Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c4.795

c4.795

2) Previous birth. Arjuna and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are often referred to as Nara-nārāyaṇas (Nara and Nārāyaṇa). In their previous life they were Ṛṣis called Nara and Nārāyaṇa, and from that time onwards they lived as inseparable companions and sons of the same parents. They entered Mahāsamādhi at Badaryāśrama in the Himālayas. Of the two Nārāyaṇarṣi was a partial incarnation of Viṣṇu. About the Nararṣi the Devī Bhāgavata has the following to say: "Dharma had his origin in the heart of Brahmā, and he earned great reputation for truthfulness and adherence to Vedic dharma. He married the daughters of Dakṣa. Dharma had four sons, Hari, Kṛṣṇa, Nara and Nārāyaṇa. Of the four sons Hari and Kṛṣṇa became great yogīs, and Nara and Nārāyaṇa, great tapasvins. Nara and Nārāyaṇa did tapas, worshipping Brahmā for 1000 years at the holy Badaryāśrama in the plains of the Himālayas. Nara was born in the next birth as Arjuna. (Devī Bhāgavata, 4th Skandha). See Nara.