Rudra Nārāyaṇa Darśana

This account is from Chapter 73 of the Varāha Purāṇa. Before creation began, Brahmā told Rudra to do the work of creating. Rudra did not know how to go about it, so he dived into the primordial waters and meditated. There he saw Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa sleeping in yoga-nidrā (yogic sleep), sang a stuti (hymn of praise) to him, and was given the vara (boon) of knowing all things. Bhagavān Varāha tells this account to Bhūdevī.

Rudra in the primordial waters

Brahmā had told Rudra to take up the work of creation. Rudra felt unsure and could not see the way of sṛshṭi (creation). He sank into the primordial jala (water), the great waters that existed before anything appeared. There, with undivided mind, he meditated on the Paramātmā in his tiny form (aṇu-rūpa), the Purusha no larger than a thumb, the Ananta who fills all things yet cannot be seen by a mind that is not pure.

After a moment of deep meditation (dhyāna), eleven shining purushas rose blazing out of the waters. Their heat scorched the waters around them. Rudra called to them: “Who are you? Where do you go? Tell me!” But those purushas passed by in silence.

The vision of Nārāyaṇa

Behind those eleven rose one Mahā-purusha. He was the colour of clouds, with eyes wide as lotuses, and very beautiful. Rudra asked him also: “Who are you? Who were those who passed? What is your work here?”

The Mahā-purusha answered: “I am Nārāyaṇa, the one who sleeps in the waters. I am sanātana (eternal). Those who went before you are the Ādityās. They arise because Brahmā thought of them, and they go out to sustain creation. Know that the twelfth among them, who carries my aṃśa (part), will come down to earth with the name Vishṇu. And he, O Śaṅkara, will honour you in every manvantara.”

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa then gave Rudra divya-cakshus, divine sight. With that sight Rudra saw the whole form: a being of endless brilliance, with a thousand arms and a thousand rays. In his navel was the lotus, and in the lotus was Brahmā. Rudra saw even himself within that body. The creation, keeping and dissolution of the three worlds (sṛshṭi-sthiti-laya) were all held in that one form.

Rudra’s stuti

Deeply moved, Rudra made a great stuti. The key verses carry what he saw within:

O Deva who takes away the distress (ārti) of all the worlds! O Śambhu! Your fierce brilliance is greater than a thousand suns and winds. You hold all vidyās (knowledge). You bear the cakra. You receive the stutis of all the devas. You are always without pāpa. Namaskāra to you!

O Deva! You have no beginning. You have no end. Śesha himself is your crown. Prabhu Nārāyaṇa! Master of all (Sarva-pati)! Master of the world (Jagat-pati)! Master of Bhuvaḥ (Bhuvaḥ-pati)! Master of the worlds (Bhuvana-pati)! Namaskāra to you always!

O Nārāyaṇa, O Master of the waters (Jala-prabhu)! You are the good (śubha) of all the worlds. You are the bearer of this Bhūmi. You are Viśveśvara. You are the eye through which this world sees. You yourself are Candra, Sūrya, Acyuta and Vīra. You fill the whole universe. Your form is beyond thought. Your form is the nectar of immortality (amṛta). You are avyaya, without decay!

O Viśvatomukha! O Amṛta! O Avyaya! O Acyuta! I have always taken refuge in you. Protect me!

Those who wander in the wheel of saṃsāra, and those who are made pure by knowledge (jñāna) and walk the true path (sat-mārga), all of them, O Ādi-deva, O Deva-deva, honour you in one place. What shall I say of you?

One who knows you as the one being beyond Prakṛti is the first of the knowers. Your guṇas cannot be divided and shown among them. Such is your vast form, such is your most subtle form!

O Prabhu Nārāyaṇa! He in whose heart samādhi has arisen, whose buddhi (intellect) is perfectly pure, whose manas (mind) holds no thought other than feeling for you, in that heart you always dwell. Namaskāra to you, who dwell in all things. Where then is any place apart from you?

The boon

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa was pleased with the stuti. He spoke in a voice deep as thunder-clouds: “O Deva! O Umāpati! May you be blessed. Ask a vara. Between us two there is no difference. We are one.”

Rudra asked: “Brahmā has told me to create prajā (beings). Give me the knowledge of the threefold nature of all bhūtas (beings), so that I can do this work.” Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at once gave him sarvajñatva, knowing all things.

Rudra asked for one more vara: “O Deva-deva, carry me. Bear me upon yourself, so that I may become the first among the devas.” In answer, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa freely took the form of a great cloud and lifted Maheśvara out of the primordial waters. He carried him for a hundred years. He also made an Āditya who bears his own aṃśa, who would come down to earth as Vishṇu and honour Śaṅkara in each avatāra (descent). Then, like a sound vanishing into space, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa dissolved into the unseen.

The unity of the Trimūrti

Bhagavān Varāha, who tells this account to Bhūdevī, states its meaning plainly. Nārāyaṇa alone is the Parama-deva. From him came four-faced Brahmā, and from Brahmā came Rudra. This is not a ladder of separate beings. It is one Brahman showing itself as three forms of the guṇas. Sattva is the principle that belongs to Nārāyaṇa. Rajas belongs to Brahmā. Tamas, together with rajas, gives rise to Rudra’s domain.

Those who see a difference among the Trimūrti fall into moha and gain adharma. Those who see their unity through viveka-buddhi (the intellect that discerns) reach moksha.

He says: “Nārāyaṇa, Śiva, Vishṇu, Śaṅkara, Purushottama: all these names speak of the one eternal Para-brahma. The wise call this dhyāna-maya-yoga.”

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 73 (Adhyāya 73)