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Critically discuss the character of Narada

 Narada, also known as Narada Muni, is a celestial sage, who is seen in Hindu mythology and epics. He is one of the mind created children of Brahma, who is the creator of the universe. The character of Narada is very commonly seen in Hindu texts like the Mahabharata, Ramayana as well as Puranas. Narada is also referred to as Rishiraj, which means the king of all sages. He has the boon of knowledge of past, present and the future. When his knowledge became a hindrance in God's designs, he was cursed that although he would tell the truth, people wouldn't believe him. Narada is always seen with his khartal and veena and is regarded as a master of ancient musical instruments.

Narada is a devoted sage of Lord Vishnu. He is often portrayed as mischievous who loves to create troubles in other people's lives. He has resulted in many fights in different texts, because of his mischievous nature.

Narada is also regarded to be a wise sage, who worships Lord Vishnu through devotional songs. Narada is seen chanting the words "Narayana, Narayana" whenever he makes an appearance in a scene.

Narada's character plays a very significant role in the play "Parijata Harana" written by Sankardeva. Narada makes his first appearance when he visits Shri Krishna along with Indra, asking for help. Narada narrates the purpose of their visit to Lord Krishna and requests him to kill the demon Naraka. Narada then gives a Parijata flower to Krishna while talking about its extraordinary qualities. It is Narada, who later visits Satyabhama and instigates her against Krishna and Rukmini over a  mere Parijata flower. 

Sankardeva portrays the character of Narada as trouble loving person, who expertise in passing information from one person to another, causing trouble. The fight between  Krishna and Indra is a result of Narada's mischiefs Satyabhama insists Shri Krishna to bring her the Parijata tree after listening to Narada's opinion. Hence in the play, we can see that Narada is a trouble maker who sets against other people.






References from Wikipedia 

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