time it takes to atone for their crimes;
they are not eternal. (See alsoAFTER-
LIFE.)Nära-Närada
A pair of sages who according to the
Mahäbhärata visited the Ÿvetadvïpa
(‘White Island’) where they encountered
a race of perfect people and their wor-
ship of Vi•æu.Nara-Näräyaæa
ARJUNAand KØÆŒA.Närasimha, also Nøsinha
(‘man–lion’)
An AVATÄRAof Vi•æu whose lower part
is human, the upper part a lion. He
appeared to save his devotee PRAHLÄDA
from his father, the demon king
HIRAŒYAKAŸIPU. He is widely wor-
shipped in India.Näräyana (‘the refuge of men’)
One of the most exalted titles of VIÆŒU
or KØÆŒA.Näräyaæïyam
A short rendition of theBhägavatam,
composed in the 16th century by
Meppattur Näräyaæa Bhattatiripad,
regularly recited at the Kø•æa temple in
Guruvayur, Kerala.Narbadä, also Narmadä
A holy river in central India, flowing to
the Arabian Sea, on whose banks are
such famous places of pilgrimage as
Nasik. One particularly meritorious
form of pilgrimage consists of going up
the whole length of the river on one side
and down on the other.nästika
A heretic, i.e. someone who denies thesupreme authority of the Veda; follower
of a non-orthodox system, such as
Cärväka, Buddhism or Jainism.Nafla-räja (‘king of dance’)
An epithet of ŸIVA, often represented in
art.nätha (‘lord’)
Used in titles, e.g. Viÿvanätha, ‘Lord of
the World’, a title of ŸIVA.Nätha Muni (ninth century)
Son of Ïÿvara Muni, first of the äcäryas
(masters) of ŸRÏRA¢GAMwho gave to
the Tamil PRABANDHAMof the Ķvärs
the status of ÿruti in Ÿrïraögam and
established himself as supreme teaching
authority in ŸRÏVAIÆŒAVISM.Näthapanthis
SeeGORAKHNÄfiHA.nationalism
Hindu nationalism had its first propo-
nent in the Bengali novelist Bankim
Chandra Chatterjee, who depicted the
1770 Samnyasi Rebellion as a Hindu
uprising against foreign domination. He
had his protagonists sing a hymn to
Mother India, the BANDEMÄTÄRÄM,
which subsequently became the nation-
al anthem of the Indian freedom move-
ment. In it he identified the physical
landscape of India and its people with
the Great Goddess (DEVÏ), for whose
liberation everything had to be done in
the spirit of a struggle to attain salva-
tion. This theme was continued by pow-
erful personalities such as AUROBINDO
GHOSE, Bal Gangadhar TILAKand oth-
ers. Mahatma GANDHI too saw his
efforts to free India from colonial rule
as a religious mission, though not as a
charge to establish a Hindu rä•flra.
More radical Hindu nationalists, mostNära-Närada 126Encyclo - Letter N 10/2/03 9:52 am Page 126