About Stories in Narada Purana

Each story in Narada Purana has a common message that of achieving spirit emancipation and ways of doing so. The religious stories are mainly related to planetary kings. It talks about various birth incarnations trailed by philosophical and dharma stories thereby leading to legends related to some pilgrimages. Thereafter comes the tales of vratas and biography of Suka

The religious stories revolve around Lord Vishnu. The tale initially is that of Lunar King Sumati .In Kreta Yuga, king Sumati of the lunar dynasty and his wife Satyamati worshipped Lord Vishnu and on every Dvadas day hoisted a flag in a Vishnu temple. Once when sage Vibhandaka visited them, Sumati narrated to him the story of his previous birth. He was a Shudra by caste, named Malini. Once, while wandering in the forest, he took shelter in a dilapidated Vishnu temple and happily lived there with Avakokila, for ten years. The merit of their stay in Vishnu temple helped them reach Vaikuntha in the end.

Then a story of two brothers Yajnamali and Sumali is narrated. They both shared their paternal property. Sumali wanted his share but as well as what he borrowed from his brother. Therefore Yajnamali was taken to Vaikuntha. Sumali was punished by Yamadutas, So, he enquired from the Vishnudutas about the ways and means which would relieve Sumali of his sins. In the end both the brothers reach heaven as Sumali also compensates for his sins.

A yajna was performed in Gautamasrama where all the Gods, Brahmanas, kings and demons had assembled. Gautama worshipped Lord Shankara in the linga on the Mt.Tryambaka; all those who were present celebrated it. Sankaratma, a devotee of Siva and the disciple of Gautama, came there and began to dance like a mad man. He ate some food from Gautama`s plate, and while taking meals, passed urine inside the room. So, Gautama placed him on the proper seat and continued his meals. Sankaratma approached Vasaparvan and started dancing. Vasaparvan cut off his head as he was furious seeing his deeds. Gautama suddenly felt heart-broken and died. Many others, present there, followed the same fate. Shiva reached Gautamasrama along with Brahma and Vishnu and revived Gautama. At Gautama`s request, Siva put a fraction of his own soul into Sankaratman`s body to make him immortal. Thereafter Sankaratma was called Hanuman. In the evening he went to the bank of a river and took the Shivalinga for offering bath, when he found it to be without pitha. Being scared he praised Shiva by reciting Rudra-mantra. He smashed it on the ground when he did not notice Shiva in front of him. Virabhadra had come there and on seeing the Shiva linga without its pitha instigated the destruction of world. The sages chanted Veda mantras to please Siva and he appeared before them. Hanuman paid tribute to Siva and he was sent to serve Ram Chandra.

Religious Stories in Narada Purana

The religious stories are followed by the philosophical stories instituting with Sage Mrikandu who meditates in Vishnu. He appeared before him and promised to be born as his son. Mrikandu married a virtuous woman. A son was born to him, who was named Markandeya. He mastered various Hindu texts. As advised by his father, he worshipped Vishnu. He was blessed and told to compose a Purana and finally achieve liberation.

King Bharata handed over his kingdom to his sons and stayed at Salagrama Mahaksetra worshipping Vishnu. One day, he while taking bath in the Ganga river saw a young deer caught in the current, when its mother, jumped on to the bank of the river hearing the roar of a lion, and died on the spot after delivery. He brought up the young deer with love. After some time Bharata passed away with his eyes on the deer and, recalling the actions of his previous birth, went to Salagrama and led the rest of his life there. By his good deeds in the previous birth, he was next born as a Brahmana He was not liked by any body which led to him wandering in a forest. King Sauvira happened to pass by the forest, who on seeing Bharata employed him as one of the carrier of palanquin. Bharata was slow in moving it; the king enquired him of this. He replied that he was not strong and he was not moving a palanquin. Bowing at his feet the king requested him to reveal his identity. Bharata explained to him and remembering his earlier actions he attained salvation.

Stories on Dharma in Narada Purana

The solar king Bahu was very haughty by character. On being defeated by his enemies, he retired to the forest with his two wives, and died there. His pregnant younger wife, wished to follow her departed husband by committing Sati, was prevented from doing so by sage Aurva. Due to the power of his austerities, sage Aurva also freed the king Bahu from all the sins and helped him seek emancipation.

There is a chapter on King Virabhadra. One day, while hunting out when he saw a dried-up tank on the peak of Saikata Mountain. He at once ordered his minister Buddhisagara to renovate the tank. Buddhisagara soon carried out the orders and the tank was made useful for all. The king, the minister and those responsible for repairing the tank attained salvation.

A section on the demon Virochana, a performer of dharma, and son of Prahlad has been elucidate. His wife Vishalakshi daily used to invite a Brahmana and worship him. After the killing of Hiranyakashyap, gods were afraid of Virochana also. They went to Vishnu and requested him to kill the devil. Vishnu approached Vishalakshi one morning in the guise of an aged Brahmin. She honoured and offered him a seat, but he never accepted it. He demanded from her a promise to fulfil his desires. She gave the promise, but he was not prepared to believe in the words of a woman. So, she called her husband and he agreed to fulfill his desires. Then Vishnu asked for their lives. Both of them gave their lives with pleasure and achieved liberty.

These Dharmika stories are followed by legends of vratas.

Stories of Vratas in Narada Purana

The stories of vratas revolve around its specialty and its fruition after its observance. The vratas include Ekadashi vrata, Dvadashi tithi, and Purnamasi tithi and so on. The observance of these vratas brings punya that is far in excess of any punya that can be obtained from the performance of famous yajnas.

King Rukmangada was Vishnu"s devotee. He strictly observed Ekadasi vrata and made all his people follow it. Consequently, nobody went to Yamaloka. Yama went with Sage Narada and informed Brahma of everything. To break his Ekadashi vrata, Brahma created Mohini, a very beautiful lady, and sends her to Mt. Mandara. One day, he reached Mt. Mandara where he saw Mohini, worshipping the Shivalinga. He was attracted by her and wished to marry her. As demanded by her, Rukmangada promised her that her desires would be fulfilled. While returning to his palace he saw a house-lizard, torn under the roof of his horse, and helped it attain Vaikuntha by parting with a portion of his merit of Sruvana Dvadaii vrata. Rukmangada`s wife Sandhyavali and son Dharmaagada received king Rukmangada and Mohini with due honour. Rukmangada enjoyed life with Mohini. One day, Mohini compelled Rukmangada to fulfil his promise of taking meal on Ekadasi day. As he was not prepared for it, she suggested another to cut off by his son Dharmangada"s head in her presence. Due to mental agony he took the sword in his hand and was about to cut off Dharmarigada`s head, when Lord Vishnu appeared and stopped him from doing so. He took Rukmangada with all his followers to Vaikuntha. When Rukmangada`s preceptor Vasu, who was practicing Yoga in water for twelve years, came out of the water and heard about Mohini"s actions, he cursed and turned her into ashes. Mohini, shed off her human body, started towards heaven, but she was pushed back and put in the hell by Vasu. Brahma, Siva and other gods requested Vasu to free her from the curse and provide her a place. Vasu allotted a place to her on Ekadah afflicted with Dasami, commanded her to move along with the rays of the Sun and the Moon. He also allotted to her the merit of Ekadashi vrata performed by others on that day. As instructed by Vasu, Mohini visited all the tirthas, worshipped gods and offered Dana to Brahmins. At last she entered the Kalindi water and never returned there from. Thenceforth she is seated on the last part of Dasami and spoils the vrata observed by people on Viddha Ekadah. Rukmangada`s in his previous birth previous birth was a Shudra. Once he met a Brahmana with whom he visited many holy places observing several vratas like Asanyasayana and Ekadasi. Consequently he was born as king Rukmangada.

On the banks of Narmada River, Bhadrasila, son of Galava, a Brahmana, worshipped Vishnu from his childhood. He also preached the greatness of Lord Vishnu and Ekadashi vrata. One day, asked by his father, he narrated the story of his previous birth thus:

In his previous birth he was a lunar king, named Dharmakirti, and ruled his country for nine thousand years. Once, while hunting he reached the banks of river Reva and observed the Ekadashi Vrata along with other people. Next day, he died and the merit of the vrata secured him a position in Vaikuntha. Subsequently, he was born in a family of the devotees of Vishnu.

There was a Brahmin woman who in order to bring her husband under her control gave him a mantric medicine secured from a nun. On consuming that medicine her husband got infected with tuberculosis. After some time, she passed away. Due to her evil deeds against her husband she had to undergo suffering and punishment in hell. Thereafter she passed her life as a house-lizard for ten thousand years on the earth and was crushed under the hoof of the horse of Rukmangada, who was returning to his palace from Mt. Mandara with Mohini. Hearing the story from the house-lizard, Rukmangada became very kind to the lizard hearing its story and helped it attain salvation by giving a portion of the merit of his Sravana Dvadasi vrata.

Stories of Tirthas in Narada Purana

The stories on tirthas in Narada Purana says about Ganga, on Kasi, Purushottamkshetra, Tryambakesvara Kshetra, Gokarnna, Lakshmanachala, Govardhana Mountain, on Siddhanatha Kshetra and few others. Here the incidents mentioned give us an idea about the importance of these places of pilgrimage and various incidents behind it being well known.

After Bahu"s death, his widows took shelter with sage Aurva. The younger was pregnant; the elder one was envious of her and poisoned her to death. Due to Sage Aurva blessings a son with poison was born to her, who was named Sagara. On coming to know the past history of his father, he decided to take revenge against the kings. He destroyed the enemies. Sagara married the daughters of king Virabhadra - Kesini and Sumati. Kesini gave birth to a son named Asamanja and Sumati to sixty thousand sons. The gods approached Kapila as they could not with stand the torture of these sons. Later on, Amsuman, the grandson of Sagara, was blessed by Kapila muni that his ancestors would attain salvation, when Bhagiratha would make Ganga flow on the earth. The grandson of Amsuman, Bhagiratha meditated on Narayana and Paramesvara and brought down Ganga.

One day, the king Saudasa was hunting. A raksasa and his wife in the guise of tigers were roaming in the forest. Saudasa took aim at the tigress and shot it dead. The raksasa vowed to take revenge. Saudasa returned to his palace heart broken. When the king performed an Asvamedhayajna, the raksasa, disguised as Vasistha, came to him and asked him to prepare some non-vegetarian food. The raksasa again assumed the form of a cook, and approached the king and managed to prepare food with human flesh. When the real sage Vashishta was offered that food he cursed the king to be born as a demon. Very soon Vashishta came to know by his heavenly insight all that had taken place. He told that the holy water of Ganga would help him gain his original form. Saudasa repented for his rudeness, poured the water on his own feet. His feet was burnt and turned dark and he was known as Kalmasapada. Saudasa, turned into a demon while wandering in the forest one day, caught hold of a sage who was sitting with his wife and ate him. So, she cursed Saudasa to die the moment he enjoyed amorous pleasures. She also cursed him to continue as demon for long. Saudasa also cursed her in return to become a raksasi as he got angry over the second curse. Once while wandering in the forest Saudasa and the Brahmin"s wife met a Brahmarakshasa called Somadatta. He was transformed into Brahmaraksasa due to the disregard shown to his teacher Gautama while performing Siva-worship. The raksasas were prevented and kept away from their attempt to hurt Ganga, and also began to realise their past. Ganga freed the raksasas of their dreadful form by sprinkling the Ganga water on them. The Brahmin woman with her child secured liberation. Saudasa returned to his palace and ruled his country with all enjoyments excepting aesthetic pleasures. He secured a son through Vashishta and achieved freedom.

Bali, the grandson of Prahlada, defeated gods and attained the status of Indra by executing numerous Asvamedha yajnas. The gods made their stay on earth in the guise of human beings. Seeing the sad plight of the gods their mother Aditi performed penance in order to please Vishnu. Vishnu appeared before her and promised that he would take birth as her son and abide by her wishes. Some time later; Vishnu was born as Vamana, the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. One day, he approached the demon king Bali. He demanded Bali for a piece of land, for performing penance. With pleasure Bali took the water pot in his hand in order to offer the land to Vamana. But he, by his divine power came to know that Sukra blocked the water flow, and with a tip of darbha grass turned into Brahmastra with the mantra took away one eye of Sukra. Then assuming his celestial form Vishnu measured the three worlds by his two steps. As no space was left for his third step he pushed Bali into Patala as a prisoner for the not fulfilling his demands. He restored the gods in the paradise and returned to Vaikuntha.

An incident related to Kasi has been unfolded here. Vishnu"s residence was Kasi. Once Lord Shiva went to meet Lord Brahma. The latter was keenly reciting the Veda. Shiva cut off the fifth face of Brahma with his nail as it looked arrogant. However, he was unable to separate Brahma`s skull from his hand. Shiva asked Vishnu for help as the sin of Brahma hatya made him anxious. Shiva made a pilgrimage, visited holy places and washed his hand in the holy tanks as per the advice of Vishnu. When he begged for alms at Badarikasrama Siva caught Vishnu"s hand while he was offering and it was pricked by his trishul. Blood flowed from Vishnu"s hand in three different flows. His sin of Brahmahatya was eased when he entered the Vishnu temple at Kasi.

King Indradyumna, devotee of Vishnu, selected Purusottamaksetra as a place for worshipping Vishnu. He raised a temple there by performing Aivamedhayajna. He could not decide whether an image of Purusottama should be made with rock, wood or minerals. While he was asleep he was instructed by Vishnu to cut off a tree from the sea-shore and make an image of Purosottama out of it. The next morning, he went to the sea-shore and cut down the tree. In the guise of Brahmin, Lord Vishnu and Vishwakarma reached there. Lord Vishwakarma made images of Krishna, Rama and Subhadra respectively. On an auspicious day the king made those images holy, and by worshipping them attained final salvation.

There occurred a drought in sage Gautama"s hermitage on the banks of Godavari. People went to Gautama and requested for food. He caused the Ganga to flow there and, producing grains. When that calamity was over, people returned to their places and Gautama continued his penance. Shiva came there, Gautama requested Siva to make him his ardent devotee and also that Shiva should remain there for ever. Siva hence settled there and the mountain became famed by the name Tryambaka. Sage Jaimini, disciple of Vyasa, visited Pundara-kapura with his students. They made an earthen Shivalinga and worshipped it. Siva appeared before them and offered boons to the sage. He requested Siva to show him tandava with his group. Siva did his tandava when Jaimini began to praise him, chanting Vedapada-Sivastuti. Thereafter, Jaimini became a member of the group of Shiva"s attendants.

There is an auspicious place called Gokarna, on western sea shore. It was submerged under water, when the earth was dug up by the sons of Sagara and the residence was shifted to the Mt. Sahya. They approached Parasurama at the Mt. Mahendra and requesting him to help them in regaining Gokarna. Parasurama went to Varuna. As wished by Parasurama, Varuna gave back Gokarna not initially but after facing his punishment. The sages occupied the place again and attained salvation. Siva and Parvati settled there with their group realising the significance of their place.

In past kalpa, Govardhana, a Brahmin, meditated upon Vishnu in Vrindavan. When offered him boons, he requested Vishnu to keep him under his feet. Then Vishnu stood upon his back, and when he could not keep Vishnu down he requested lord to be there for ever. When Vishnu took incarnation as Lord Krishna, he honoured Mt. Govardhana through worship by himself.

Then there is a story of Lord Krishna, residing in Gokula who would take incarnation as the son of Vasudeva and would go to Nanda through fear of Kansa. There he would destroy the demons like Putana and Vatsa .He would kill some other demons and would destroy the ego of Lord Brahma, Indra, Lord Varuna, the sons of Kubera and others. In Mathura, he would break the bow and would kill the elephant Kuvalaygpida, the athletes and also his uncle Kansa. He would release his parents after that from prison. Subsequently he would stay at Dwaraka. He would marry Rukmini, Satyabhama and sixteen thousand other maidens after destroying Bhaurna. He would also kill Paundraka, Sisupala, and many warriors in the battle of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He would also make the Yadavas squabble among themselves which would lead to complete devastation. He would go to Vaikuntha with his followers in the end.

The stories connected with Tirthas ends with a story on Puskara Island. There was a Brahmin residing in Puskara Island. A son was born to him. He threw the child into the sea and the child was swallowed by a fish. The child was safe in the stomach of that fish for a long period due to his good deeds in his previous birth.

One day, Lord Shiva with Parvati came to Mt. Lokaloka. He began to teach philosophical knowledge to Parvati. She could not follow them completely. Unexpectedly a fish jumped upon the peak of that mountain and a Brahmin child came out from its stomach. The child narrated to Parvati the instructions it heard from Shiva. Shiva accepted him as his son and in order to keep the world happy allowed him to move as he wished.

Philosophical Stories in Narada Purana

Philosophical stories in Narada Purana speak about Bhagavata Laksanas, knowledge of Paramatman, on Advaitajhana, on Moksadhatma, and on Vishnu bhakti. Here it has been reiterated that liberation of soul is the ultimate form of moksha. One of the stories is that of Sage Mrikandu. He meditated for the appearance of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu being pleased gave him a boon that he would be born as his son. Mrikandu married a virtuous woman who gave birth to a child who was named Markendaya. Markandeya mastered all Vedas. He worshipped Vishnu who appeared before him and blessed him that he would compose a Purana and finally attain salvation.

Another story relates about King Dharmadhvaja who had two sons, Amitadhvaja and kretadhvaja. Kesidhvaja and Khandikya were the sons Kretadhvaja and Amitadhvaja respectively. Khandikya was an intellectual of Karmakanda. He was defeated once by Kesidhvaja brought the country under his charge. Therefore Khandikya with his followers went to forest. Kesidhvaja performed many sacrifices. Once, a tiger killed his sacrificial cow. He approached his guru Kaseru, and as per his advice, went to Kunaka, looking for guidance for a proper prayaschitta or repentance. He performed a suitable prayaschitta, went again to Khandikya and offered a gift to him. He also instructed him Paramatman to Khandikya at his request.

The third philosophical story in Narada Purana deals with King Bharata. He handed over his kingdom to his sons and stayed at Salagrama Mahaksetra worshipping Vishnu. One day, he while taking bath in the Ganga river saw a young deer caught in the current, when its mother, jumped on to the bank of the river hearing the roar of a lion, and died on the spot after delivery. He brought up the young deer with love. After some time Bharata passed away with his eyes on the deer and, recalling the actions of his previous birth, went to Salagrama and led the rest of his life there. By his good deeds in the previous birth, he was next born as a Brahmin. He was not liked by any body which led to him wandering in a forest. King Sauvira happened to pass by the forest, who on seeing Bharata employed him as one of the carrier of palanquin. Bharata was slow in moving it; the king enquired him of this. He replied that he was not strong and he was not moving a palanquin. Bowing at his feet the king requested him to reveal his identity. Bharata explained to him and remembering his earlier actions he attained salvation.

Bharata also told the king a story. Many years ago Brahma had a son called Ribhu. He was well read and his disciple was Nidagha, son of Pulastya. Both Ribhu and Nidagha lived in the banks of river Devika near the city called Viranagara. One day, Ribhu paid a visit to Nidagha. He had offered his preceptor food. After taking the food Nidagha asked him whether he was satisfied with the food. Ribhu replied that there was no matter of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in eating the food, because, he does not distinguish anything. He told him that as per advaitta"s principle atman is everywhere so no use asking such baseless questions. Nidagha thereafter said that his illusions have been cleared. Except this atman there is nothing in this world and all of us are parts of the same atman.

Gulika, a hunter, was leading a corrupt life. Once he entered a Vishnu temple in the city of king Sauvira in order to rob the temple of all the gold. He attempted to kill Uttanka, a Brahmana worshipping Vishnu, but he could not hurt Uttanka. On the contrary, Gulika was reformed by Uttanka`s advice, and repentant for his actions, he died suddenly. Uttanka sprinkled on him some holy water used for bathing Vishnu by whose merit Gulika attained salvation.

Biography of Suka

Ved Vyas wished for a learned son so he performed a penance on the peak of the Mt. Mahameru. He was granted his desire as lord was pleased with him. Vyasa came across a beautiful Apsara while rubbing sticks for fire. He lost his command, his semen fell on the stick and Suka was born. Suka acquainted the knowledge of all Vedas and other religious texts. Vyasa with his son Suka practiced meditation. They heard a voice asking them to deliver the Vedas. While doing so a storm occurred. Vyasa told his son to discontinue the recitation as it was a holiday. Then he left for the Ganga. Suka was explained by Sanatkumara the sufferings faced by those living in the mortal world and also taught him the Moksha shastra. Suka left for the Mt. Kailasa. Early morning, facing the rising Sun, he went up to the sky crossed the mountain peaks, flew up. When Vyasa was not able to track Suka, he performed sacrament along with Suka. He viewed the entire planet standing in the air. As per Narayana`s directions he went to his father.

A conclusion can be drawn that these short narrations are of great implication as it stresses on the importance of moksha achievement. In fact all the stories of different sections lead to salvation attainment being the absolute motivation in life.