Narayana's color

[N. Ganesan]

Prof. Madhav Deshpande wrote:
 >        Some clarification on nara -> nArAyaNa may be useful.  While
 > such a derivation of the word nArAyaNa from nara- may be
 >theoretically possible, cf. dak.sa -> daak.saaya.na, the tradition
 >does not derive naaraaya.na from nara-.  It derives the word
 >naaraaya.na from the word naaraa (f. 'water', cf. aapo naaraa iti
 >proktaa.h) by adding ayana.

   According to two Sanskritists, nArAyana originating out of
nArA (=water) is a later theological speculation. Vishnu
sleeping in the Ocean of Milk may have more to
do with Him being the God of Yadukulam. Please note
that Vishnu is the God of Mullai landscape (land of iDaiyar
(yAdhavas) amidst the five ancient Tamil landscapes in CT.

Cologne Sanskrit Lexicon gives nArAyana from nara:
""  nArAyaNa
  Meaning m. (patr. fr. %{na4ra} q.v.) the son of the original Man
(with whom he is generally associated e.g. Mn. i , 10 ; he is
   identified with Brahma1 ib. 11 with Vishn2u or Kr2ishn2a TA1r.
    MBh. &c. ; the Apsaras Urvas3i1 is said to have sprung from his
          thigh Hariv. 4601 ; ..""

  Is this nara -> nArAyana connected to Drav. naLa -> nara?

Kind regards,
N. Ganesan

 >        While the derivation of nALAyaNI from naLa, on the face of
 >it, may be similar to the derivation of daak.saaya.nii from dak.sa,
 > the derivation of naa.laa in naa.laagiri from na.la does not seem
 >so straight forward. Also the meaning 'black' for nala- is not
 >known in its Sanskrit usage.




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