Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 44
तथा मे नारद: प्राह व्यासश्व॒ सुमहातपा: । नरनारायणावेतौ सम्भूतौ मनुजेष्विति
tathā me nāradaḥ prāha vyāsaś ca sumahātapāḥ | naranārāyaṇāv etau sambhūtau manuṣeṣv iti ||
Bhīṣma said: “So too did Devarṣi Nārada tell me, and the great ascetic Vyāsa as well: ‘These two—Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—are in truth Nārāyaṇa and Nara, who have taken birth among human beings.’”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse establishes a theological identification: Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are not merely heroic allies but the manifestation of the ancient divine pair Nārāyaṇa and Nara. Ethically, it frames their actions as aligned with dharma and supported by the testimony of authoritative sages (Nārada and Vyāsa).
Bhīṣma, while instructing Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, cites what he previously heard from Nārada and Vyāsa: that Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are the incarnate Nārāyaṇa and Nara among humans, reinforcing their sacred status and the legitimacy of their dharmic mission.