Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to describe his names as per his actions
After Yudhisthira was crowned as King of Hastinapur, Lord Krishna freed amazing Bhishma from all of his sufferings before his death and asked him to alleviate Yudhisthira from mourning over the lifeless Kshatriyas by the way of advising him on Dharma. Bhishma told him about Lord Krishna himself explaining his names according to his actions to Arjuna as per his demand.
Janamejaya asked Vaishampayan to tell him the etymology of the various names by which Maharishi Vyasa along with his disciples had praised this Madhusudana. Vaishampayan narrated to him the same that Lord Shri Hari, being pleased with Arjuna, explained his names to him as per his qualities and deeds.
Arjun said, "Lord of the three worlds, past, present and future, the creator of the entire past, the indestructible, the support of the world and the one who gives fearlessness to all the worlds, Jagannath, Lord Narayandeva! Whatever names the Maharishis have said about you and in the Puranas and Vedas, all the confidential names are read as per the karma. I want to hear from your mouth. Lord Shri said, "Arjuna! Maharishis have mentioned many of my names in Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, Upanishads, Puranas, Astrology, Sankhyashastra, Yogashastra and Ayurveda. Among them, some names are according to qualities and some are based on deeds. Since ancient times, you have been considered half of my body.
Salutations to Lord Narayandeva, the most glorious, nirguna sagunarupa universal soul who is the supreme soul of all embodied beings. Sri Hari, from whose offerings Brahma and anger manifested Rudra, is the reason for the origin of the entire living world. The Sattva has eighteen qualities. (Love, Illumination, excellence, lightness, happiness, absence of miserliness, absence of remainder, contentment, faith, forgiveness, perseverance, non-violence, defecation, angerless, simplicity, equanimity, truth and absence of blame-these are the eighteen qualities of Sattva, that is his supreme nature. He is the Adipurush. The soul-form of the earth and the sky, the power of yoga, the power of all worlds (Karmafala bhutagatiswarupa), immortal, invincible. He is the Satya. From Him, all the disorders like creation and destruction etc. are manifested.
He is the penance, yajna and Yajamana, He is the ancient Virata Purusha, He is called Aniruddha. From him the creation and destruction of the worlds take place. When the night of doomsday had passed, a lotus appeared by the grace of that infinite and brilliant Aniruddha. Brahmaji emerged from that lotus. Brahma was born from the blessings of Lord Aniruddha. When Brahma's day passed, Rudra, the destroyer, appeared in the form of his son from his forehead who was in a rage. These two great gods Brahma and Rudra were the offerings of Lord Narayana. They follow the path shown by him. Take shelter and complete the work of creation and destruction. Those two gods who grant boons to all living beings are merely the instruments of creation and destruction. (In reality, all that happens only due to Lord Narayana's will.) Among these, Rudra the destroyer, Kapardin (having matted hair), jatila, Munda, the one who consumes the cremation ground, the one who observes the vrat fast, Rudra, Yogi, Param Darun, Dakshayagya-destroyer and Bhagnetrahari etc. have many names.
One must know that Lord Rudra is Lord Narayana's form. In every era, only Lord Narayana who is capable of worshipping Devadhidev Maheshwar is worshipped. I am the soul of the entire world. That's why I first worship my soul form Rudra. I believe that if I do not worship Lord Shiva, the soul form, then no one else will worship Shankara in his form. Everyone follows my work considering it as an example. Only those gods whose worshipability is certified by the Vedas and scriptures should be worshipped. Thinking like this, I worship Rudradeva. He who knows Rudra knows me. The one who follows him also follows me. Both Rudra and Narayana are the same form, who take two forms and reside in different persons. Everyone in the world is engaged in yagya etc. and earning money. Arjun, No one else can give me a boon; Thinking this, I worshipped the Purana Purusha Jagdishwar Rudra in my form to get a son. Vishnu does not worship any other deity except Rudra in his form; That's why I worship Rudra. All the gods including Brahma, Rudra, Indra and sages worship the best Narayanadeva Sri Hari. Lord Vishnu is the foremost among all the men who existed in the past, future and present. Therefore, everyone should always serve and worship him. You salute Lord Vishnu, the giver of blessings, and bow your head to Sri Hari, the giver of refuge. You have heard from me that Arta, Jigyasu, Artharthi and Gyani these four types of people are my devotees. Among these, those who worship me alone and do not consider other gods as their worshippers, are the best.
I am the ultimate destination of those devotees who perform all their deeds selflessly. The remaining three types of devotees are considered to be those who wish for fruits. Therefore, all of them are going to fall - after enjoying the virtues, they are lost from the heavenly worlds, but the devotee of Gyani gets the best result (Bhagavadprapti). A knowledgeable devotee, while serving Brahma, Shiva and other gods selflessly, ultimately attains me, the Supreme Soul. This is what I have told you about the difference between devotees.
You and I both are sages named Nara-Narayana and we have entered the human body to take off the burden of the earth. I know spiritual yoga and I also know who I am and where I came from. Pravrittidharma, the seeker of worldly awakening, and Nivruttidharma, which provides the selfless, are also not unknown to me. I am the only eternal man, Narayana, the well-known shelter of all human beings.
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Because of its origin in Nara, water is called Nara & Nara (water) is my ayana (abode), which is why I am called 'Narayana'. (The one who is present in every one or who is the abode of someone is called 'Vasu'.) I, having taken the form of the Sun, have spread the entire world with my rays. I do this and I am the abode of all living beings; That's why my name is 'Vasudeva'. I am the place of movement and origin of all living beings. I have spread the sky and the earth. My radiance is greater than anything else. I am also the Brahma whom all living beings desire to attain in the end. I am situated transcending everyone. Due to all these reasons my name has become 'Vishnu'. Human beings through desiring to achieve Siddhi want to attain me through Dama (control of senses). Through Dama only they aspire to attain a high position in the earth, heaven and intermediate worlds, hence I am called 'Damodara'.
Dama eva Damah
Tena Udiryati Unnanti
Prapnoti Yasmat
sa Damodarah
- This is the derivation of the word Damodara.
Food, Vedas, water and nectar are called Prishni. They always remain in my womb; That's why my name is 'Prishnigarbha'.
{'Vicchha Gatau' (Tudadi), 'Vicchha Diptau' (Churaadi), 'Vishu Sechne' (Bhvaadi), 'Vishtha Vyaptau' (Juhotyadi), 'Vishva Praveshne' (Tudadi), 'Shnu Prasravane' (Madadi) all these The word 'Vishnu' is accomplished through dhatus, hence the meanings of Gati, Deepti, sechan, byapti, prabesh and prasarvan are all contained in the word 'Vishnu'.}
When Tritamuni was thrown into the well by his brothers, at that time the sages prayed to me, "Prishnigarbha! You save the dropped Trita from drowning by Ekata and Dwita. At that time, due to my repeated kirtan of the name 'Prishnigarbha', Rishi Trita, the Adi son of Brahma, came out of that well.
Know the full story of Sage Ekata, Dwita and Trita..
The sun that heats the world, the fire and the rays of the moon that shine are all called my hair. Because of having that hair, the omniscient Dwijashreshtha calls me 'Keshav'.
Arjun In this way my name is a boon for all the gods and great sages.
Ref: Mahabharata Book Shanti Parva