Nārada Moha: Nārada's Pride and Māyā

Nārada Maharshi was proud after Kāmadeva could not disturb his tapas (austerity). Bhagavān Vishṇu used his māyā (power of illusion) to humble him. Nārada then gave a śāpa (a curse) that foretold the Rāmāvatāra, and Vishṇu taught him the way of devotion to Bhagavān Śiva.

The account is in the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa of the Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa, as part of Brahmā’s teaching to Nārada. The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa also tells it.

Kāmadeva fails at Himavat

Nārada Maharshi did strong tapas in the Himavat region. Indra feared that the tapas might threaten his place. He sent Manmatha (Kāmadeva) to break Nārada’s calm. Manmatha came with Rati and a whole company, and he brought spring with him. Flowers opened, cuckoos sang, the breezes became sweet, and every means of stirring desire appeared around Nārada’s āśrama.

But Manmatha was powerless. His arrows had no effect. Bhagavān Śiva himself had once done tapas at that place, and the śakti (power) of that earlier tapas of Śiva guarded the whole region. Nārada was not disturbed at all. Manmatha went back to svarga with nothing done.

Nārada thought that his own discipline had driven Manmatha away, and he became proud. He went first to Brahmaloka and then to Vishṇuloka, and told everyone of his “victory” over Kāmadeva. Bhagavān Śiva had warned Nārada to keep this matter secret, because Nārada’s pride would have to be corrected. But Nārada did not follow the warning.

Vishṇu’s māyā city and the svayaṃvara

Nārada came to Vishṇuloka and began to tell of his victory. Bhagavān Vishṇu saw that Nārada needed a lesson in humility. By his māyā, Vishṇu made a city of great beauty that was not real. A king named Śīlanidhī ruled it. The king had a daughter of rare beauty named Śrīmatī, and he had arranged a svayaṃvara (a ceremony where she would choose her husband).

Nārada saw Śrīmatī and was filled with desire to marry her. He went to Vishṇu and asked for a beautiful face, Vishṇu’s own face, so that Śrīmatī would choose him. Vishṇu agreed. But by his māyā he gave Nārada the face of a vānara (monkey) and not his own divine face. Nārada did not know this, and he went to the svayaṃvara sure that he would win Śrīmatī.

All the kings and princes were at the svayaṃvara, and the devas too. There were also two ṛshis. They were really two Rudra-gaṇas in disguise, sent by Bhagavān Śiva to see that Nārada was corrected. They pointed out Nārada’s monkey face to the people there, and the people mocked him and laughed.

Śrīmatī passed by all the suitors and put the garland on Vishṇu. Vishṇu had also come to the svayaṃvara and had shown himself in his full radiant form. He was dark-complexioned (śyāmala) and four-armed. He held the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus), and wore a yellow garment (pītāmbara). His face was like a thousand Manmathas.

Nārada’s śāpa on the two gaṇas

Nārada was shamed and full of anger. He saw his own face in water and found the monkey face. He also knew the two disguised ṛshis who had pointed him out for mockery. In his anger, Nārada gave them a śāpa: “You mocked me while disguised as ṛshis. In your next birth you will be born as rākshasas, and Vishṇu himself will kill you.”

The two were Rudra-gaṇas in disguise. The śāpa bound them to birth as rākshasas.

As the words left his lips, the māyā began to withdraw. The illusory city, the king Śīlanidhī and the svayaṃvara all dissolved, as if they had never been.

Nārada’s śāpa on Vishṇu: the Rāmāvatāra foretold

Nārada’s anger then turned on Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. He faced him and gave his śāpa: “You deceived me and caused my shame by your māyā. So you will be born as a human being in a future yuga. You will be separated from your wife. And you will need the help of vānaras to get her back.”

This śāpa, spoken in anger, is known in the Purāṇic tradition as the seed of the Rāmāvatāra. When Bhagavān Vishṇu was born as Rāma, Sītādevī was taken away by Rāvaṇa, and the army of vānaras led by Hanumān became Rāma’s allies in getting her back.

Bhagavān Śiva then fully withdrew his māyā from Nārada. The whole episode, the city, Śīlanidhī and Śrīmatī, was seen as a divine play (līlā). It was meant to humble Nārada and to teach him that pride, even the pride of one who does tapas, is the greatest block on the way to moksha. Nārada’s anger passed. He understood what had happened, and he was sorry that he had given a śāpa to Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Vishṇu teaches Śiva bhakti

After Nārada was sorry, Bhagavān Vishṇu received him kindly and taught him the highest path. Vishṇu said that the whole trial had come from the māyā of Bhagavān Śiva, which deludes even Brahmā and Vishṇu. The only way past māyā is true devotion to Parameśvara Śiva.

Vishṇu taught Nārada four practices of Śiva bhakti (devotion):

Śiva-nāma. Say the names of Bhagavān Śiva again and again. This is the easiest path to moksha.
Bhasma-dhāraṇa. Wear the sacred ash (vibhūti). It is the mark of the grace of Bhagavān Śiva and it cleans body and mind.
Rudrāksha. Wear rudrāksha beads, which are the tears of Bhagavān Śiva himself and carry his protecting power.
Kāśī-yātrā. Go on pilgrimage to Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) and have darśana of Viśveśvara, Bhagavān Śiva as lord of all, in his highest kshetra (sacred place).

Vishṇu said that one who comes to Bhagavān Śiva by any of these, even without deep understanding, crosses the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).

The account in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells the same episode as one of the causes of the Rāmāvatāra. Bhagavān Śiva tells it to Pārvatī. The main events are the same as in the Śiva Purāṇa. Nārada does tapas on the banks in the Himavat. Manmatha fails to disturb him. Nārada boasts first to Bhagavān Śiva, who wisely tells him to say nothing to Nārāyaṇa, and then to Nārāyaṇa himself. Nārāyaṇa makes the māyā city by his power of illusion (māyā-naṭī). Some details are different:

The king’s name is Śīlanidhi, and his daughter is Viśvamohinī. She is not called Śrīmatī.
Nārada goes to Nārāyaṇa and asks plainly for the form of Vishṇu himself (hariṃrūpa), so that Viśvamohinī will choose him. Nārāyaṇa agrees with a smile and gives his “blessing”, but by māyā he gives Nārada a monkey face.
Nārada comes to the svayaṃvara. To Viśvamohinī’s eyes he looks like a monkey, and to his own eyes he looks like Vishṇu. Two attendants of Bhagavān Śiva, in the assembly in the disguise of brāhmaṇas, mock Nārada’s “face of Hari.”
Viśvamohinī puts the garland on Nārāyaṇa himself, who sat in the assembly in the form of a prince, and the two go away together.
The attendants of Bhagavān Śiva tell Nārada to look at his face in water, and he finds the monkey face. In his anger he gives a śāpa that the two attendants of Bhagavān Śiva will be born as rākshasas. In the Tulasī account this śāpa is the origin of Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa. Bhagavān Śiva says: “Because of Nārada’s śāpa, my two attendants were born again as Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa.”
Nārada then faces Nārāyaṇa and gives a threefold śāpa. First: “You took birth as a prince to deceive me. Be born on earth in that very form.” Second: “I was kept from Viśvamohinī, so you too will suffer the loss of your wife (bhāryā-viyoga).” Third: “You gave me a monkey face, so in the end you will have to take shelter with monkeys (vānaras).”
Nārāyaṇa smiles gently. The māyā ends at once. Nārada sees Nārāyaṇa in his true form and is sorry.
Nārāyaṇa comforts Nārada and teaches him: “Say the name of Bhagavān Śiva 101 times. That alone will give you peace of mind. Know that when anyone receives the grace of Śaṅkara, I become subject to him.”

Sources

Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2 (Kāmadeva’s failure at Himavat, Nārada’s pride)
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 3 (the māyā city and svayaṃvara, Nārada’s śāpa on the two gaṇas)
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4 (Nārada’s śāpa on Vishṇu, Vishṇu’s teaching on Śiva bhakti)
Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Nārada Moha; Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta