Mokshadharma Parva — The names of Nraryana

O Holy One, you should tell me the meanings of those various names uttering which the great Rishi Vyasa with his disciples sang the praises of the illustrious killer of Madhu. I wish to hear those names of Hari, that Supreme Lord of all creatures. Indeed, by hearing of those names, I shall be sanctified and cleansed like the bright autumnal moon.

Vaishampayana said, Listen, O king, to what the meanings are of the various names, due to attributes and acts, of Hari as the powerful Hari himself of cheerful soul explained them to Phalguna.

That killer of hostile heroes, viz., Phalguna, had at one time asked Keshava, enquiring after the meanings of the some of the names by which the great Keshava is worshipped.

O Holy One, O supreme ordainer of the Past and the Future, O Creator of all Beings, O Immutable one, O Refuge of all the worlds, O Lord of the universe, O Remover of the fears of all persons.

I wish to hear from you in detail, O Keshava, the meanings of all those names of yours, O God, which have been mentioned by the great Rishis in the Vedas and the Puranas on account of various acts of yours! None else than you, O Lord, is capable to explain the mcanings of those names.

The Holy One said, In the Rigveda, in the Yajurveda, in the Atharvans and the Samans, in the Puranas and the Upanishads, as also in the works on Astrology, O Arjuna, in the Sankhya treatises, in the Yoga Scriptures, and in the treatises also on the Science of Life, many are the names that have been mentioned by the great Rishis. Some of those names refer to my attributes and some of them refer to my deeds. Do you hear, with rapt attention, O Sinless One, what the meaning is of each of those names referring to my acts.

As I recite them to you. It is said that in days of yore you formed half my body. Salutations to Him of great glory. Him, viz., that is the Supreme Soul of all embodied creatures.

Salutations to Narayana, to Him that is at one with the universe, to .Him who is above the three qualities, to Him, that is again, the Soul of those qualities. From His grace has originated Brahman, and from His anger has arisen Rudra.

He is the source whence have originated all mobile and immobile creatures. O foremost of all persons gifted with Sattva (Goodness), the attribute of Sattva consists of eighteen qualities. That attribute is Supreme Nature having for her soul the Sky and Earth and succeeding by her creative forces in keeping up the universe.

That Nature is at one with the fruit of all acts. She is also the pure Chit. She is immortal, and invincible, and is called the Soul of the universe. From her proceed all the changes of both Creation and Destruction,

Divested of sex, She or He is the penances that people practise. He is both the sacrifice that is performed and the sacrificer who celebrates the sacrifice. He is the ancient and the infinite Purusha. He is otherwise called Aniruddha and is the source of the Creation and the Destruction of the universe.

When Brahmana's night was passed, through the grace of that Being of great energy, a lotus made its appearance first, you having eyes like lotus petals.

Within that lotus was born Brahman, originating from Aniruddha's grace. Towards the evening of Brahman's day, Aniruddha became filled with anger, and as a consequence of this, there originated from his forehead a son called Rudra gifted with the power of destroying everything. These two, viz., Brahman and Rudra, are the foremost of all the gods, having originated respectively from the Cheerfulness and the Anger (of Aniruddha).

Acting according to Aniruddha's directions, these two gods Create and Destroy. Although capable of granting boons to all creatures, they are, however, in their own work, (viz., Creation and Destruction), merely instruments in the hands of Aniruddha.

Rudra is otherwise called Kaparddin. He has matted locks on his head, some times shows a bald head. He loves to live in the midst of crematoriums which form his home. He practises the austerest vows. He is a Yogin of mighty power and energy.

He is the destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice and the tearer of Bhaga's eyes. O son of Pandu, Rudra should be known to have always Narayana for his Soul.

If that god of gods, viz., Mahesvara, be adored, then, O Partha, is the powerful Narayana also adored.

I am the Soul, O son of Pandu, of all the worlds, of all the universe. Rudra again, is my Soul. It is for this that I always worship him.

If I do not worship the auspicious and boon-giving Ishana, nobody would then worship my own self.

The ordinances I set are followed by all the worlds. Those ordinances should always be worshipped, and it is, therefore, that I worship them.

He who knows Rudra knows myself, and he who knows myself, knows Rudra. He who follows Rudra follows me. Rudra is Narayana. Both are one; and one is shown in two different forms.

Rudra and Narayana, forming one person, pervade all displayed things and cause them to act. No one else than Rudra is capable to grant me a boon, O son of Pandu.

Having settled this in my mind, I worshipped in days of yore the ancient and powerful Rudra, for getting the boon of a son. In worshipping Rudra thus, I worshipped my own self.

Vishnu never bows his head to any god except his own self. It is therefore that I worship Rudra.

All the gods, including Brahman and Indra and the gods and the great Rishis, worship Narayana, that foremost of gods, otherwise called by the name of Hari.

Vishnu is the foremost of all Beings past, present, or future, and as such should always be worshipped with respect.

Do you bow your head to Vishnu. Do you bow your head to Him who gives protection to all. Do you bow,, O son of Kunti, to that great boon-giving god, that foremost of gods, who eats the offerings made to him in sacrifices.

I have heard that there are four kinds of worshippers. Among them all, they that are devoted to me wholly and do not worship any other god, are the foremost. I am the end they seek, and though engaged in deeds, they never seek the fruits thereof.

The three remaining classes of my worshippers are those who seek the fruits of their acts. They acquire regions of great happiness, but then they have to drop down therefrom upon the exhaustion of their merits. Those amongst my worshippers, therefore, who are fully awakened obtain what is foremost.

Those who are awakened and whose conduct shows such enlightenment, may be engaged in worshipping Brahman or Mahadeva or the other gods who live in heaven, but they succeed at least in getting to myself.

I have thus told you, O Partha, what the destinations are between my worshippers. Yourself, O son of Kunti, and myself are known as Nara and Narayana. Both of us have taken human bodies only for the purpose of lightening the load of the Earth.

I know the different sorts of Yoga that rest on the Soul. I know who I am and whence I am, O Bharata. I know the Religion of Renunciation, and all that contributes to the prosperity of creatures.

Eternal as I am, I am the one sole Refuge of all men. The waters have been called by the name of Nara, for they originated from Him called Nara. And since the waters, in former times, were my refuge, I am, therefore, called by the name of Narayana.

Taking the form of the Sun I cover the universe, with my rays. And because I am the home of all creatures, therefore, am I called by the name of Vasudeva.

I am the end of all creatures and their father, O Bharata. I pervade the entire sky and the Earth. O Partha. and my splendour transcends every other splendour.

I am He, O Bharata, whom all creatures wish to attain to at the end. And because I overwhelm all the universe, I am called by the name of Vishnu.

Desirous of acquiring success through control of their senses, people seek to obtain to me who am heaven and Earth and the sky between the two. For this am I called Damodara.

The word Prishni includes food, the Vedas, water, and nectar. These four are always in my stomach. Hence am I called Prishnigarbha.

The Rishis have said that once on a time when the Rishi Trita was thrown into a well by Ekata and Dvita, the distressed Trita invoked me, saying,-O Prishnigarbha, do you save the fallen Trita.

That foremost of Rishis, viz., Trita, the spiritual son of Brahma, having called on me thus, was saved from the pit.

The rays that come out of the Sun who gives heat to the world, from the blazing fire, and from the Moon, form my hair. Hence do foremost of learned Brahmanas call me by the name of Keshava.

The great Utathya having impregnated his wife disappeared from her side through an illusion of the gods. The younger brother Brihaspati then appeared before that great one's wife.

To that foremost of Rishis who had gone there for holding sexual intercourse, the child in the womb of Utathya's wife, O son of Kunti, whose body had already been formed to the five principal elements, said,-O giver of boons, I have already entered into this womb. You should not attack my mother!-Hearing these words of the unborn child, Brihaspati became filled with anger and imprecated a curse on him, saying,-Since you obstruct me thus when I have come there from desire of the pleasures of sexual union, therefore shall you, through my curse, be visited by blindness.

Through this curse of the foremost of Rishis, the child of Utathya was born blind and remained so for a long time. It was, therefore, that that Rishi, in days of yore, passed by the name of Dirghatamas.

He, however, acquired the four Vedas with their eternal limbs and subsidiary parts. After that-he frequently invoked me by this secret name of mine. Indeed, according to the ordinance as laid down he repeatedly called me by the name of Keshava.

Through the merit he acquired by uttering this name repeatedly, he became cured of his blindness and then passed by the name of Gotama.

This name of mine, therefore, O Arjuna, is productive of boons to them who utter it among all the gods and the great Rishis.

The god of fire and Soma, blending together, become transfused into one and the same substance. It is, therefore, that the entire universe of mobile and immobile creatures is said to be pervaded by those two gods.

In the Puranas, Agni and Soma are spoken of at possessing natures that had one and the same result. The gods also are said to have Agni for their mouth. It is on account of these two beings gifted with natures leading to the same result that they are said to be deserving of each other and upholders of the universe."