In the
Vedas and the
Puranas, Narayana is described as having the divine blackish-blue color of water-filled clouds, four-armed, holding a
Padma (lotus),
Kaumodaki gada (mace),
Panchajanya shankha (conch), and
Sudarshana chakra (discus).
Hinduism in
Karnataka As stated in the epic
Itihāsa, the
Mahabharata: As per texts like the
Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Garuda Purana, and the Padma Purana, Narayana is
Vishnu himself, who incarnates in
various avatars. According to the
Bhagavad Gita, he is also the "Guru of the Universe". The Bhagavata Purana declares Narayana as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who engages in the creation of 14 worlds within the universe
Brahma who is Deity of
rajas-
guna, himself sustains, maintains and preserves the universe as
Vishnu by accepting
sattva-
guna.Narayana himself annihilates the universe at the end of
Maha-Kalpa as Kalagni
Rudra who is presiding deity of
tamas-
guna. According to the
Bhagavata Purana, Purusha Sukta, Narayana Sukta, and the
Narayana Upanishad from the
Vedas, he is the ultimate soul. According to
Madhvacharya, Narayana is one of the five
vyuhas of
Vishnu, which are cosmic emanations of God, in contrast to his incarnate
avatars. Madhvacharya separates Vishnu's manifestations into two groups: Vishnu's vyuhas (emanations) and His avataras (incarnations). The Vyuhas have their basis in the
Pancharatras, a sectarian text that was accepted as authoritative by both the
Vishishtadvaita and
Dvaita schools of
Vedanta. They are mechanisms by which the universe is ordered, was created, and evolves. Narayana possesses the
chatur-vyuha aspects of Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, who evolve one after the other in the development of the universe. In the
Mahabharata,
Krishna is also synonymous with Narayana and
Arjuna is referred to as Nara. The epic identifies them both in plural 'Krishnas', or as part incarnations of the earlier incarnations of
Vishnu, recalling their mystical identity as
Nara-Narayana. Narayana (as Krishna) is also described in the
Bhagavad Gita as having a universal form (
Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human perception or imagination. In the
Narayana Sukta, Narayana is essentially the supreme force and/or essence of all: '''Nārāyaṇa parabrahman tatvam Nārāyaṇa paraha'.'' Narayana's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is
Vaikuntha, a realm of bliss and happiness called
Paramapada, which means the final or highest place for liberated souls, where they enjoy bliss and happiness for eternity in the company of the supreme lord. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Sometimes,
Kshira Sagara, where Narayana or
Vishnu rests on
Shesha in his reclining
ananta shayana form, is also perceived as
Vaikuntha within the material universe. The
Śruti texts mention Narayana as the primordial being who was present even when
Brahma and Ishana (
Shiva) were not present. He is conceived as the Supreme Soul in the texts.
Buddhism The
Mahāsamaya Sutta (DN 20) of the
Pali Canon mentions a deity by the name
Veṇhu (Sanskrit:
Viṣṇu), though the text suggests that this name may also signify a class of deva. He also appears in the
Veṇḍu Sutta (SN 2.12) as
Veṇḍu where he addresses
Gautama Buddha by celebrating the joy experienced by those who follow the
Dhamma. He also makes brief mention of
Manu.
Mahayana Buddhism elaborates on the character of this deity, where he is often called
Nārāyaṇa (; ) or more rarely,
Narasiṃha () and
Vāsudeva (). Literature often depicts him as a
Vajradhara (). He is present in the
Womb Realm Mandala and is among the twelve guardian devas of the
Diamond Realm Mandala. He is associated with
Śrāvaṇa in esoteric astrology. His queen consort is Nārāyaṇī. He is said to have been born from
Avalokiteśvara's heart. The
Buddhas are sometimes described as having a firm vajra body like Nārāyaṇa. The
Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra describes him as having three faces with a greenish-yellow complexion. He holds a wheel in his right hand and rides upon a
garuḍa. Chapter 6 of the
Yiqiejing Yinyi explains that he belongs to the
Kāmadhātu and is venerated for the acquisition of power. Chapter 41 adds that he has eight arms that wield various "Dharma weapons" (
dharmāyudha) with which he subjugates the
asuras. He appears as an
interlocutor in several
Mahayana sutras, including the
Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra,
Sarvapuṇyasamuccayasamādhi Sūtra and the
Nārāyaṇaparipṛcchā Dhāraṇī. He is also mentioned in several places in the
Lalitavistara Sūtra, one of the
Sutras that describe the life of
Gautama Buddha. It is said that because the Buddha is "endowed with the great strength of Nārāyaṇa, he is called the great Nārāyaṇa himself." The
Chinese Manichaean manuscript
Moni Guangfo, a syncretic religious text incorporating both Buddhist and Manichaean elements, considers Nārāyaṇa () to be one of the Five Buddhas, with the other buddhas being
Zoroaster,
Śākyamuni,
Jesus, and
Mani.
Jainism Balabhadra and
Narayana are mighty half-brothers, who appear nine times in each half of the time cycles of the
Jain cosmology and jointly rule half the earth as half-chakravarti. Ultimately
Prati-naryana is killed by
Narayana for his unrighteousness and immorality. Narayana are extremely powerful and are as powerful as 2 Balabhadras. Chakravartins are as powerful as 2 Narayanas. Hence Narayanas become half-chakravartins. Tirthankaras are much more powerful than Chakravartins. In Jain
Mahabharata, there is a friendly duel between cousin brothers
Neminatha (Tirthankara) and Krishna (Naryana) in which Neminath lost to Krishna without any effort at all. There is also a story of Neminatha lifting the conch of Krishna and blowing it without any effort. The Jain
Mahabharata describes Krishna's conflict with
Jarasandha, who he kills. ==Literature==