Srimad Bhagavatam – day 337
Meaning of Narayana Kavaca
(In this episode the procedure to invoke the mantra and the meaning of the Narayana Kavaca is explained).
Vishwaroopa said to Indra, “Please listen i.e. wear this Kavaca (armour) with single-focused concentration. Whenever the aspirant is overcome by fear he should invoke or listen to the Nārāyaṇa Kavaca adopting the following procedure:
At first the aspirant should wash his hands and feet. On a clean sacred grass mat he should sit silently facing the Northern direction. With a pure mind and heart, he should invoke the deities into his limbs through chanting the 2 mantras – ‘Om Namo Nārāyaṇa’ and ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya’.
He should at first chant the 8-syllabled mantra ‘Om Namo Nārāyana’ together with the Praṇava mantra (Aum). While chanting this mantra he should step-by-step touch the various limbs beginning with the feet i.e. feet, knees, thighs, stomach, heart, chest, mouth and head. This process is known as Nyāsa. Alternatively, he can follow the reverse order beginning from the head to complete the invocation process.
Thereafter chanting the 12-syllable mantra ‘Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya’ he should perform Kara-ṇyāsa. Each of these 12 syllables of the above mantra should be preceded by Om mantra. While performing kara-nyāsa, using the thumb of each hand he should touch the tips of other four fingers of that hand. Thereafter he should touch both the thumb joints using the tip of the index fingers. In other words, he should touch 8 fingers plus 4 thumb joints.
In the mantra ‘Om viṣṇave namah’, syllable ‘Om’ should be placed at the heart position, syllable ‘Vi’ at the top of the head; ‘ṣa’ at the centre of the eyebrows; ‘na’ at the tuft; ‘ve’ should be placed at both the eyes while syllable ‘na’ should be placed at all the body joints. Chanting ‘Om maḥ astrāya ghat’ he should lock the mantra from all directions (digbandha). Following this procedure, the wise aspirant becomes the personification of the ‘Om Viṣṇave namah’ mantra.
Thereafter he should mediate upon the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, who is beyond Nature and who is an embodiment of the six energies known as opulence (āiśwarya), valour (veerya), fame (yaśas), prosperity (śri) knowledge (jnana) and dispassion (varigaya), considering Him as his inner Self.
He should then chant the supreme mantra known as Nārāyaṇa Kavaca, which is an embodiment of splendor, penance and knowledge as follows:
May the Supreme Lord Srihari, who sits on the back of His vehicle Garuda with His lotus feet resting on it; who holds the 8 weapons viz., conch, discus, ropes, drum, sword, shield, mace, arrows and bow in His 8 hands; who is replete with the 8 types of opulences and who is the personification of ‘Om’ mantra protect me at all times and in all situations.
May the Lord who is in the form of a great fish protect me from the strong aquatic animals that are like the noose of Lord Varuna. May the Lord, who with His illusory powers incarnated as a dwarf celibate and measured the entire creation in three steps, protect me on land. May the Supreme Lord Srihari who manifested as this vast creation protect me in space.
May Lord Narasimha, who is the dreaded enemy for all demons, protect me when I am in deep forests, battlefields and other frightful places. His violent frenzied laughter reverberated in all directions causing women to miscarry.
May Lord Yagna-varāha, who retains Yagnas as His limbs and who rescued Mother Earth by safeguarding her on His tusks, protect me when I am travelling. May Paraśurāma protect me from mountain tops. May Lord Srirama, the elder brother of Bharata and who is accompanied by Lakshmana, protect me when I travel to distant lands (foreign travel).
May Lord Nārāyaṇa protect me from ignorant, irreligious activities that instill fear. May Lord Nara prevent me from becoming egoistic. May the Supreme Yogi Dattātreya prevent me from falling to that state where devotion (bhakti) and knowledge (jnana) cease to exist. May Maharishi Kapila, who is beyond the three attributes of Nature (trigunas), rescue me from the clutches of repeated re-births (samsara).
May Maharishi Sanat-kumara protect me from succumbing to lustful desires. During my travels may Lord Hayagriva protect me from inadvertently committing offence towards Devatas. May the supreme sage Maharishi Nārada rescue me from obstacles that arise during worship of the Supreme Lord. May the ever-compassionate Lord Srihari, in his incarnation as tortoise (Kurma) protect me from falling into the terrible hells.
May Lord Dhanvantari protect me from eating foods that should not be eaten and from resultant illnesses. May Lord Rṣabhadeva, who has absolute sense control, protect me from fear caused due to dualities such as heat-cold, happiness-sorrows. May Lord Srihari, the personification of Yagna, protect me from infamy in this world.
May Balarama, the incarnation of the Lord, protect me from troubles created by other people. May Śeṣa, the king of serpents protect me from falling into the trap of the poisonous snake called anger. May Maharishi Vyasa protect me from all forms of ignorance. May Lord Buddhadeva protect me from all forms of irreligious activities and from the resultant forgetfulness that arises.
May Lord Kalki, who repeatedly incarnates solely to re-establish dharma, protect me from the irreligious principles and doṣās that arise in the period of Kali.
May Lord Keṣava, who holds a mace in His hands, protect me during the first part of the day. May Govinda, who holds the flute in His hand, protect me during the second part of the day. May Lord Nārāyaṇa who holds the weapon called śakti (energy) protect me during the third part. May Lord Vishnu, who holds a discus in His hand, protect me in the fourth part of the day.
May Lord Madhusudana, who holds a fearful bow in His hand, protect me during the last part of the day. May Lord Mādhava, who is a personification of Trinity, protect me in the evening. May Lord Hrishikeṣa protect me in the first part of the night. At the middle of the night i.e. in the second and third portions of night may Lord Padmanābha protect me.
May the Supreme Lord who retains the Srivatsa mark on His chest protect me in the next part of the night. May Lord Janardhana who holds the weapon Khatvānga protect me in the last part of night. May Lord Damodara protect me in the early hours of the morning. May Lord Jagannatha protect me during both the twilight times (sandhya). May Lord Srihari, who is the personification of time, protect me during the Sunrise times”.
Hrishikeśāya namah