Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1303

c8.1303

(i) On the occasion of the stripping of Pāñcālī of her clothes at the palace of the Kauravas, Pāñcālī cried, calling Nara and Nārāyaṇa. (M.B. Sabhā Parva, Chapter 68, Stanza 46).
(ii) It is stated in Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 334, Stanza 9, that the hermit Nara was one of the four incarnations taken by Mahāviṣṇu in the Manuṣya yuga (age of man) of the Svāyambhuva Manvantara.
(iii) It is mentioned in Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2, that, of the two viz. Nara and Nārāyaṇa, Nara was of fair complexion and Nārāyaṇa of dark complexion.
(iv) It was because of the curse of the hermit Bhṛgu that Nara-Nārāyaṇas took birth as Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa in the Dvāparayuga. (Devī Bhāgavata, Skandha 4).
(v) (vi) The meaning of the word 'Nara' is he who is not damaged. The universal soul named Nara has created water and so water got the name 'Nāram'. Because he lives in that water which has the name Nāram, the universal soul got the name Nārāyaṇa. (Manusmṛti, Chapter 1, Stanza 10).
(vi) (vii) For the other incarnations of Nara see under Raktaja.