The Legacy and Celebration of Narada Jayanti

India is the blessed land of Sanatana Dharma that bestows the highest knowledge, wisdom, and self-sacrifice, to be preached and practiced by all Hindus. It is the rich heritage of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ that believes in the great principle of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means that the entire world is ‘one family.’ Such age-old rich values have taught us to be united irrespective of caste, creed, or color, and to do good and be good. It inspires us to be selfless and sacrifice everything for the welfare of humanity. This essence of devotion has its great embodiment in Sage Narada or Narada Muni. A great devotee of Lord Vishnu, Narada Muni was also an epitome of knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and supreme power.

Importance of “Narada Muni” in Hindu Dharma:

Narada is called the ‘Deva-Rishi’ or ‘Devrishi.’ According to Puranas and ancient Hindu texts, Narada, the sage of Gods was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Vishnu. The supremely talented Narada was gifted with the expertise of six Angas: “pronunciation, grammar, prosody, terms, religious rites, and astronomy, and was the first journalist on the Earth who transferred information across the universe by traveling. Narada was also a dedicated musician, carrying a ‘Veena’ known as ‘Mahati’. He was also a specialist in astronomy and other arts. He wrote ‘Narada Smriti’ and ‘Naradashiksha’ which are believed to be the basis of phonetics and grammar. The ‘Narada Purana’, a collection of beautiful stories was also written by him. His famous work ‘Narada Bhakti Sutras’ contains eighty-four dictums on devotion. He was an able counselor and messenger to the Gods.

Narada is said to be born out of the thought of Brahma and that is why he is known as the ‘Manas Putra’ or a son born out of the mind of Brahma. According to Vishnu-Purana, he was the son of Sage Kashyapa. A pure devotee of Lord Vishnu, who always chanted ‘Narayana, Narayana’ all his way. Narada’s birth anniversary is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm by the Hindus as ‘Narada Jayanti’. It falls on the first day of the Pratipada tithi of Krishna Paksha in the month of Vaisakh. This year, Narada Jayanti is on 24th May ‘24.

As per “Drik Panchang”, the tithi for “Narada Jayanti” in the year ‘24 is as follows:

Narada Jayanti on Friday, 24 May ‘24

• Pratipada Tithi Begins - 07:22 PM on 23 May ‘24
• Pratipada Tithi Ends - 07:24 PM on 24 May ‘24

Rituals followed on “Narada Jayanti”:

Like most of the Hindu festivals, it is celebrated by taking a holy bath before sunrise and worshiping Lord Vishnu offering flowers, Tulsi, sandalwood paste, Kumkum, incense sticks, and sweets and fruits as ‘prasad’. Many devotees also observe fast on this day and take only fruits and dairy products. No cereal or pulses are taken after breaking the fast. The Chanting of Mantras and ‘Vishnu Sahasranama’ are considered holy. To pay homage to the academic genius, different kinds of academic discussions and seminars also take place. There are some Narada temples in the southern parts of India, one at Naradagadde which is about 48 km from Raichur in Karnataka, and the other at Madhya Pradesh. These temples organize special pujas and prayers on Narada Jayanti.

Legends related to Narada Muni:

Many illustrious stories are there about Narada. One of the most famous among them was the sage Valmiki. Born as Ratnakar, Valmiki was a robber who used to loot people to feed his family. One day Narada was passing through a jungle where he was attacked by Ratnakar. The Devrishi, chanting praises of Lord Vishnu asked Ratnakar whether his beloved family for whom he was doing such a crime would take a share of his sins.

Ratnakar went back to his family and asked them about the same. To his utter surprise and dismay, none of the family members was ready. They were even ready to enjoy life from his sinful income, but not take a share of his sins. It was indeed a revelation for him. Ratnakar then came back to Narada and asked him, what can I do now as he has led a sinful life?

Then Narada asked him to meditate and chant the name of Lord Rama. It was very difficult for Ratnakar to chant Rama as he had committed so many sins, so he wasn't able to pronounce Rama. So Narada muni advised him to start chanting the name reversely, hence Ratnakar started chanting ‘Ma Ra’ and kept on meditating for years and his chants became Rama.

His long meditation created an anthill around him, but he was undisturbed in his devotion. The pious chanting of the name of Lord Rama transformed Ratnakar from within. It was the wisdom of Narada that he could find the genuine devotee in the ‘so-called plunderer.’ Hence, he showed him the path of light, the way to transformation. Devrishi came back and found him in deep meditation. He removed the anthill and said that Ratnakar’s devotion had made the Gods satisfied and he was honored with the title of ‘Brahmarshi’. Since he came out from the ‘Valmik’ or anthill, he was renamed Valmiki. He became a dedicated disciple of Narada. It was under the instruction of Narada, that Valmiki started writing the Ramayana, or the story of Rama.

It is said that the Sage Veda Vyasa wrote the Vedas and divided them into four parts namely, Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda. He also authored the Puranas and the epic Mahabharata. Yet his creative satisfaction was not fulfilled and he had doubts about whether his works would benefit humanity or not. It was Narada who inspired him to write a book on devotion that would uplift mankind. He suggested he write a book setting out the greatness of Devotion (Bhakti) and the glory of God. He gave Vedavyasa the ideas of Vedanta, taught by Brahma. According to Narada this book would be a source of great happiness for mankind and give mental satisfaction. This was how Vyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana under the inspiration of Narada. The great Narada narrated the story of Prahlāda and his great devotion to the Pandava king Yudhisthira. He also instructed Yudhisthira about the importance of being a great king with good governance. He also warned Ravana of the imminent dangers he was going to face

Narada Muni: Lord Vishnu’s Ardent Devotee

Narada, the symbol of knowledge and excellence is also famous for his great devotion towards Lord Vishnu. The institution of devotion and wisdom and their great significance can be learned from the life and teachings of Narada. His vast base of information and journalism was all for the welfare and elevation of humanity. Even his famous ‘mischiefs’ were all targeted towards happiness and well-being.

By celebrating Narada Jayanti, we all pay homage to the great sage, who has numerous influences on our lives and inspires us to be wholehearted devotees and sacrifice our lives for a good cause.

I extend my heartfelt wishes to all of you on the forthcoming Narada Jayanti.