According to Bhandarkar, the gods Nara-Narayana must have been very popular at the time of the composition of the Mahabharata, since in the opening stanzas of various parvas (constituent books) of the epic, obeisance is made to these two gods. In Vanaparvan (12. 46, 47), Krishna says to Arjuna,O invincible one, you are Nara and I am Hari Narayana, and we, the sages Nara-Narayana, have come to this world at the proper time.. In the same Parva, chapter 40 (verse 1); Shiva says to Arjuna — In former birth you were Nara and with Narayana as your companion, performed austerities for thousands of years at Badari.