Narada
The RISHI (sage) Narada appears in numerous
contexts in Indian mythology. Though he is often
taken to be the son of BRAHMA, there are varying
accounts of his birth and exploits. In some con-
texts he is seen very positively: he is considered
the inventor of the vina or Indian lute, and the one
who revealed the DHARMASHASTRAS, or tracts on
law. In other contexts he is seen as something of a
troublemaker. It is Narada who informed Kamsa,
the king who desired to kill KRISHNA, about Krish-
na’s impending birth. Narada is also said to have
cursed his own father, Brahma, to be worshipped
by very few, to repay him for a curse that Brahma
had placed on him.
Further reading: John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary
of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History,
and Literature, 12th ed. (Ludhiana: Lyall Book Depot,
1974); B. L. Raina, Legends and Teachings of the Greatest
Hindu Divine Sage Narada (Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, 1999); W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic
and Puranic, 2d ed. (Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).
Narasimha avatar
Narasimha is the man-lion AVATA R of VISHNU. His
story has many versions, all relating to the demon
HIRANYAKASHIPU. The latter had undergone severe
austerities to make himself superior to the gods
and nearly invincible. BRAHMA had given him the
boons that he could not be killed by man or beast,
at night or during the day, outdoors or indoors.
The gods beseeched Vishnu to intervene and put
an end to the demon’s depredations in the worlds.
Vishnu took up the man-lion form (neither
man nor beast) and confronted Hiranyakashipu
at the threshold of his palace (neither indoors
nor outdoors) at twilight (neither day nor night).
Thus he was able to kill Hiranyakashipu. The
common iconographic depiction of Narasimha
shows a sitting creature with a man’s body and a
lion’s head, ripping into the supine demon lying
on his knees.
Further reading: John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary
of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and
Literature, 12th ed. (Ludhiana: Lyall Book Depot, 1974);
Margaret Stutley, An Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Ico-
nography (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985); W.
J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, 2d ed.
(Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).Narayan, R. K. (1906–2001) novelist of
Hinduism
R. K. Narayan was one of India’s most celebrated
modern novelists. Writing in English, he created
works that are gentle evocations of small-town
Indian life, the life of everyday Hindus.
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanas-
wami, better known by his pseudonym, R. K.
Narayan, was born in the Prasawalkam section
of Madras (Chennai) on October 10, 1906, and
died May 13, 2001, at the age of 94. His father,
R. V. Krishnaswami Iyer, moved the family to
Mysore, where he became a schoolteacher and
later headmaster of Maharajah’s Collegiate High
School. R. K. was not an outstanding student but
managed to receive his bachelor of arts degree at
the University of Mysore in 1923. Once he had
graduated his natural path was to take a govern-
ment job, but R. K. had already decided that he
wanted to be a writer.
R. K.’s first published works appeared in maga-
zines and in the newspaper Hindu. He eventually
worked for that paper’s Sunday edition. In 1934
he married for love, an unconventional move very
much in line with his writing. His wife, Rajam,
gave him one daughter, Hema, before she tragi-
cally passed away of typhoid in 1939, leaving him
with a three-year-old daughter.
Most of R. K. Narayan’s novels take place in
the imaginary South Indian village of Malgudi,
portrayed with brilliance and charm. He gives
English readers who do not know his country a
glimpse into the foibles and joys of the simple life
and everyday piety of Hindu culture in India. HeNarayan, R. K. 305 J