa.html



   अहं नारायणो नाम प्रभवः शाश्वतोऽव्ययः | विधाता सर्वभूतानां संहर्ता च
   द्विजोत्तम ||४|| I am Narayana, the Eternal. The creator, protector, अहं
   विष्णुरहं ब्रह्मा शक्रश्चाहं सुराधिपः | अहं वैश्रवणो राजा यमः
   प्रेताधिपस्तथा ||५|| I am Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, Kubera, Yama.. अहं शिवश्च
   सोमश्च कश्यपश्च प्रजापतिः | अहं धाता विधाता च यज्ञश्चाहं द्विजोत्तम ||६|| I
   am Shiva, Soma, Kashyapa.... अग्निरास्यं क्षितिः पादौ चन्द्रादित्यौ च लोचने
   | सदिशं च नभः कायो वायुर्मनसि मे स्थितः ||७||

The verses that follow the above give a list of what else in creation, the
animate and inanimate, are all Narayana.

The above statement make it clear that the Narayana here is the Turiya
Brahman whose manifestation alone is the entire creation, including the
Trimurti-s.  This abheda of the entire creation with the Turiya Brahman is
the Vedantic portrayal of Brahman-creation relationship. Everyone,
everything, in creation is non-different from that Narayana. Even Vishnu,
one of the manifestations of Narayana, is non-different from Narayana and
all others in creation.

Om Tat Sat.