Shri Narada Muni

The Srimad-Bhagavatam describes how Narada Muni attained the audience of God and thus became renowned in the Vedic tradition. The story begins with his previous two lifetimes. During the first, his name was Upabarhana, a Gandharva, or singer from a heavenly planet. Upabarhana’s beautiful voice and handsome features made him attractive to women, and he became a playboy, losing his spiritual perspective and falling into materialistic life. Shri Narada Muni is the younger brother of the Four Kumaras and son of Brahma. He also rejected his father’s orders of increasing the population, and chose devotion to the Lord. He was thus present before all of the demigods, along with his elder brothers. He was blessed with the ability to travel to any part of creation according to tradition and he took initiation from his older brothers and their discussions as guru and disciple are recorded in the Upanishads with a famous conversation in the Chandogya Upanishad; also with their discourses in the Shri Narada Purana and the Pashcaratra literature. He is found in most of the religious scriptures always passing on knowledge of an event or teaching the path of Bhakti to all. He was the inspiration for the writing of the greatest Purana – the Bhagavata Purana.