Table of Contents
The 12 Devatas Who Help Us through The Narayana Kavacham
- Protection from water calamities (Lord Matsya)
- Land safety from accidents and earthquakes (Lord Vamana)
- Sky protection from dangers like crashes (Trivikrama)
- Forest and war safety (Lord Narasimha)
- Travel safety, especially for women (Lord Varaha)
- Protection from the torments of hell (Lord Kurma)
- Safety from inner and outer enemies (Lord Balarama)
- Mountain and hill protection (Lord Parashurama)
- Safety in foreign lands (Lord Rama)
- Removal of pride (Sri Narada)
- Forgiveness for neglecting a pure life (Lord Dattatreya)
- Spiritual protection against lust and material desires (Sanat Kumaras)
A Brief History of Narayana Kavacham
The Narayana Kavacham begins with a dialogue between Sukadev Goswami and King Parikshit unfolding into another dialogue between Indra and Sage Vishwaroopa.
Let us first understand the history of the Narayana Kavacham. Sage Viswaroopa, the son of Thwashta, originally taught the Narayana Kavacham to Indra. The Narayana Kavacham appears in the sixth Skanda, of the eighth adhyaya in the Shrimad Bhagavatam.
By the power of the Narayana Kavacham, Indra gained his lost throne, defeated the asuras and lorded over the three worlds.
What is the Narayana Kavacham?
Narayana Kavacham also known as Narayana varma is an armor that protects our subtle, physical and causal body. It is an impenetrable shield imbued with the potency of the Supreme Lord Narayana.
When anxious the reciter should sit on a mat made of Durva leaves. He should then perform Achaman wearing a Durva ring on his finger. Those aware of the nuances, can perform the Anganyasa and Karanyasa.
Otherwise, simply begin with the Narayana Kavacham.
Note that the Narayana Kavacham appears to be 42 verses long.
But it actually starts from ॐ हरिर्विदध्यान्मम सर्वरक्षां which the 12th verse and end with the line स्वतेजसा ग्रस्तसमस्ततेजाः, which is the 34th verse.
Some Rules For Chanting Narayana Kavacham
The sadhaka should face the north and chant the holy names of Bhagavan, thus purifying his speech.
By observing Mauna, the reciter should meditate on Narayana. Then one should touch eight significant parts of the body pronouncing the Pranava mantra. The reciter must touch specific areas of the body such as the middle of two eyebrows, Shikha, and the eyes, uttering syllables associated with each part.
I will not discuss the nitty gritty of the process as this article mainly focuses on the benefits and meaning.Finally, one should chant the eight lettered mantra Om Namo Narayanaya.
Recite the Kavacham only after initiation from a qualified guru. The guru should have complete knowledge of Vedic practice, rules and regulations.
Benefits of the Narayana Kavacham
An ardent reciter of the Narayana Kavacham is free from all worries and anxieties. The Narayana Kavacham invokes the divine paraphernalia of Lord Vishnu for protection such as Garuda, the eagle vehicle, conch, Sudarshana Chakra, dice, sword, bow, mace, and rope.
Thus the divine accessories of Sri Hari protect us from ill effects of planets, serpents, ghosts, and sins. Just as Lord Narasimha protected his dear devotee Prahalad from all perils, we can ask the Lord to take complete charge of our lives. In the succeeding verses, the reciter invokes the 10 prominent incarnations of Lord Vishnu known to protect their devotees in different yugas.
7/8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this Quiz may or may not be absolute. There may be right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.
The Dasha Avatara Invocation: Matsya
Imagine the benefits of invoking all the avatars at once through the Kavacham. Now, I will state the benefit, and protection offered by each deity.
Lord Matsya, the fish incarnation, saved Svayambuva Manu and the Saptarishis from the deluge. Hence he protects us from aquatic creatures, drowning and water calamities.
The Dasha Avatara Invocation: Vamana and Trivikrama
Lord Vamana, the dwarf incarnation of Lord Vishnu bought land from Bali Maharaj.Hence he is the one to protect us on land, from accidents and earthquakes. Trivikrama, the gigantic form of Lord Vamana, protects us from potential sky-related threats such as airplane crashes, hailstones, etc.
The Dasha Avatara Invocation: Narasimha And Varaha
Lord Narsimha, the half-man -half lion incarnation protects us in forests and war. He scares creatures and enemies away with his mighty roar and fearsome nails.
Lord Varaha of mighty tusks looks after us on crossroads and journeys.He is the husband of Bhooma Devi and protected her honor from the sinful demon Hiranyaksha.Thus Varaha dev ensures safety of women especially during travel.
The Dasha Avatara Invocation: Kurma, Krishna And Balarama
Kurma avatar grants protection from different hells such as Kumbhipakam and Raurava. Lord Balarama, the powerful brother of Lord Krishna, protects us from both inner and outer enemies using his plough and mace. These enemies can come to us as people or tormenting desires.
The Dasha Avatara Invocation: Parashurama And Rama
Lord Parashurama, the formidable slayer of Kshatriyas protects us in hilly regions since he spent most of his time meditating on the Mahendra mountains.
Lord Rama, elder brother of Bharata and Lakshmana protects us in foreign nations, when we are out of town or are staying away from our motherland. Sri Rama too spent 14 crucial years of his life in the woods, away from his hometown, Ayodhya.
Apart from the Dashavatar, the Kavacham also invokes some of the 24 secondary incarnations of the Lord.
The 24 Avatara Invocation: Sage Narada
While the Dashavatar protect us from gross elements, these secondary incarnations destroy subtle enemies. Sri Narada, who is one of Bhagavan’s 24 major Incarnations, the mind-born son of Lord Brahma, prevents pride from entering our minds.
When we are too happy to attain a material object, pride arises. By the blessing of Sri Narada, the vice of pride vanishes.
The 24 Avatara Invocation: Bhagawan Dattatreya
The next incarnation is Dattatreya, the lord of yoga and sound wisdom. Lord Dattatreya forgives us for neglecting the path of yoga or austerities.
Well, Yoga means a way of life that is Satvik. A Satvik lifestyle is adherence to Brahmacharya, Truthfulness, abstinence from alcohol, non-vegetarian and onion-garlic.
A Tamasik and Rajasik lifestyle violates the path of yoga. Hence Lord Dattatreya, pardons all our previous blunders provided we promise to lead a pure life ahead.
Let’s go ahead in the list.
The 24 Avatara Invocation: The Sanat Kumara Brothers and Hayagriva
The Sanat Kumaras or the four infant sages are eternally 5 years old, untouched by lust. Hence the 4 kumaras protect the reciter from arrows of cupid, that is lustful tendencies.
The next in the list is the horse incarnation, Hayagriva, who rescued the Vedas from the demons. Watch our video on Hayagriva Mantra for more details. Lord Hayagriva protects us from committing serious sins such as disrespecting the vedas, scriptures or Vedic deities.
The 24 Avatara Invocation: Bhagawan Dhanavantari and Rishabha
Lord Dhanvantari, the Lord of medicine protects us from food poisoning or from ingesting poisoned food.
Rishabha, the founder of Jainism, protects us from the entrapments laid by Maya, the illusory energy of the Lord. Yagya is yet another lesser-known incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
He protects us from the sins of society such as human-trafficking, child-labour, kidnapping, and vandalism.
The 24 Avatara Invocation: Sage Veda Vyasa
Sage Veda Vyasa, the profound author of the Puranas and Mahabharata, pardons our ignorance and dim-wittedness.
The later part of the Narayana Kavacham lists various names of the Lord associated with each part of the day.
The Greatness of The Narayana Kavacham
Before concluding the video post, I will narrate a short Puranic story that highlights the power of the Narayana Kavacham. Long ago, there lived a Brahma from Kaushika Gotra who had mastered the Narayana Kavacha.
Unfortunately, he gave up his body in a lonely desert with nobody to perform his last rites. A celestial Gandharva along with Apsaras were flying in an aircraft right above his body. Suddenly, the plane stopped, and the passengers fell near the body of the deceased sage.
Soon, the Balakhilya Sages appeared before the Gandharva and instructed him to perform the last rites of the Brahmin. Balakhilyas are 60,000 divine sages, each the size of a thumb.
They came from Lord Brahma’s hairs, and travel in front of the sun’s chariot as birds, wearing animal hides. They are righteous, sinless, and highly advanced in spiritual knowledge. Thus the Narayan Kavacha pulled help for the sage who sincerely recited the Narayana Kavacham.
We need to recite the Stotram consistently for many months, under the auspices of an advanced and authentic spiritual master to see the benefits manifest fully.
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