Nārada’s Marriage and Liberation
After Bhagavān Kṛshṇa went up to Goloka, Nārāyaṇa Muni told Nārada something about his own karma (past action) that he did not expect. One of Nārada’s fifty wives from his earlier life as the gandharva Upabarshaṇa had done hard tapas and won a blessing from Śiva. She would marry Nārada in her next birth. That woman was now the daughter of King Sṛñjaya. Nārada married her, with Brahmā himself presiding. Sanatkumāra then gave Nārada the two-syllable Kṛshṇa mantra, and Śiva taught him its line of teachers and its preparation. Nārada did the japa, left his wife through yoga, merged his prāṇas (life-breaths) into the lotus feet of Hari, and reached moksha (liberation).
Nārada’s karma from his earlier life (Chapter 130)
After Kṛshṇa went up to Goloka, Nārada told Nārāyaṇa Muni that he had heard everything and that nothing was left undone. He said he would go to the Himālaya for tapas. Nārāyaṇa stopped him with this news:
“In your earlier life as Upabarshaṇa the gandharva, you had fifty wives. One of them, more devoted than the rest, did hard tapas to Śaṅkara and won a blessing. In her next birth she would marry you, Nārada, the son of Brahmā. That woman has been born again as the daughter of King Sṛñjaya. She is a great tapasvinī (woman of tapas) and wholly devoted to Vishṇu. This karma must be fulfilled before you can go to the Himālaya.”
Nārada is an eternal renunciant, and he was taken aback. But he knew that karma cannot be set aside, even by the greatest ṛshis, and he agreed.
The wedding (Chapter 130)
Brahmā himself came down in a splendid jewelled vimāna (flying chariot), with the devas, and travelled to the palace of King Sṛñjaya. Sṛñjaya was overwhelmed that the creator himself had come, and he received them with every honour. The wedding was performed with full Vedic rites.
Sṛñjaya wept at parting from his daughter. Brahmā comforted him and explained why the event had to be.
Nārada took Sṛñjaya’s daughter as his wife, honouring the karma that had been laid down. She was a devoted and gifted woman, a tapasvinī who had earned this union by her own puṇya (merit).
Sanatkumāra and the Kṛshṇa mantra (Chapter 130)
After the wedding, at Brahmā’s court in svarga, Sanatkumāra appeared in his eternal form, a boy of five years, without clothes, perfectly calm, shining with the light of Brahman. This ṛshi is one of the four Kumāras, born directly from Brahmā’s mind. He came to Nārada and gave him a gift of the highest worth.
The gift was the Kṛshṇa dvi-akshara mantra, the two-syllable mantra “Kṛsh-ṇa”. It is the highest of all mantras, the seed and the sum of all spiritual practice.
Sanatkumāra also gave Nārada a clear teaching: “This marriage is the fulfilment of karma. Honour it. But do not be held by it. Your true nature is that of a renunciant. Go to Bhāratavarsha, do the japa of this mantra, and reach liberation. This wife is bound by māyā (illusion), and she is the last link in your chain. Cut it through yoga.”
Śiva teaches the line of the mantra (Chapter 130)
Nārada met Śiva on the bank of the river Kṛtamālā. Śiva told him the sacred line of teachers (paramparā) of the Kṛshṇa dvi-akshara mantra:
“Kṛshṇa himself gave this mantra to me, in the rāsamaṇḍala (circle of the rāsa dance) of Goloka. From me it went to Brahmā. Brahmā gave it to Dharma. Dharma gave it to Nārāyaṇa ṛshi. Nārāyaṇa ṛshi gave it to you through Sanatkumāra. So you are the fifth link in this chain. In time, pass it to Sūtamahārshi, who will give it to the Śaunakādi ṛshis at Naimisharaṇya.”
Śiva also taught Nārada the puraścaraṇa (the practice done first) for this mantra. Five lakh japa (five hundred thousand) must be finished before the mantra’s full power is awakened. The japa should be done with a saṅkalpa (a stated aim), in a sacred place, and by the rules of śauca (purity), āhāra-niyama (rules of food) and brahmacarya (self-control).
Nārada’s liberation (Chapter 130)
As Śiva taught him, Nārada finished the five lakh japa of the Kṛshṇa mantra. When the puraścaraṇa was complete, the full śakti (power) of the mantra rose in him. By the power of yoga and the grace of the mantra, Nārada drew himself back from every earthly tie. He left his wife by yogic renunciation. He merged his prāṇas into the lotus feet of Hari and reached liberation. He crossed the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) that had held him through what remained of his earlier life as Upabarshaṇa.
Nārada had heard the whole Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa from Nārāyaṇa Muni, and through this same knowledge he finished his own journey.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 130