Narayana

Narayana (Sanskrit, m, नारायण, Narayana; lit.. "Eternal man ", " Son of Man" or " Coming out of the water " ) is a popular form of the divine in Hinduism. He is usually equated with Vishnu or his Avatar Krishna, sometimes with Brahma.

The iconography shows Narayana (as Vishnu) usually with four arms and attributes wheel ( chakra ), conch ( shankha ), lotus ( padma ) and mace ( gada ). In a particularly well-known representation Narayana rests here with the nickname Anantashayi than human multiform God between two world-periods on a serpent bed in the cosmic ocean, the ocean of milk. On the lotus flower that emerges from his navel, sits the four -headed Brahma, brings forth a new creation in his behalf.

In the epic Mahabharata the way Markandeya about a great flood which destroyed the entire universe at the end of the times reported. In the desert of water it encounters a child, on the leaf of a tree lying, which reveals itself as Narayana him:

The divine child comfort Markandeya and announces a new creation.

The Hindu tradition knows also a double form in which Narayana will appear along with Nara Nara - Narayana as. In the concept, the idea is expressed that the soul of man ( Nara ) is the eternal companion of the Divine ( Narayana ).

In mythology they represent two ways that later as Krishna ( Narayana ) and his pupil and companion Arjuna ( Nara ) are to be born again.

Narayana is worshiped with the Ashtaksharamantra Om namo Narayanaya.