Interpretation of Narayani

[Komuraiah Poodari]

Namaste Vidvat Parishad.

A quick clarification request.

Does the term "Narayani"  represent 

the Goddess "Laksmi" as in SriSukta or 

the Goddess "Durga" as in Devi Saptashati, or 

both depending on the context, as the shakti is the root of Saraswati, Kali, and Lakshmi?

I appreciate your perspectives.

Best regards,

Komer

[Kalicharan Tuvij]

Namaste.
Narayani is properly speaking Shakti of Surya, and is invoked to provide divya drishti in order to invoke other deities correctly.

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Dear Sri Komer-ji,

Narayani is used in the sense of Devi who has the three forms Maha Kali , Maha lakshmi, Maha Saraswati.

We have expressions such as Narayana Sahodari, Vashnavi etc. too  in this sense. 

Ratnatraya Pariksha and its commentary :
In this extremely short work containing only very few verses, which Sri Appayya Dikshita calls as the three gems or ratna traya, Sri Dikshita proves on the basis of the pramanas of the Puranas, that Siva is really the Parabrahma, that it is the Sivasakti in the female form that is known as Parvati, and that it is the same sakti which is known as Narayana in the male form, and that on account of these, Hari, Hara and Ambika, all the three have Brahmatva, and that it is not necessary to fight among ourselves as to who is greater and who is smaller, since all the three are derived only from the same eternal source  

https://shaivam.org/to-practise/works-of-sri-appaiya-dikshita  

On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 11:47 AM Kalicharan Tuvij <kalich...@gmail.com> wrote:

Namaste.
  Narayani is properly speaking Shakti of Surya, and is invoked to provide divya drishti in order to invoke other deities correctly.

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Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Director,  Inter-Gurukula-University Centre , Indic Academy

BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra

BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala

BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.

Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

 

 

[Komuraiah Poodari]

Dhanyavad,  Kalicharan ji, for sharing your perspective.

[Kalyan K]

Sri Komuraiah gaaru

In Vaishnava circles, Narayani is Lakshmi.

In Sakta circles, Narayani is Durga.

This is my understanding.

[Komuraiah Poodari]

Thank you,  Acharya Nagaraju garu and Kalyan garu, for sharing your perspectives and the resource links.

Stay Safe.

Komer

[Nagaraj Paturi]

I think it will be useful if Vaishnavas on the list respond to the view that 

"In Vaishnava circles, Narayani is Lakshmi.

In Sakta circles, Narayani is Durga."

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[V Subrahmanian]

In the Lakshminarayana samhita, a text brought to my notice by a Madhva scholar friend, is a stuti addressed to Lakshmi-Lalita:

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/mahAlakshmIlalitAstotra.html?lang=sa

A sample from the above stotram:

सर्वशक्त्यै सर्वधात्र्यै महालक्ष्म्यै नमो नमः । 

या ससर्ज विराजं च ततोऽजं विष्णुमीश्वरम् ॥ १४ ॥   She is the one who created the Virat and then Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. 

इदानीं दृश्यसे ब्राह्मी नारायणी प्रियशङ्करी ।

नमस्तस्यै महालक्ष्म्यै गजमुख्यै नमो नमः ॥ १३ ॥ 

She is the one who is Braahmi (Saraswati), Narayani (Lakshmi) and Priyashankari (Parvati).  

This info, not the actual verses, shared by a friend:   In Devi Bhagwatham, the godess Ishwari/Narayani is the ultimate god. When Narayana opened his eyes at the beginning of kalpa, he beheld the godess. Not knowing who or what her intention was, Narayana started chanting mantras. Later the godess assured him that he would carry out his duties as per her will. 

Durga Saptashati there is a Narayani Stuti.

In Srimad Bhagavatam the following names are

given:Durga,Bhadrakali,Vijaya,Vaishnavi,Kumuda,Chandika,
Krshnaa,Madhavi,Kanyaka,Maaya,Narayani,Iisaani,Sarada, Ambika.  

This is a popular shloka that Smarta-s chant, invoking Gauri: sarva mangaLa mAngaLyE shivE………nArAyaNi namOstu tE

So, when nArAyaNa takes birth, His sahOdari (sivAni) also takes birth elsewhere to prove their sahOdaratva.  And hence, She is termed as nArAyaNi.  And siva is called *nArAyaNi sahacharaH*.

Also,in “lalitOpAkhyAna”, at the time of the celestial marriage of Kameshwara & Kameshwari, kanyAdAna was performed by Vishnu, being Her sahOdara and She was addressed as “nArAyaNi”. 

See this image:

http://mipriest.com/images/wedding.jpg

The above are some of the many references in the Puranic, etc. literature to the name Narayani. 

regards
subrahmanian.v

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[Kalyan]

For the Sri Vaishnava perspective on whether Parvati and Vishnu are siblings, please see here -

https://ramanuja.org/sri/BhaktiListArchives/Article?p=nov98/0021.html

[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 10:36 AM Kalyan <pk.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

For the Sri Vaishnava perspective on whether Parvati and Vishnu are siblings, please see here -

https://ramanuja.org/sri/BhaktiListArchives/Article?p=nov98/0021.html

In the above link the following is stated:

Textual support for this is adequate.

(1) In SriVishnu Puranam at that point the following
names are given re Yogamaya:Arya,Durga,Vedagarbha,
Ambika,Bhadra,Bhadrakali Kshemada,Bhagyada.

(2) In Srimad Bhagavatam the following names are
given:Durga,Bhadrakali,Vijaya,Vaishnavi,Kumuda,Chandika,
Krshnaa,Madhavi,Kanyaka,Maaya,Narayani,Iisaani,Sarada,
Ambika.

It can be seen that the characteristic names of Siva's
wife are totally absent.

In the Amarakosha, for the name Parvati, these are the names given: http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/scl/amarakosha/frame.html

अर्थः :: पार्वती | वर्गः :: स्वर्गवर्गः | , उमा, कात्यायनी, गौरी, काली, हैमवती, ईश्वरी, शिवा, भवानी, रुद्राणी, शर्वाणी, सर्वमङ्गला, अपर्णा, पार्वती, दुर्गा, मृडानी, चण्डिका, अम्बिका, आर्या, दाक्षायणी, गिरिजा, मेनकात्मजा, वृषाकपायी

SB 10.53.39   Bound by their swelling love, the city’s residents spoke in this way. Then the bride, protected by guards, left the inner palace to visit the temple of Ambikā.  

The Bhagavatam itself is giving the name Ambika to Shiva's consort, when Rukmini visited the temple before here wedding.  

The names Durga, Ambika, Aaryaa, Kaali (Bhadrakaali), Chandikaa, Ishvari (Ishaani),  Sarvamangala (Bhadra) are common to both Parvati and the names of the 'sister of Krishna' given in the above post.  Almost all the names in the two groups mentioned in the above post are in the Lalita Sahasra Nama. 

Gowri is Vishnu's sister  - Silappadhikaram     http://www.tamilvu.org/ta/library-l3100-html-l3100ind-132364


The Tamil Classic 'Silappadhikaram', admitted to be of 5 CE, has a reference to the idea that Gowri, Shiva's consort, is Vishnu's sister:

2. வேட்டுவ வரி


தலைமிசை நின்ற தையல் பலர்தொழும்
அமரி குமரி கவுரி சமரி
சூலி நீலி மாலவற் கிளங்கிளை  In this verse the name Gowri occurs in the second line and that she is the sister of Maal, Vishnu, occurs in the last line. 


66
உரை
68

        பலர் தொழும் அமரி - யாவரும் வணங்கும் இறப்பில்லாதவள், குமரி - இளமை பொருந்தியவள், கவுரி - கௌர நிறத்தையுடையவள், சமரி - போரில் வல்லவள், சூலி - சூலம் ஏந்தியவள், நீலி - நீலநிறமுடையோள், மால் அவற்கு இளங்கிளை- திருமாலுக்கு இளையவள் ;

        இளங்கிளை - இளையவுறவினர் ; இச் சொல், தம்பி, தங்கை, மைத்துனர், தோழர் முதலிய இளைய முறையினர் பலரையுங் குறிக்க வழங்கும். அமரி - அலங்கரித்தலில்லாதவள் ; குமரி - அழிவில்லாதவள் ; கிளை - கிளி போல்வாள் எனலுமாம். கிளை - கிள்ளை.

The next lines say that this Goddess, Gowri, was saluted by the gods such as Vishnu, Brahma and others.
regards
subrahmanian.v

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[Kalyan]

Thanks for the reference to Silapathikaram. It looks like the concept of Vishnu and Parvati being siblings, has origins in Tamil nadu. The idea has also been interpolated into the Mahabharata and Harivamsa, but has been removed by the critical editors at BORI. The concept thus seems to be absent in any Vaishnava scriptures.

[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 6:29 PM Kalyan <pk.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for the reference to Silapathikaram. It looks like the concept of Vishnu and Parvati being siblings, has origins in Tamil nadu. The idea has also been interpolated into the Mahabharata and Harivamsa, but has been removed by the critical editors at BORI. The concept thus seems to be absent in any Vaishnava scriptures.

In the skandapurāṇa Veda Vyāsa teaches this in a dialogue between vasiṣṭha and brahmā:

आत्मशक्त्या ससर्जाथ कन्यात्रयमनिन्दितम्

कन्यान्तु रुद्रो जग्राह कृष्णां सर्वाङ्गसुन्दरीम्

Shiva’s Māyāshakti gave birth to three damsels of whom Rudra took for himself the black one.

सा च विष्णुश्चैकभागो भगिनी सा ततो हरेः

She is one part of Vishnu, his sister.

[The above have been cited in very great detail in the book ‘Vedantanāmaratna sahasram’ authored by Sri Paramashivendra Saraswati, the guru of Sri Sadashivendra Saraswati. This book is a compilation of 1000 names from the shruti. In support of those names, as far as possible, the author has cited references from Itihasa and puranas. That list contains names such as Vishnu, Vasudeva and Narayana, and shown as names of Brahman, with references from shruti/smrti ] 

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[Nagaraj Paturi]

https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_purana/bhagpur-10b.html?lang=sa

श्रीमद्भागवतम् - दशमस्कन्धः उत्तरार्धम् 

अन्तःपुरान्तरचरीमनिहत्य बन्धून्
त्वामुद्वहे कथमिति प्रवदाम्युपायम् ।
पूर्वेद्युरस्ति महती कुलदेवियात्रा
यस्यां बहिर्नववधूर्गिरिजामुपेयात् ॥ ४२॥
॥ त्रिपञ्चाशत्तमोऽध्यायः - ५३ ॥


दुर्भगाया न मे धाता नानुकूलो महेश्वरः ।
देवी वा विमुखा गौरी रुद्राणी गिरिजा सती ॥ २५॥


-------- --------- --------------
------- ---------- ---------------

आसाद्य देवीसदनं धौतपादकराम्बुजा ।
उपस्पृश्य शुचिः शान्ता प्रविवेशाम्बिकान्तिकम् ॥ ४४॥

तां वै प्रवयसो बालां विधिज्ञा विप्रयोषितः ।
भवानीं वन्दयांचक्रुर्भवपत्नीं भवान्विताम् ॥ ४५॥

नमस्ये त्वाम्बिकेऽभीक्ष्णं स्वसन्तानयुतां शिवाम् ।
भूयात्पतिर्मे भगवान् कृष्णस्तदनुमोदताम् ॥ ४६॥

अद्भिर्गन्धाक्षतैर्धूपैर्वासःस्रङ्माल्यभूषणैः ।
नानोपहारबलिभिः प्रदीपावलिभिः पृथक् ॥ ४७॥

विप्रस्त्रियः पतिमतीस्तथा तैः समपूजयत् ।
लवणापूपताम्बूलकण्ठसूत्रफलेक्षुभिः ॥ ४८॥

तस्यै स्त्रियस्ताः प्रददुः शेषां युयुजुराशिषः ।
ताभ्यो देव्यै नमश्चक्रे शेषां च जगृहे वधूः ॥ ४९॥

मुनिव्रतमथ त्यक्त्वा निश्चक्रामाम्बिकागृहात् ।
प्रगृह्य पाणिना भृत्यां रत्नमुद्रोपशोभिना ॥ ५०॥

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 6:29 PM Kalyan <pk.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for the reference to Silapathikaram. It looks like the concept of Vishnu and Parvati being siblings, has origins in Tamil nadu. The idea has also been interpolated into the Mahabharata and Harivamsa, but has been removed by the critical editors at BORI. The concept thus seems to be absent in any Vaishnava scriptures.

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[Kalyan]

Dear Sri Paturi gaaru

While we wait for Vaishnava members to comment on this, here is what the Monier-Williams dictionary says -

(H2) नारायणी b [L=105983]	f. (of °ण q.v.) patr. of इन्द्र-सेना (the wife of मुद्गल) MBh. Hariv.
[L=105984]	N. of दुर्गा Hariv.
[L=105985]	of लक्ष्मी L.
[L=105986]	of गङ्गा and गण्डकी L.

మంగళ, 7, ఏప్రి 2020 09:51కి, Nagaraj Paturi <nagara...@gmail.com> ఇలా వ్రాసారు:

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[Komuraiah Poodari]

Namaste all,  This is quite a learning experience for me. Let me go through the resource links.

Please continue the conversation.

Dhanyavad,

Komer

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[Kalyan]

Could you please tell me what exactly is your point? If your point, is that the word ambikA is used for Parvati below, it is really nothing. ambikA has the primary meaning of mother.

మంగళ, 7, ఏప్రి 2020 20:18కి, Nagaraj Paturi <nagara...@gmail.com> ఇలా వ్రాసారు:

[Kalyan]

I dont deny that some non-vaishnavas consider Vishnu and Parvati to be siblings. However, I do not know if this idea is accepted by Vaishnavas. (If they are siblings, who are their parents? Vishnu atleast has no parents, as per Vaishnavism). From what I know, this idea is foreign to Vaishnava scriptures. It is well-known that vaishnavas dont accept all puranas in total. They accept only what they consider to be sattvik portions.

Also, when you quote a verse from a scripture, please try to give information about its location in any of the existing editions. This is to prevent the possibility of unknown quotations. 

PS: I dont know how many serious scholars of history think that all the extant puranas were written by one single person called veda vyAsa. While there is nothing wrong with being traditionally inclined, a historical approach is better suited for tracing the origin of ideas.

మంగళ, 7, ఏప్రి 2020 19:47కి, V Subrahmanian <v.subra...@gmail.com> ఇలా వ్రాసారు:

[Nagaraj Paturi]

मुनिव्रतमथ त्यक्त्वा निश्चक्रामाम्बिकागृहात् ।
प्रगृह्य पाणिना भृत्यां रत्नमुद्रोपशोभिना ॥ ५०॥

अम्बिकागृहात्  in this verse can not mean "from mother's house." 

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[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Apr 7, 2020 at 8:33 PM Kalyan <pk.k...@gmail.com> wrote:

I dont deny that some non-vaishnavas consider Vishnu and Parvati to be siblings. However, I do not know if this idea is accepted by Vaishnavas. (If they are siblings, who are their parents? Vishnu atleast has no parents, as per Vaishnavism). From what I know, this idea is foreign to Vaishnava scriptures. It is well-known that vaishnavas dont accept all puranas in total. They accept only what they consider to be sattvik portions.

Even among Vaishnavas, not all beliefs are shared the same way. There are drastic differences across various schools of Vaishnavism when it comes to the nature of Vishnu, other deities, their status, etc. 

This verse of the Bhagavatam says this female is Vishnu's sister:

sā tad-dhastāt samutpatya

sadyo devy ambaraṁ gatā

adṛśyatānujā viṣṇoḥ

sāyudhāṣṭa-mahābhujā

SYNONYMS

sā—that female child; tat-hastāt—from the hand of Kaṁsa; sam-utpatya—slipped upward; sadyaḥ—immediately; devī—the form of a demigoddess; ambaram—into the sky; gatā—went; adṛśyata—was seen; anujā—the younger sister; viṣṇoḥ—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sa-āyudhā—with weapons; aṣṭa—eight; mahā-bhujā—with mighty arms.

TRANSLATION

The child, Yogamāyā-devī, the younger sister of Lord Viṣṇu, slipped upward from Kaṁsa’s hands and appeared in the sky as Devī, the goddess Durgā, with eight arms, completely equipped with weapons.

//Thanks for the reference to Silapathikaram. It looks like the concept of Vishnu and Parvati being siblings, has origins in Tamil nadu. The idea has also been interpolated into the Mahabharata and Harivamsa, but has been removed by the critical editors at BORI. The concept thus seems to be absent in any Vaishnava scriptures.//

We can't conclude that the 'siblings' concept originated in Tamil Nadu since we do not know on what sources the author of the Silappadhikaram relied. Here are some opinions about the work and its close connection with Sanskrit epics:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silappatikaram#Sanskrit_epics

//The Tamil epic calls portions of it as vāla caritai nāṭaṅkaḷ, which mirrors the phrase balacarita nataka – dramas about the story of the child [Krishna]" – in the more ancient Sanskrit kavyas.^{[51][note 1]} According to the Indologist Friedhelm Hardy, this canto and others in the Tamil epic reflect a culture where "Dravidian, Tamil, Sanskrit, Brahmin, Buddhist, Jain and many other influences" had already fused into a composite whole in the South Indian social consciousness.^{[53]//  //}The major festivals described in the epic are pan-Indian and these festivals are also found in ancient Sanskrit literature.^[59] //

^{Hence, we can never be sure that the siblings idea is an interpolation in Mahabharata and Harivamsha.  Also the BORI critical editors removing it is also not a conclusive proof of the idea being an}

^{interpolation. There are scholars who do not} consider the BORI edition to be sacrosanct. Such opinions have been expressed in this very forum. Since such a critical edition is also 'paurusheya', 

the possible defects attached to it like 'bhrama and pramaada' cannot be ruled out.  

Its absence in Vaishnava scriptures also does not prove anything. For, what is not to one's liking is rejected in such scriptures composed by those belonging to such schools. 

regards

subrahmanian.v

   

[V Subrahmanian]

The name Padmanabha-sahodari (280) occurs in the Lalita Sahasra Nama:

The commentary 'Saubhagya-bhaskari' of Sri Bhaskara Raya says:

First, alluding to Sri Appayya Dikshitar's 'Ratna Traya Pariksha' -

'Padmanabha, Vishnu's sister, having born in the same womb.  One Brahman alone attained two forms: Dharma = attributes and Dharmi = the substantive. The Dharma-twin is two fold: male and female: Male is Vishnu, the creator of the entire universe, and female is the consort of Paramashiva.  All these three, the two dharmas and the Dharmi, together is one impartite Brahman. This 'secret' of Shaiva doctrine is popular in Kurma Purana etc. This is elaborately established in that text by Sri Appayya Dikshitar.   

With this idea alone, in the Brahma Purana, in the Purushottama kshetra Mahatmyam -

She who was born as Subhadra in an earlier life to Menaa (consort of Himavaan), is born as the sister of Krishna in the womb of Devaki.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhadra      The Yoga Maya - Subhadra identity is stated here: 

//Subhadra (IAST: Subhadrā) is a character in the Mahabharata which Hindu legend ascribes to Vyasa. She is worshiped as an incarnation of Goddess Yogmaya. In the epic, she is the sister of Krishna and Balarama, wife of Arjuna and mother of Abhimanyu and grandmother of Parikshit. She is the daughter of Vasudeva and Devaki. //

The name 'NaaraayaNI' occurs in the Lalita Sahasra Nama as 298th. The above commentary says:

First giving the etymology for 'narayana' from Manu smriti and by a grammar rule that it is either Shiva or Vishnu. and the one connected to narayana is narayani. 

And goes on to give the Mahabharata etymology for the name 'narayana':

and says 'this Narayana's i.e. Paramashiva's consort is Narayani. [earlier the commentator had said the etymology after Manusmriti by a grammar rule can be either Vishnu or Shiva]. Considering the Turiya (Para Brahman) Narayana is Sripati, consort of Lakshmi, he also is Parvatipati, consort of Parvati, according to Kashikhanda (perhaps this is from the Skanda Puranam). 

It ('Narayani) could mean non-difference with Lakshmi too (that is, Parvati and Lakshmi both could be Narayani).  He cites a grammar rule applicable to masculine, that it is not by default that man-wife relation alone is meant. There is seen an example of father-daughter relationship too (for this grammar rule). By this, here, by this rule, there is the brother-sister relationship too, which means the sister of Narayana = Narayani.   One may refer to this post of mine https://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2011-March/026639.html  for more details about a name of Shiva that the commentator cites below: नारायणीसहचराय *नम: शिवाय. 

The commentary continues: Narayani can also be the non-difference between Narayana and Gowri, and goes on to cite the Kurmapurana:

Gunishiva says:

'I, the Lord, Parameshwara, am appearing manifold as Narayana and Gowri, the Jaganmaataa, sanaatani,  My true nature is not known to the gods and the maharshis. Know Me to be One, the Universal Self, Bhavani and Vishnu.'

The commentary on the name Narayani concludes with this citation from Devi Bhagavatam:

The meaning of the above is not clear to me. Also, a disclaimer: I do not know the implications of the vyakarana rules cited by the commentary above.

If the term 'Narayani', which is the primary question of this thread, is explained in other scriptural texts like the Vaishnava Pancharatra, etc. those may be provided here for a more informed understanding. While searching for some quotes in the above commentary, I realized that the commentary is available in non-pdf form too on the internet.  I have copied the above from a pdf with me. 

warm regards

subrahmanian.v 

   

 

 

[Komuraiah Poodari]

Dhanyavad, all for sharing your perspectives on my question.

Within no time, I am exposed to multiple relevant scriptures. Most importantly, the conversation helped me immensely in understanding my question.

When I started, it was a casual query.  Now I conclude my question is irrelevant. 

I will continue mediations on Lalita Sahasranama, Sri Sukta, Vishnu Sahasranama, and the sweet Telugu Bhagavatam (Potanaamatya's exposition).

I appreciate the depth and breadth of knowledge and wisdom evident in the community. I will actively stay tuned. 

Best regards, 

Komer

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