Narayana Upanishad
- Topic: Essence of the Vedas
- Interlocutors: None
RIG VEDA
Note: This text takes a Vaishnava perspective. In this sub-tradition, Narayana is synonymous with "God".
- Narayana willed: Let me create beings. Note: This is a reference to the Formless Divine.
- From Narayana arose
- Prana or Life Force.
- Then came the mind (awareness) and the senses. Here: Narayana is termed Purusha or Supreme Being; a reference to the Divine in Form.
- Then arose space, air, light (fire), water, and earthy matter.
- Then came all the deities, Devas (nobles), and other forms.
- From Narayana arose all wisdom. For He is the one who creates, sustains, and dissolves all.
- Those who understand this (cosmology) have mastered the essence of the Rig Veda.
YAJUR VEDA
- Narayana is
- The Eternal, as well as all the Divine Forms.
- Time and all spatial orientations.
- The External and Internal (Divine).
- Whatever has existed and will exist is Narayana.
- Stainless and spotless with the purity of wisdom is Narayana.
- Beyond impermanence and beyond description is Narayana.
- That One Non-Dual Divine is Narayana.
- Those who realize this (nature of the divine) become Narayana Himself and have mastered the essence of the Yajur Veda.
SAMA VEDA
- The Eight-Syllabled Mantra: om namo nārāyaṇāya
- One who recites this mantra is blessed with both material and spiritual opulence.
- Those who repeat this mantra until it becomes internalized (surrender to the divine) have mastered the essence of the Sama Veda.
Atharva VEDA
- Narayana is Pranava or Om.
- The Inner Divine is represented by the three syllables A, U, and M.
- Om and A-U-M are the same because A+U+M produces the "One" sound Om.
- Similarly, Narayana reached through devotion is indeed the Inner Divine, as articulated philosophically.
- Recognizing this "One" and chanting Om liberates us from the bondage of life and death.
- Those who have experienced this Oneness (both in their hearts and minds) have mastered the essence of the Atharva Veda.
Spiritual Merits
- This Upanishad captures the essence of Vedic literature. As a result, anyone who learns this Upanishad earns the merit of learning all of the Vedas.
- The one who internalizes these teachings attains Union with Narayana Himself.
Home Upanishads Dakshina