Narayana upanishad

OVERVIEW

The Narayana Upanishad, traditionally ascribed to the Atharva Veda is the 18th of the 108 Upanishads in the extended anthology recited by Lord Rama to Hanuman1, as narrated in the Muktika Upanishad. It is one of the 14 Vaishnava Upanishads, wherein the all-pervading Supreme Purusha (Brahman) is perceived in the form of Lord Narayana.

All the Vedas, Upanishads and the other scriptures illumine the path that man has to take to attain his final destination – to merge with the Supreme Divinity. The Narayana Upanishad deals with the glory of Lord Narayana as extolled in the four Vedas. It is said that this very sacred body of knowledge was gifted to man by the Supreme Lord to help him evolve and elevate himself from the level of humanity to the level of divinity.

The text of the Upanishad is divided into five parts:

1. Origin of the cosmos from Narayana (teaching of the Rgveda)
2. The all-pervading nature of Narayana (teaching of the Yajurveda)
3. The eight-syllabled mantra of Narayana (teaching of the Samaveda)
4. OM, the primordial sound, as Narayana (teaching of the Atharvaveda)
5. The ‘phala-shruti’, i.e. the result of study of the Narayana Upanishad