Essence Of Maha Bhagavatha Purana

New Brihaspati Visvarupa teaches ‘Narayana Kavacha’ to Indra

Indra’s Court is a master-piece of the Universe, with Indra as a cynosure, surrounded by several semi-Gods and seated along with him by Sachi Devi. Guru Brihaspati, the Great Guide and Teacher of all the Subjects of the Court was among the Principal Advisor. In this ideal setting unfortunately, Brihaspati felt humiliated by Indra, as due respect to a Spiritual Master was not paid to him as Indra started cutting short and interrupting the Guru often. In course of time, Brihaspati stopped attending the Court. Indra no doubt apologised to the Guru, but the Guru did not relent. Lord Brahma called Indra  and reprimanded him for his follies and had to look for an alternative. At the request of Demi-Gods, Brahma then appointed Visvarupa, the son of  Diti’s daughter Rachana and Prajapati Tvasta.

Lord Brahma suitably briefed Visvarupa and  taught the basic principles of an Acharya ( Teacher) who should consider Brahma as father, Indra as brother, Mercy as a sister,  the planet of Earth as mother, guest as Agni and all living entities as Lord Vishnu Himself. He underlined the need for  balancing the strength of Sukracharya, the Guru of Demons. Visvarupa taught the Narayana Kavacha ( The Shield of Narayana) to Indra and Semi-Gods. Being seated properly, the intial mantra be recited viz. ‘ Apavitrah Pavitro va , Sarvavasthangatho piva, Yah smaret pundarikasham sa bahyahabhantara suchih, SriVishnu Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu.’ Thus purified, the Mantra be recited as: ‘Om Namo Narayanaya’ touching eight parts of the body systematically-feet, knees, thighs, abdomen, heart, chest, mouth and head- both in Utpatti Nyasa (Start-up) and Samhara Nyasa ( Close-up) , ie. in reverse order.The mantra is recited as ‘Ya Narayanaya Namo Om’in the reverse order. The next mantra is : ‘Om Bhagavatey Vasudevaya’ by touching the four finger  tips touching the joints of thumbs,  starting from the right hand and then the left hand. The next mantra is recited as ‘ Om namo vishnave namah’, by aligning Om with heart, ‘Vi’ with top of the head, ‘sh’with eyebrows, ‘na’with tuft (sikha’),‘ve’with eyes,‘na’with joints of body and ‘mah’ as a weapon.While reciting the mantras, one should visualise the Supreme Lord seated on Garuda’s back and with his eight arms Viz. conchshell, disc, shield, sword, club, arrows, bow and strings. The Narayana Kavacha protects in different forms of the Supreme Force, such as Matysa ( Great Fish) from water, Vamana ( The Dwarf) from all the three Worlds, Narasimha ( Man-Lion) in forests and battle fronts, Varaha ( The Boar) from the bottom of the Seas, Parasurama with axe from Unkind Kings and Mountains, Rama from tribulations in foreign countries, Narayana from false religious systems, Nara from unwanted pride, Dattathreya from mystic forces, Sanat Kumara from undue desires, Kurma ( Tortoise) from hellish planets, Narada from worship offences, Dhanvantari from physical ailments, Rishabhadeva from extreme heat and cold, Yagna from defamations, Balarama from reptiles, Vyasa from ignorance, Buddha from laziness, Kalki from irreligion and so on. The ‘Kavacha’ provides protection to the devotees during day and night by Kesava, Narayana, Madhava, Govinda, Vishnu, Madhusudana, Hrishikesa, Padmanabha, Janardana, and Vasudeva. Similarly, the eight arms provide protection from all possible evils and ventualities. Narayana Shield is meant for each and every body, from Devatas to normal mortals.With the help of Narayana Kavacha, Indra defeated demons and rejuvenated the supremacy of Devas again.