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Other names: Naarad, Narada

Brahmaji’s manasputra (when a son is born by the mind, not by conjunction) Narad was famous for his vision of the Vedas and his acquaintance with Yagyas. He is also said to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The most benevolent of the devtas (deities), ‘Narad' was respectfully addressed ‘Devarshi’. He is also said to be the creator of a few lines of the Rigveda. Narad is a very popular character in Hindu mythology. According to one story, he was a Gandharva (demigod) previously. Narad had received a boon to move around anywhere in all the three lokas of Swargaloka (heaven), Mrityuloka (earth, literally: "place of death") and Patalloka (nether-world). He does this to find out about the life and welfare of people. He was the first to practice Natya Yoga. He is also known as “kalahpriya” as he playfully causes quarrels amongst Gods (devas), Goddesses and people. There is a description of Narad’s quarrelling nature in many stories and many a times he used to instigate two people to fight but the important factor is that Narad always stood by justice. It was because of the nature of Narad to create fights between people, persons who do so are also called as “Naradmuni”.

Devarshi Narad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He used to carry a Veena (Indian lute) in his hand and praise Narayan and his leelas (acts). With this only, he became famous as a great devotee of Vishnu. Philosopher Narad also had a deep insight of music.

Narad was present at all important incidents in the age of Ramayan and Mahabharata. We find stories of different kings narrated by Narad in the Mahabharata. Mathura King Ugrasen’s son Kans put his sister Devaki and her husband in the jail after listening to the Akashvani (divine utterance) about his death at the hands of Devaki’s eighth child and waited for the birth of the eighth child. Narad instigated Kans to kill all of Devaki’s children. Narad’s intention was that to let Kans commit more sins, so that the pot of his sins overflows faster resulting in his doom. Thus Narad always tried to protect the devtas and do well and so he instigated Ravan that also resulted in his downfall.

It is said that once Sage Narad and a common householder entered the court of Lord Krishna almost at the same time. Lord Krishna chose to see the householder first. Now Sage Narad considered himself to be the foremost devotee of the Lord. So being passed up in favor of a common householder really hurt him. So much so that when he had an audience with the Lord, he complained about this incident. The Lord decided to teach the Sage a lesson. He handed him a pot full of 'ghee' and asked him to put it on his head and to go around the world without spilling a drop of it. This, the Sage was able to accomplish without any problem. So when he came back to the Lord after going around the world, the Lord commended him on his feat and asked him as to how many times did he chant His name during the trip. The Sage said that the Lord must be really joking for he was so busy balancing the pot of ghee that he could not afford to be distracted even for a single instant. Lord Krishna told him that the house holder had to juggle a thousand responsibilities that go with being a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a breadwinner and still found time to chant his name. Sage Narad on the other hand, had only the task of balancing a pot of ghee, and could not find time to chant His name. Therefore the householder was leading a more spiritual life than the Sage. The Sage felt humbled and recognized the greatness of a householder.

The Philosopher Narad once had became egoistic about the fact that he had won over ‘Kaam’ (desires). To break the ego of his favourite devotee, Lord Vishnu built a city wherein a Swayamvar (choice of husband in public) of a beautiful princess was going on. On hearing about the beauty and virtue of the princess, Narad was anxious to get married to her. He prayed to Vishnu to make his face very attractive like Hari (God) so that the princess will select him. Hari also means monkey so Vishnu transformed Narad’s face into a monkey face. Narad became an object of humiliation. The princess also laughed at Narad. In fact, the princess was actually Lakshmiji who made Vishnu (who was present there) wear the nuptial garland. Narad became furious when he saw his face in the mirror and cursed Vishnu that he will bear separation from his wife. He also said that the monkey form, due to which he was humiliated, will only help Vishnu when he is in trouble.

Vishnu had to bear this curse in the Treta Yug (there are four Yugas according to Hinduism- Sat Yug, Treta Yug, Dwapar Yug and KaliYug) during his incarnation as Rama. When Vishnu took birth as Rama, Ravan the King of Lanka, kidnapped his wife Sita. Then with the help of the monkeys, Rama attacked Lanka and killed Ravan and freed Sita from his custody.

‘Narad Puran’ created by Narad and the book of music is famous in the name of ‘Narad Sanhita’. Narad with his futuristic vision had said that in the Kalyug, sexual desires, enjoyment and taste will gain more importance and so the saints and gentlemen will have to restrain from the yearning of desires and enjoyment in order to stay pure.

Everyone knows Narad from his appearance of Veena in one hand and the words, “Narayan, Narayan” coming from his mouth almost in a comical manner.