English
2 1 8 NA NDINI—NARA DA, NANDIXI. The cow of plenty belonging to tlie sageYasish- /lia, said to have been born of Surabhi, the cow of j^lenty that was prodnced at the churning of the ocean. NANDI-PURAiVA. See Piirawa. NAXDI>SA, :N^AXDI^'WARA. 'Lord of Nandi.' A title of ^iva. It is related in the Ramayawa that Rava?za went to the <S'ara-vana, the birthplace of Karttikeya, and on his way through the mountains he beheld " a formidable, dark, tawny-coloured dwarf called iSTandiswara, who was a follower of j\Iaha-deva, or rather that deity himself in another body. This being desired Rava?ia to halt, as /Siva was sporting in the mountain, and no one, not even a god, could pass. Ravawa asked derisively who >S'iva was, and laughed contemptuously at IsTandlswara, who had the face of a monkey, l^andiswara retorted that monkeys hav- ing the same shape as himself and of similar energy should be produced to destroy Ravawa's race. In reply to this menace, Ravawa threatened to pull up the mountain by its roots and let /S'iva know his own danger. So he threw his arms round the mountain and lifted it up, which made the hosts of AS'iva tremble and Parvati quake and cling to her husband. /S'iva then pressed down the mountain with his great toe, and crushed and held fast the arms of Rava?za, who uttered a loud cry which shook all creation. Rava?2a's friends counselled him to propitiate 6'iva, and he did so for a thousand years with hymns and weeping. /S'iva then released him, and said that his name should be Rava?ia from the cry [rdvoi) which he had uttered. The origin of this story is sufficiently manifest, it has been built up on the name Ravawa, to the glory of AS'iva, by a zealous partisan of that deity. KARA. * Man.' The original eternal man. NARAD A. A i^ishi to whom some hymns of the it/g-veda are ascribed. He is one of the Prajapatis, and also one of the seven great i^zshis. The various notices of him are somewhat inconsistent. The ^ig-veda describes him as "of the Kamva family." Another authority states that he sprang from the forehead of Brahma, and the Vish7m Purawa makes him a son of Kasyapa and one of Daksha's daughters. The Maha-bharata and some Purawas state that he frustrated the scheme which Daksha had formed for peopling the earth, and consequently incurred that patriarch's, curse to enter again the Avomb of a woman and be born. Daksha, however, relented at the solici- NARADA—NARAKA. 219 tation of Brahma, and consented that iSI^arada should be born again of Brahma and one of Daksha's daughters ; he was hence called Brahma and Deva-brahma. In some respects he bears a resemblance to Orpheus. He is the inventor of the vma (lute), and was chief of the Gandharvas or heavenly musicians. He also went down to the infernal regions (Patala), and was de- liirhted with what he saw there. In later times he is connected with the legend of Kr/sh?ia. He warned Kansa of the imminent incarnation of Vish?2u, and he afterwards became the friend and associate of K?'ish?ia. The Narada-pancha-ratra relates that Brahma advised his ^ son Narada to marry, but i^arada censured his father as a false teacher, because devotion to Ivrzsh?ia was the only true means of felicity. Brahma then cursed Narada to lead a life of sen- suality, in subjection to women, and Narada retorted the curse, condemning Brahma to lust after his OAvn daughter, and to be an object unworthy of adoration. I^arada has the appella- tions, Kali-karaka, ' strife-maker ;' Kapi-vaktra, ' monkey-faced;' Pisuna, ' messenger or spy.' Narada was also one of the great writers upon law. His text-book, called " Naradiya Dharma-5astra," has been translated into English by Dr. Jolly. NAEADA PANCHA-KATRA. A ritualistic work of the VaisliTiavas. It has been printed in the Bibliotheca Inclica. NARADA-PURAiVA, NARADlYA-PURAiVA. " Where Narada has described the duties which were observed in the B?'ihat Kalpa, that is called the l^aradiya, having 25,000 stanzas." But the only copy that AVilson analysed contained not more than 3000 stanzas. There is another work called the Brihan or Great Naradiya, but this extends only to 3500 verses. These PuraTzas, says Wilson, bear " no conformity to the defi- nition of a PuraTza ; both are sectarial and modern compilations, intended to support the doctrine of Bhakti or faith in Yishmi." They are modern compositions, possibly even of so late a date as the sixteenth or seventeenth century. One of them refers to the " killers of cows " and " contemners of the gods," meaning, no doubt, the Mohammadans, so that the passage would seem to have been written after India was in their hands. NARAKA. Hell ; a place of torture to which the souls of the wicked are sent. IManu enumerates twenty-one hells : — 220 NARAKA—NArA van a. Taniisra, Andha-tamisra, Maha-raiirava, Raiirava, Xaraka, Kala- sutra, Malia-naraka, Sanjivana, Malia-vichi, Tapana, Samprata- pana, Sanliata, Sakakola, Kuc^mala, Puti-mrittika, Lolia-.sanku, it/jisha, Panthana, ASTilmali, Asi-patra-vana, and Lolia-daraka. Other authorities vary greatly as to the numbers and names of the hells. See Vish?iu Pura?ia, ii. 214. NARAKA. An Asura, son of the Earth. In the Maha- bharata and Visli?iu Pura?ia he is said to have carried off the ear-rings of Aditi to the impregnable castle of Priig-jyotisha, but Knsh??a, at the request of the gods, went there and killed him and recovered the jewels. In the Ilari-vansa the legend differs. According to this, Naraka, king of Prag-jyotisha, was an implac- able enemy of the gods. He assumed the form of an elephant, and having carried off the daughter of Viswa-karma, he subjected her to violation. He seized the daughters of the Gandharvas, and of gods and of men, as well as the Apsarasas themselves, and had more than 16,000 women, for whom he built a splendid residence. He also appropriated to himself jewels, garments, and valuables of all sorts, and no Asura before him had ever been so horrible in his actions. I^ARA-NARAYAA^A. Two ancient itishis, sons of Dharma and Ahinsa. The names are sometimes applied to K?'ish72a and to K?*ish7ia and Arjuna. The Vamana Pura?za has a legend about them which is alluded to in the drama of Yik- ramorva^i. Their penances and austerities alarmed the gods, so Indra sent nymphs to inspire them with passion and disturb their devotions. Naraya??a took a flower and placed it on his thigh. Immediately there sprung from it a beautiful nymph whose charms far excelled those of the celestial nymphs, and made them return to heaven filled "with shame and vexation. NarayaTza sent this nymph to Indra with them, and from her having been produced from the thigh {iiru) of the sage, she was called Urvasi. NARASIXHA-AVATARA. See Avatara. NARASINHA PURAATA. See Pura?ia. NARA-VISHWANA. 'A man-devouror;' a Rakshasa or other malignant being. NARAYAA^A. i. Tlie son of Xara, the original man, and often identified or coupled with Xara. 2. The creator Brahma, who, according to jManu, was so called because the waters (nam) NARMADA—NIDHL 221 were his first ayana or place of motion. Tlie name is found for the first time in the /S'atapatha Brahma?? a. Tlie name as com- monly used applies to Vish^iii, and is that under which he was first worshipped. NARMADA. The Nerbndda river, which is esteemed holy. The personified river is variously represented as being daughter of a i?ishi named Mekala (from whom she is called Mekala and Mekala-kanya), as a daughter of the moon, as a ' mind-born daughter ' of the Somapas, and as sister of the I^agas. It was she who brought Purukutsa to the aid of the Kagas against the Gandharvas, and the grateful snake-gods made her name a charm against the venom of snakes. According to the Yishwu Pura^za, she had a son by Purukutsa who was named Trasadasyu. The Matsya Pura?ia gives Du/i-saha as the name of her husband. The Hari-vansa is inconsistent with itself. In one place it makes her wife of Purukutsa and mother of Trasadasyu ; in another it makes her the wife of Trasadasyu. She is also called Eeva and Purva-ganga, and, as a daughter of the moon, Indu-ja and Somodbhava. NASATYA. Name of one of the A.swins. It is also used in the plural for both of them. NAYA-RATNA. The nine gems : pearl, ruby, topaz, dia- mond, emerald, lapis lazuli, coral, sapphire, and one not identified called Go-meda. The nine gems of the court of Yikrama, pro- bably meaning Yikramaditya, whose era the Samvat begins in 56 B.C. A verse gives their names as Dhanwantari, Kshapa?