Shiva said: You were in your former life Nara, the friend of Narayana, You passed many thousands of years in fearful and austere asceticism.
देवदेव उवाच नरसवं पूर्वदेहे वै नारायणसहायवान्। बदाँ तप्तवानुचं तपो वर्षायुतान् बहून्॥