Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 90
Kṛṣṇādi-mantra-varga-varṇana
Classification of Krishna and Related Mantras
पंचाक्षरश्च कृष्णाय कामरुद्धस्तथा परः । गोपालायाग्निजायांतो रसवर्णः प्रकीर्तितः ॥ ९० ॥
paṃcākṣaraśca kṛṣṇāya kāmaruddhastathā paraḥ | gopālāyāgnijāyāṃto rasavarṇaḥ prakīrtitaḥ || 90 ||
‘കൃഷ്ണായ’ എന്നത് പഞ്ചാക്ഷരമന്ത്രം. കാമനിരോധകമായ മറ്റൊരു മന്ത്രം പരമമെന്ന് പറയുന്നു. ‘ഗോപാലായ’ ചേർത്ത് ‘അഗ്നിജായാന്ത’ കൊണ്ട് അവസാനിക്കുന്ന സൂത്രം ‘രസവർണം’ എന്നു പ്രഖ്യാതം.
Narada (teaching in a technical mantra/vedanga context, in dialogue tradition with Sanatkumara lineages)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: bhakti
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It classifies specific Krishna-centered mantras by syllable-count and function, emphasizing that correctly formed sacred sound (akṣara/varṇa) is a direct means for inner restraint and higher devotion.
By highlighting mantras addressed to Kṛṣṇa/Gopāla, it frames bhakti as practiced through disciplined remembrance and recitation—devotion expressed as precise, tradition-guided sacred speech.
Śikṣā/mantra-śāstra: attention to akṣara (syllables), varṇa (phonemes), and prescribed endings of mantra-forms—showing how phonetic structure is treated as technically meaningful in ritual and japa.