-: || Narayana: The Side Deity on the Nandighosha Chariot || :-

“Salutations to Narayana, and to Nara, the best of men,
to the Goddess Saraswati, and to Vyasa.
Thereafter, one should recite the ‘Jaya’ (the epic of victory).”

Based on texts like the Padma Purana, Vishnudharmottara Purana, and Rupamandana, the twenty-four forms of Sri Vishnu are depicted according to the arrangement of the Shankha (conch), Chakra (discus), Gada (mace), and Padma (lotus) in their hands. These are the Mahaprabhu’s Yoga-murtis (meditative forms), Bhoga-murtis (worldly forms), and Shayana-murtis (reclining forms). Narayana is one of these twenty-four forms of Vishnu.

‘Nara’ means water, and ‘ayana’ means abode. At the beginning of creation or during the time of the great dissolution (pralaya), He reclines within the cosmic waters. It is from there that He created the creator, Brahma, from the lotus that emerged from His navel. The Shatapatha Brahmana refers to him as Jajnanarayana (Narayana as the embodiment of sacrifice), stating, “From the atom and the molecule to every place, Narayana, in the form of Brahman, is secretly present.” Although He is the Lord of Vaikuntha, He always reclines in the Ksheerasagara (Ocean of Milk) on the coils of the serpent Ananta.

“His abode is within Omkara (the sacred syllable ‘Om’);
He sports with the divine pair of Brahma (Spirit) and Prakriti (Nature).”

According to the Shilpa Shastras (treatises on iconography), this form of Narayana holds a Padma (lotus) in his upper right hand, a Gada (mace) in his upper left hand, a Chakra (discus) in his lower right hand, and a Shankha (conch) in his lower left hand. He is the creator, preserver, liberator, and also the destroyer. His form is described as wondrous: his complexion is like that of a fresh rain-cloud, he is exceptionally beautiful, adorned in yellow garments, four-armed, with a vanamala (sylvan garland) around his neck. He holds the conch, discus, mace, and lotus in his hands, and the Srivatsa mark graces his chest.

However, the Narayana deity that adorns the Nandighosha chariot of Mahaprabhu Sri Jagannath as a parshwadevata (side deity) holds a Chakra (discus) in His upper right hand, a Padma (lotus) in His lower right hand, a Shankha (conch) in His upper left hand, and a Gada (mace) in His lower left hand. He is depicted seated in the Padmasana (lotus posture) upon a lotus pedestal.

From the cosmic ocean of milk arises Narayana, the source of all creation and one of the twenty-four supreme forms of Lord Vishnu. While the scriptures describe his universal form, the specific Narayana who graces Lord Jagannath’s glorious Nandighosha chariot as a parshwadevata (side deity) is wonderfully distinct.