Great Spiritual Master?

Or
Narada Muni – Mischief - Monger

-Pramod K. Mathur

"Narayana, Narayana! Narayana, Narayana!" These words, pronounced in a particular slant, are
enough to create immediately an image of Narada Muni. The name itself provokes
certain thoughts, feelings, and with most people it is synonymous with
mischievious antics and humor. These antics are spread throughout Hindu
mythology and are popular amongst all Hindus. In fact, of all characters in the
Puranas, no other name creates an image as vivid as Narada Muni. Children talk
of him, and discuss him, because of the various "delicious" stories
associated with him.

Yet, perhaps Narada Muni is not as well known, as he should be. After all, the word "Nara" means
knowledge useful to mankind and "Da" means giver. So "Narada"
means one who gives useful knowledge to mankind and guides it in the right path.
In this article we will examine not only the interesting anecdotes around him,
which have branded him as a "mischief-monger", but also look at his
background, his attributes, and his ulterior motives in our religious
scriptures. One can then decide on his own ----- what the true label should be on Narada Muni.

His Origin & Background

Narada himself talks about his origin, as recited to Srila Vyasadev in the Shrimad Bhagvatam. A long time
ago, He was an angel called Upabharana, very handsome and proficient in music.
During a fire sacrifice, he was invited by Dakshabrahma to sing devotional
songs, which he did. However as he was doing so, he was not totally
concentrating, being distracted by the Apsaras (heavenly damsels) also present
in the assembly. Dakshbrahma sensed this erroneous behaviour and so cursed
Narada, "You lecherous gandharva! You are ruining with sense gratification
such an auspicious occasion! May you be deprived of all your spiritual
splendor!. You don't deserve to live in heaven. May you be born as a little,
despicable human being on earth." As a result of this curse, Narada was
born as the son of a maid-servant in an Ashram. Being in an Ashram, he had
frequent contact with the holy sages who used to give him spiritual
instructions. This revived his devotion to God. One day, when he was still a
small boy, his mother was bit by a snake and died. The boy Narada, now
completely unattached, placed all his trust in God. He left the Ashram, headed
north, and began to contemplate about God and nothing else. Eventually God,
pleased by his devotion, appeared before him in His Narayana form and said:
" Since you are seeing me now, your devotion towards me will become more
steady. Maintain your devotion towards me, and keep company with good men only.
Unfortunately, you will not be able to see me again in this birth, but in your
next birth you will be one of my close attendants". Narada's life
completely changed after this incident. In his next birth, when the world was
re-created, he was born directly from Brahma.

The story of why he travels all the time is also interesting. It is due to another curse by Prajapati Daksha.
The story goes that Prajapati had several sons, whom he instructed to undergo
penance and then get married, so as to help him populate the universe. While
these sons were undergoing penance, Narada appeared before them and taught them
devotional service. He also advised them that married life leads to no joy and
that instead they should spend their whole life as anchorites. Daksha's sons
faithfully followed these instructions, and so Daksha's plan to populate the
world was foiled. This angered Daksha, who cursed Narada, " O Narada, it
was my heart's desire that my children marry and lead a happy household life.
But you interfered and misled them. Have you no other activity to perform? I am
cursing you to remain a vagabond eternally!" Narada was not upset by the
curse. "All the better indeed! I shall spend all my time wandering and
preaching to the people everything I know", said he. Thus the constant travelling mode of Narada Muni.

Narada Muni -- the Mischief-Monger

The Puranas around with His
antics, where he served as a messenger amongst various factions (in most cases,
he was a self-appointed communicator). Narada has the capability to travel
anywhere, and as he travels he plays on Veena (called 'Mahati"), invoking
the name "Narayana! Narayana!". As soon as he appears, he chants the
holy name and then promptly begins to "spill the beans", so to speak.

After Sati sacrificed herself in her father-in-law's sacrificial assembly, Narada served as the
communicator. Sati had just sacrificed herself due to lack of offerings in that
assembly for her husband, Lord Shiva. Narada promptly went to Lord Shiva and
appraised him of the situation. Lord Shiva (who is known as anger personified)
became extremely angry. With a single hair from his head he created a demon
called Virabhadra. This demon went to the sacrifice, wrecked all the facilities,
and killed all the devas assembled at that location. Later, the devas begged
forgiveness, and since Lord Shiva is easy to please, He re-instated most of the destruction and
killing that Virabhadra had caused.

Inspite of King Kamsa's various attempts, he was unable to locate the whereabouts of Devaki's eighth
son, who was destined to kill him (this eighth son is commonly known as
Lord Shri Krishna!). Narada Muni at the opportune moment visited Kamsa and told
him that Devaki's eighth son was still alive, and gave him a location where He
could be found. This angered Kamsa even more, and this led to a series of events
that ultimately resulted in Kamsa's death.

Narada had a nephew named Parvata. One day these two went together to the palace of Ambarisha, the ruler
of Ayodhya. Ambarisha had a beautiful daughter named Srimati. Narada and his
companion were both attracted by her beauty and wished to marry her. They secretly disclosed to Ambarisha they wanted to marry her.

This put Ambarisha in a fix. How could he disobey the sages? So he decided to arrange a swayamvara.
"Whoever Srimati selected in this swayamvara would be her husband",
said Ambarisha. Now without Parvata's knowledge, Narada went to Vaikuntha and
asked from Vishnu, " O Lord Vishnu, have mercy on me and do me a favor. At
the time of Swayamvara, make Parvata look like a monkey.". The Lord smilingly agreed.

Later, it was Parvata's turn to approach Lord Vishnu – without Narada's knowledge. He said to Vishnu,
"O Lord! at the time of swayamvara, please make Narada look like a bear!". Vishnu said to Himself, "Aha! both are naive, and there is little to choose between them." But he assured the sage He would grant the
request.

At the time of swayamvara, Srimati was dumb founded! She said to her father: "Father, I can see no
rishi here. Instead I find two men, one with the face of a bear and the other with the face of a monkey. But in between these two I find a handsome man with
an attractive build dressed in jewel studded clothes, and he is smiling".
Srimati then tossed her garland and it fell on this man. All at once the
handsome man and Srimati disappeared. The handsome man was none other than Lord Vishnu.

It was then that both sages learnt the lesson that Lord Vishnu had given them ---- on selfishness and
conceit. They both felt ashamed, and took an oath that they would remain bachelors for life.

Narada Muni – The Spititual Master

Perhaps not as well known, but the Puranas also abound with narrations of wisdom by Narada. He has obliged
a large number of disciples, young and old alike.

When Dhruva Maharaja as a child realized he was not getting the proper attention from his father,
compared to his brother, he became very angry and frustrated. Based on a casual
comment by his mother, he decided to go to the forest and ask for a kingdom of
his own from Narayana Himself. So when this small naive child went to the
forest, Narada approached him and gave him spiritual instructions on how to
achieve what he wanted. Narada gave instructions on how to meditate and where,
what to eat, what "kriyas" to perform, etc. He described to him the
form of the Lord, His bodily features, and the glory of His attributes. He
taught him how to worship and gave him the mantra, "Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya ".

Dhruv was a determined youngster and ' he immediately began to meditate on Lord Vishnu with utmost
faith in his "Guru".

So powerful was Narada's instruction, and Dhruv's resolve to follow them, that the devas in heaven
could not even breathe! Eventually, the devas went to Narayana themselves and
asked Him to fulfill Dhruv's desires so that they be released from this torture.
Finally, Dhruv’s wish for his own kingdom was granted by Vishnu, as a result
of which Dhruvaloka exists. This planet of Dhruv's, unlike other planets, is
stationary and northernmost. In modern astronomy, it is referred to as the North Star.

Narada played a key role in the spiritual development of Bhakt Prahlad, son of Hiranyakashyapa. Once when
Hiranyakashyapa was away for penance, Lord Indra kidnapped his wife Kayadhu and
tried to kill her child while still in the womb, thinking the child to be as
evil as his father. But Narada intervened and prevented the misdeed. Narada took
Kayadhu away to his Ashram and looked after her until her husband returned. The
child in her womb was Prahlad.Narada used to address Prahlad when in the womb and
preach devotional service. These instructions, combined with the

Atmosphere of the Ashram, resulted at least partly in Prahlad being born as a great devotee of Lord
Vishnu. The power of Prahlad's devotion was so great that inspite of various
efforts, Hiranyakashyapa could not kill him, even though he was a small child.
Eventually, Lord Vishnu in the form of Nrsimhadeva (half-man, half-lion)
appeared to kill Hiranyakashyapa and protect his devotee Prahlada.

Narada's instructions to the great sage Vyasa are perhaps not as well known. In his lifetime, Vyasa had
accomplished a great deal; he divided the Vedas into four, in order to expand
its study; he edited the Vedas to make them easier to understand; he then
compiled the epic Mahabharata for the benefit of all. But inspite of these
achievements, he was not satisfied. He began to contemplate on his deficiencies
when Narada appeared before him. Narada instructed him by saying, "0 great
Vyasadev, You have not broadcast enough the sublime and spotless glories of the
Lord. You have not yet described the pastimes of Vasudeva3la". Narada
praised Vyasadev and told him to write with utmost devotion about Krishna Katha.
As a result, Vyasadev wrote the Shrimad Bhagvatam, which is the literary
incarnation of Bhakti. The Shrimad Bhagvatam contains in detail all of Krishna's
pastimes from His birth all the way to the killing of Kamsa. After compiling
this literature, Vyasadev was completely satisfied with all his works and
enjoyed a great feeling of spiritual fulfillment.

Perhaps the most elaborate instruction of Narada Muni was to King Prachinabarhisat, and his sons, the
Pracetas. To King Prachinabarhisat, Narada imparted spiritual wisdom by telling
him the allegorical story of a fictitious king. In an allegorical way, Narada
tells the tale of a king who struggled life after after life to perfect himself
and his royal duties. But the element of devotion to God was missing. As a
result, all of his efforts were in vain; as he worked out of one entangled web
he simply worked himself into another. Only when one concludes that the miseries
of material life are endless, and approach to God is the only way out, can one truly advance.

"Yada Yasyaanugrhnaanti Bhagvaan atma bhavitah

Sa jahaati matim loke vede
cha parinishthitaam"

"When a person fully engages in devotion to the Lord, the Lord bestows His causeless mercy. At that
time, the awakened devotee goes beyond the material activities and Vedic rituals." (1)

Conclusion

Narada Muni does not symbolize knowledge, philosophy, Yoga, austerity or penance. He symbolizes only
bhakti, and bhakti to Narayana. Wherever he goes, he chants the holy name and
sings it. He is welcomed by all – the devas as well as the asuras. However, he
does get involved where he has no business to get involved. Even though he
speaks only the truth, the words sometimes come out juggled in a deceptive way,
which provokes certain types of reaction by the listeners. Now if he didn't do
what he did, would the Puranas have been as interesting? Would the
stories have ended (or even started) the way they did? Would the world be a
different place, and would bhakti have evolved any differently?

Is Narada Muni a mischief-monger or spiritual master? You figure it out!

References :

(1) Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto-4, 29, (46).

(2) "Narada", by N. Ranganath Sharma, Rashtrotthana Printers, Bangalore.

(3) "Hindu Mythology", W.J. Wilkens, Rupa Co., New Delhi.