Narada Jayanthi is the festival ascribed to the birth of Sri Narada, the ardent devotee of Sri Maha Vishnu.
Narada Jayanthi occurs on the Krishna Paksha Prathipadha of Vaisakha month. It occurs on Friday, 24th May 2024. The exact duration of Prathipadha, Prathama Tithi has to be ascertained from the respective regional calendars.
Narada Jayanthi – Legend
As per Sri Narada Puran, Sri Narada is considered as the ‘’Manaseeka Puthra” of Sri Brahma as he is said to be born out of the mind of Sri Brahma.
Vishnu Bhakt
Sri Narada always remained an ardent and devout devotee of Sri Maha Vishnu. He breathed, talked and thought of Sri Vishnu all the time. His devotion is unparalleled.
Traveler
Sri Narada had remained a bachelor. He had spent his time travelling throughout all the Worlds in the Universe.
Without any restriction, he always had travelled to all the Worlds such as Kailash, Vaikunt, Sathyalok, Bhulok, Pathal, Devlok etc., He even visited the asura kingdoms.
He had been friendly with all.
Communicator
Sri Narada had been the chief communicator amongst the Worlds and Kingdoms. He used to broadcast the events of one place to another place thus spreading knowledge. He is in fact the celestial journalist.
Hence, Narada Jayanthi is also celebrated as Patrakar Diwas.
Keerthana
Sri Narada was the first one to devise the musical form ‘’Keerthana”. Keerthana is the soulful singing by the individual from the depth of the heart. The lyrics and tune may not be classical. Keerthanas attract common people.
Keerthanas are used to spread knowledge about spirituality and God. Sri Narada is the pioneer of Keerthana form of worship. He kept singing about God accompanied by the musical instrument which resemble veena. He always carried the instrument on his person.
Following the footsteps of Sri Narada, many people started using the Keerthana form of signing to spread the knowledge of the Sages and the scriptures. These singers are called as Naradas.
Scriptures
Sri Narada is said to have written “Narada Pancharathram”. This scripture is said to explain the importance and significance of keeping pure love on the God. It explains how worldly life and expectations bring displeasure and pain. It describes how only the devotion to God shall bring happiness and not the material expectations.
His other works are Naradheeya Samhitha, Naradheeya Maha Puranam and Naradheeya Bhakthi Suthram.
Philosophy
According to Sri Narada, the devotion to God should be unconditional, without any expectation and should be beyond doubt.
Eternity
No Epic or Puranam or Scripture pertaining to any God or Deity is complete unless it has the presence of Sri Narada in it. Sri Narada is part of every divine occurrence.
Celebration
As Sri Narada is an ardent Vishnu Bhakt, his Jayanthi is celebrated by doing special puja to Sri Vishnu Murthy.
Some devotees observe partial or complete fasting on this day. Making daan / donation on this day is said to be auspicious.
