Nalakuvara
Nalakuvara | |
---|---|
God of Manibhadra | |
Consort | Rambha, Somaprabhā |
Nalakuvara, also known as Nalakubara (
Names
Various Sanskrit and Prakrit texts offer the name "Nalakuvara", "Nalakūvala", "Mayuraja", "Narakuvera", and "Naṭakuvera" to describe the son of Kubera. The god also appears in Chinese texts as "Nazha", and later "Nezha", a shortened transliteration of the word "Nalakuvara".[1]
Legend
Hinduism
Ramayana
In the
Bhagavata Purana
In the
Nalakuvera and Manigriva were playing, in the nude, in the Ganges, with apsaras, when Narada walked by after a visit with Vishnu. Upon seeing Narada, the maidens covered themselves, while Nalakuvara and Manigriva were too intoxicated to notice Narada, and remained unclothed. According to some accounts, Narada pitied the brothers for wasting away their lives through their excessive indulgence in women and wine. In order to help the brothers realise their mistake, Narada cursed them into two Marutu trees. Narada wished for the brothers to meet Krishna after many years, who would be able to liberate them from the curse. In other accounts, it is said that Narada is so offended by the brothers’ lack of dignity and respect, that he cursed them into trees. After the two brothers pleaded with Narada, he consented that they could be liberated if Krishna touched them.[5][6]
Many years later, when Krishna was in his infancy, his foster-mother Yashoda had tied him to a mortar in order to prevent him from eating dirt. Krishna dragged the mortar along the ground until it became wedged between two trees. These trees happened to be Nalakuvara and Manigriva, and upon contact, they returned to their original forms. The brothers then paid homage to Krishna, apologised for their previous mistakes, and departed.[7]
Buddhism
In the
Tantric masters invoked Nalakuvara as the commander of Kubera's army of yakṣas. He appears in the tantric text "Great Peacock-Queen Spell," which portrays him as a heroic yakṣa general and invokes Nalakūvara's name as a way to cure snakebites. Some versions of the "Great Peacock-Queen Spell" (Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī and the "Amogha-pāśa" give Nalakuvara the title "Great Yakṣa General."[9] Nalakuvara appears in two other tantric texts: "The Yakṣa Nartakapara’s Tantra," and "The Great Yakṣa General Natakapara’s Tantric Rituals."[10]
Worship in East Asia
Nalakuvara was transmitted through Buddhist texts into China, where he became known as Nezha (known earlier as Nazha). In Chinese mythology, Nezha is the third son of the Tower King, so many people also called Nezha as the third prince. Nezha is also called "Marshal of the Central Altar".
According to Meir Shahar, the etymology of the word “Nezha” showed that the name is a shortened (and slightly corrupted) transcription of the Sanskrit name "Nalakūbara."[11] It has been suggested by Shahar that the legends surrounding Nezha are a combination of the mythology of Nalakuvara and the child-god Krishna (Bala Krishna).
Nezha is a well-known Doaoist deity in Japan. The Japanese refer to Nezha as Nataku or Nata, which came from the readings of Journey to the West.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4560-8.
- ^ "Ramayana of Valmiki, Book 7: Uttara kanda: Chapter 26". Wisdom Library.
- ^ Puranic Encyclopedia: a comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature, Vettam Mani, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1975, p. 519.
- ISBN 9788176252263. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ISBN 978-91-7149-643-0.
- ^ www.wisdomlib.org (28 January 2019). "Story of Nalakūbara". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4560-8.
- ISBN 9788120618237. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4560-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4560-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8122-4560-8.