Thus besought by the foremost of the celestials, that searcher of hearts, Visnu, although cognizant of the means whereby Rāvana was to be destroyed, asked the gods these amiable words,-What, you gods, is the means of compassing which I could slay that thorn of the ascetics? Nara means a multitude, and Ayana, dwellingplace. He whose dwelling-place is a multitude, is Nārāyana. Metaphorically, the word means evidently the Scorcher of hearts, worlds, and dreadful to ascetics!
ततो नारायणो विष्णुर्नियुक्तः सुरसत्तमैः। जानन्नपि सुरानेवं श्लक्ष्णं वचनमब्रवीत्॥ उपायः को वधे तस्य राक्षसाधिपतेः सुराः। यमहं तं समास्थाय निहन्यामृषिकण्टकम्॥