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It is said that Vyasa is the Jnana Avatar of Vishnu Bhagawan. Narada is said to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu. How far is this true?

Keshav Srinivasan
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Janaki
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2 Answers2

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Yes, they are incarnations of Vishnu. This chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam lists 22 of the countless incarnations Vishnu has taken, and in particular it says this:

In the millennium of the ṛṣis, the Personality of Godhead accepted the third empowered incarnation in the form of Devarṣi Nārada, who is a great sage among the demigods. He collected expositions of the Vedas which deal with devotional service and which inspire nonfruitive action....

Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Śrī Vyāsadeva appeared in the womb of Satyavatī through Parāśara Muni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were less intelligent.

By the way, Vyasa isn't the only one who has ever divided the Vedas; see my answer here.

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Keshav Srinivasan
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  • Huh. The same answer! :p – Surya Nov 06 '15 at 15:53
  • @Surya Haha yeah, you posted three seconds after I posted :-) – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 06 '15 at 15:56
  • @KeshavSrinivasan what's the main purpose of Narada avatar? – The Destroyer Nov 06 '15 at 16:35
  • @AnilKumar Well, I'm not sure what the "main" purpose was, but what the Srimad Bhagavatam discusses is the important role he played in spreading the Pancharatra texts (which I discuss here). But of course the other thing he's famous for is inciting a lot of important incidents. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 06 '15 at 16:49
  • @KeshavSrinivasan Thanks. Yeah Narada is famous for his mischievous acts. But how come an avatar of Vishnu becomes devotee of Vishnu? – The Destroyer Nov 06 '15 at 17:00
  • Well, Narada is only a partial incarnation of Vishnu, so it's not surprising that he would worship Vishnu. Vyasa also worshipped Vishnu. And it's not just partial incarnations who worship Vishnu. Nara and Narayana worship Vishnu; see chapter 335 of the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c034.htm By the way, I recommend that you (and everyone else) read chapters 335-352 of the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. It's called the Narayaniya section, and I've posted lots of questIons about it: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/search?q=Narayaniya – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 06 '15 at 17:50
  • @KeshavSrinivasan Thanks. I will read it. My other doubt, how Narada is son of Brahma? – The Destroyer Nov 07 '15 at 10:58
  • @Anil What do you mean how? His birth is described in this chapter of the aero ad Bhagavatam: http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/3/12/chapter-view "Brahmā, who was empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thought of generating living entities and begot ten sons for the extension of the generations. Marīci, Atri, Aṅgirā, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, Dakṣa, and the tenth son, Nārada, were thus born. Nārada was born from the deliberation of Brahmā, which is the best part of the body." – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 07 '15 at 13:42
  • @KeshavSrinivasan Bhagavata purana talks about Narada being a gandharva who insulted prajapatis and cursed to take birth as Sudra , who then self realized to have spiritual form of narada. If that is the case , how can he become partial incarnation of vishnu ? – tekkk Nov 11 '15 at 17:54
  • @sysinit Actually he was initially the son of Brahma in an earlier Mahakalpa, then he was cursed to become a Gandharva, then he became the son of a maid, then he returned to his original form. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 17:56
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    @sysinit In any case, it is possible for an ordinary Jiva to become a partial incarnation; in fact Vyasa's previous birth was a sage named Apantaratamas, who was an ordinary Jiva. Apantaratamas compiled the Vedas in the Swaymbhuva Manvantara, and Vishnu was so pleased that he gave Apantaratamas the boon that he would be reborn as a partial incarnation of Vishnu. What that means is that the soul of Vyasa was a sort of like a combination of Apantaratamas' soul and Vishnu. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 18:00
  • Thats very very interesting . Thanks for the answer . Could you please give me quote on Narada being son of brahma in earlier mahakalpa? Who was brahma then? Also i would like to know where did you get reference for Sage Apantaratamas becoming Vyasa – tekkk Nov 11 '15 at 18:16
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    @sysinit I can try to find the Narada reference for you. As far as who the Brahma would have been, chapter 339 of the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata lists some previous Brahmas: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c038.htm And the story of Apantaratamas is told in chapter 350 of the Shanti Parva: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c049.htm. By the way, both chapter 339 and chapter 350 are part of a very important section called the Narayaniya section, which goes from chapter 335-352: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c034.htm I highly recommend you (and everyone else) read it. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 18:26
  • @sysinit The Narayaniya section of the Shanti Parva is the oldest Pancharatra text we have, so it's foundational for Vaishnavism. For more information on Pancharatra, see my answer here: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/6896/36 – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 11 '15 at 18:28
  • Thanks Again . But I have gone through first link completely. Sorry to say that , I couldn't see any references of previous brahmas. In the second link on Apantaratamas, I got this quote "I have thus told you, my dear disciples, the circumstances, of my own former birth which was due to the grace of Narayana in so much that I was a very portion of Narayana himself." . Did it mean that even older avatar was a portion of narayana? – tekkk Nov 13 '15 at 05:58
  • Thanks for recommendation on Narayaniya . I will definitely go through it – tekkk Nov 13 '15 at 05:59
  • @sysinit Sorry, the previous Brahmas thing is in chapted 349, not 339: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c048.htm The "I was a very portion of Narayana himself" in this context doesn't mean that he was a partial incarnation of Vishnu, but rather that he was the son of Vishnu. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 13 '15 at 06:15
  • @sysinit By the way, since you're interested in Hindu timescales, you may be interested in my question here about future Mahayugas: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/9454/36 – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 13 '15 at 06:20
  • @KeshavSrinivasan If I am not mistaken , in the link you have provided , they talk about brahma's different birth in different kalpa, but don't talk about previous brahmas. – tekkk Nov 13 '15 at 07:32
  • @sysinit When that chapter says "Kalpa" it means Mahakalpa. There is only one birth of Brahma per Mahakalpa - we are living in the Mahakalpa where Brahma was born from a lotus flower emerging from Vishnu's navel. Those other Mahakalpas are when previous Brahmas were born from other body parts of Vishnu. – Keshav Srinivasan Nov 13 '15 at 08:39
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Yes, in the Bhagavatam, 1st Canto, 3rd Chapter, there is a list of avataras of Vishnu:

Verse 8: In the millennium of the ṛṣis, the Personality of Godhead accepted the third empowered incarnation in the form of Devarṣi Nārada, who is a great sage among the demigods. He collected expositions of the Vedas which deal with devotional service and which inspire nonfruitive action.

And then,

Verse 21: Thereafter, in the seventeenth incarnation of Godhead, Śrī Vyāsadeva appeared in the womb of Satyavatī through Parāśara Muni, and he divided the one Veda into several branches and subbranches, seeing that the people in general were less intelligent.

Surya
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