Narratives from the Nārada Purāṇa
The Nārada Purāṇa holds many narratives. The pages below retell them one by one in simple English, each with the chapters it comes from.
King Bāhu falls through pride, his son Sagara is born with poison, and Bhagīratha later brings Gaṅgā down to free Sagara's sixty thousand sons.
Bhādraśīla and EkādaśīGālava Maharshi's son Bhādraśīla remembers his past life as King Dharmakīrti, who was freed by one Ekādaśī fast kept without knowing it.
Bhagīratha's Tapas in the Nārada PurāṇaBhagīratha learns the Vishṇu mantras from Bhṛgu, does sixty thousand years of tapas at Nādeśvara, and Śiva bears Gaṅgā's fall.
Bhṛgu and Bharadvāja on the ĀtmanBharadvāja argues that the self is only the body; Bhṛgu answers that the ātman is distinct, and teaches the five kośas.
Bṛhad-upākhyānaKing Janaka of Mithilā receives teaching on moksha from Pañcaśikha, a master of Sāṃkhya, in the long account told by Sānandana to Nārada.
Godhā MokshaA godhā (monitor lizard) falls on King Rukmāṅgada's feet on Ekādaśī and is freed from a cursed birth as a brāhmaṇa.
Saudāsa and KalmāshapādaKing Saudāsa is tricked by a rākshasa, receives Vasishṭha's śāpa, lives twelve years as a man-eater, and is freed by one drop of Gaṅgā water.
Kāshṭhīlā and Māgha SnānaQueen Sandhyāvalī meets Kāshṭhīlā near the Gaṅgā and hears why the pre-dawn bath in the month of Māgha is the sovereign way to liberation.
Birth of MārkaṇḍeyaMṛkaṇḍu Maharshi's ten thousand years of tapas win Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa's promise to be born as his son, the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya.
Pativratā UpākhyānaA devoted wife turns back the messengers of Yamadharmarāja with the strength of her unbroken Ekādaśī vratas, and her husband's life is extended.
Rukmāṅgada and MohinīKing Rukmāṅgada keeps the Ekādaśī vrata without a break, even when Mohinī, sent by Brahmā, asks him to kill his own son on Ekādaśī.
Śuka and JanakaŚuka Maharshi goes to King Janaka in Mithilā to learn the path of moksha, and Janaka teaches him the āśramas, jñāna, the guru and liberation.
Sumati and MālinīKing Sumati and Queen Satyamatī were saved in a past life by a ruined Vishṇu temple, and now keep a flag and a dance for Hari.
Vāmana and the Origin of Gaṅgā in the Nārada PurāṇaThe Nārada Purāṇa tells how Bali won the three worlds, Aditi's tapas brought Vāmana, and Gaṅgā rose from the water that touched Vishṇu's foot.
Vedamāli, Yajñamāli and SumāliA brāhmaṇa's two sons take opposite paths, yet both reach Vishṇu-loka because one cleaned a Vishṇu temple's threshold in an earlier life.