Reconstructing the cherry picked verse used by Vishnu dweshis from The Harivamsa

            ||prayers||

I bow down to My eternal mother, The Great Goddess of the universe who is the very cause of all Causes, The daughter of king Janka, Mother Sītā. I Prostrate before the Lord of The universe, the undisputed supreme being of the universe, whose lotus feet is worshipped by All the Gods, The Lord of the raghus, Sri Rama. I seek the blessings of my elder brother, The Greatest amongst warriors, The annihilator of Lanka, the one who defeated Rāvana and is the Greatest devotee of Lord Rāma, Lord Hanūmān. May the bless me always.

Introduction to the topic :

The different ways used by Modern day Vishnu dweshis, posed as Followers of Sri adi shankaracharya, Perhaps one of the Greatest of all times, Is truly laughable and perfect showcase of hypocrisy. These Bunch of blabbering "nirakar nirgun" Kids know perfectly how to Run their Anti Hari propoganda by simultaneouly hiding behind the Tag of "Hari Hara abheda". Now let me make this clear, I am not against those who believe in Hari Hara equality, since our sanatan dharma has given free will to all, but I do have a problem with these guys, who pose as hari hara believers, but Are always trying to steal the Glories of Lord Vishnu and showing him inferior to shiva. In this propoganda of stealing glories of Narayana, This formless beings cherry pick the following verse from the Harivama parva of The mahabharata

नामानि तव गोविन्द यानि लोके महान्ति च | तान्येव मम नामानि नात्र कार्य विचरण || shiva Says, “Whatever names you have Oh Govinda!,they are my names only without doubt.” ~ Harivamsa Purana

And then, These Formless Guys Happily claim things like "narayana can be used for shiv" or "Narayana gaytri is for shiva also", while with utter shamelessness, These guys deny the Position of The epics as panchvedas, even though the Vedas themselves say it other than the acharyas themselves. Through this post, I will explain what the above statement Given by Shiva actually means.

 Beholder of all names

The Vedas, which are the universally accepted texts and considered the final authority, Convey one fact throughout them ~ The supreme reality is only one, and he is the one who is the solo holder of all names including Indra, Agni, Vishnu, Rudra, Yama, Soma, visvakarma etc and through various posts on this blog, I have shown how The supreme being is Narayana alone. Still for the sake of convinience, I will Show how God Narayana is the Beholder of all names alone. Let us start from the First mentioned verse itself :

Rg Veda 1.164.46

इन्द्रं॑ मि॒त्रं वरु॑णम॒ग्निमा॑हु॒रथो॑ दि॒व्यः स सु॑प॒र्णो ग॒रुत्मा॑न् ।

एकं॒ सद्विप्रा॑ बहु॒धा व॑दन्त्य॒ग्निं य॒मं मा॑त॒रिश्वा॑नमाहुः ॥४६॥

They called him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni; and he is heavenly Garuda, who has beautiful wings. The truth is one, but the sages (or learned ones) call it by many names or describe him in many ways; they called him Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan.

This has always been the ideology of sanatan dharma i.e knowing the fact that The Supreme being (Narayana) is one, who is worshipped in diff forms. The essence of this verse is repeated again in the last Mandala of rig ved :

yo naḥ pitā janitā yo vidhātā dhāmāni veda bhuvanāniviśvā | yo devānāṃ nāmadhā eka eva taṃ sampraśnambhuvanā yantyanyā ||

"Father who made us, he who, as Disposer, knoweth all races and all things existing, Even he alone, the Deities' narne-giver,him other beings seek for information."(Rig ved 10.82.3)

As explained in This article, The Visvakarma suktam is well known to be a hym dedicated to Lord Vishnu, which is even confirmed by Adi shankaracharya, and so As evident from the above mantra, Lord Narayana alone is the one who gave birth and names to all Gods, which automatically implies that Initially He had all those names, because As per Mahaopanishad/ Painingini Rahasya Brahmana of Rig ved / subala Upanishad/ Mahabharata/ Ramayana, lord Narayana alone was present during the Beginning of the Kalpa and at the end as well. This mantra is Echoed again in the Yajur veda :

"He who is our father, our begetter, the ordainer, Who begot us from being unto being , Who alone assigneth their names to the gods, Him other beings approach for knowledge. Wealth they won by offering to him The seers of old like singers in abundance, They who fashioned these beings illumined and unillumined .In the expanse of space." (Yajur veda, Taittiriya samhita, 4.6.2)

Moreover, All Gods are said to be the children of Bhu devi (Mahalakshmi) and Prajapati (Narayana) as per the same Yajur ved :

"This was in the beginning the waters, the ocean. In it Prajapati becoming the wind moved. He saw her, and becoming a boar he seized her. Her, becoming Viçvakarma, he wiped. She extended, she became the earth, and hence the earth is called the earth (lit. 'the extended'). In her Prajapati made effort. He produced the gods, Vasus, Rudras, and Adityas. The gods said to Prajapati, 'Let us have offspring.' He said [1], 'As I have created you by penance, so seek ye offspring in penance.' He gave to them Agni as a support, saying, 'Strive with that support.' They strove with Agni as a support." (yajur ved Taittiriya samhita 7.1.5)

The Lord in The Bhagwat geeta explains how he alone is to be known by the vedas :

"I am seated in the hearts of all beings. Memory, knowledge, as well as their loss come from Me. I alone am to be known from all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of Vedanta as well as its knower." (15.15)

Which he repeated in The santi parva :

"In the Rigveda, in the Yajurveda, in the Atharvans and the Samans, in the Puranas and the Upanishads, as also in the treatises on Astrology, O Arjuna, in the Sankhya scriptures, in the Yoga scriptures, and in the treatises also on the Science of Life, many are the names that have been mentioned by the great Rishis. Some of those names are derivable from my attributes and some of them relate to my acts. Do thou hear, with concentrated attention, O sinless one, what the import is of each off those names (in particular) that have reference to my acts. I shall recite them to you ." (Source : Mahabharta, Santi parva, section CCXLIII)

The valmiki Ramayana mentions how vedas are his speech i.e Vedas emanate from him :

nimeṣaste smṛtā rātrirunmeṣo divasastathā || 6-117-25 saṃskārāstvabhavanvedā naitadasti tvayā vinā |     ~Night has been recognized as the closing of your eye-lids and the day, as the opening of eye-lids. The correct usages of your words are the Vedas. Bereft of you, this visible universe does not exist."

so there is no doubt about the Fact that the all names beholder is Lord Narayana alone, Who later gave them to all the Gods. Further, it is also confirmed by the fact that Narayana is the unborn one, while all other Gods have Birth.

             Cherry picking 

This verse is translated wrong and then is Cherrypicked To prove Anti vishnu agendas. The whole verse is as follows :

āvayorantaraṃ nāsti śabdairarthairjagatpate ।

nāmāni tava govinda yāni loke mahānti ca ॥

tānyeva mama nāmāni nātra kāryā vicāraṇā ।

tvadupāsa jagannātha sevāstu mama gopate ॥

yaśca tvāṃ dveṣṭi deveśa sa māṃ dveṣṭi na saṃśayaḥ । na tadasti vinā deva yatte virahitaṃ kvacit ॥ yadāsīdyacca varteta yacca bhāvi jagatpate । sarvaṃ tvaṃ deva deveśa vinā kiñcitvayā na hi ॥

"O Lord who possesses the Universe as his body! there is no difference between us in terms of words and their meanings (which extend to the antaryamin by virtue of body-soul relationship). (And so), Whatever names are applicable to you are applicable to me too. Whoever worships you worships me too. Whoever hates you, he hates me too. There is nothing whatsoever that is without you. Whatever was, Whatever is, Whatever will be, is due to you. You are everything; there is nothing without you, O Lord of the Gods."

lod shiva here is referring Sharir atma Bhav between him and narayana which shall be explained further and These miscrients Convincingly Cherry pick that part which is highlighted, Distort the meaning, Add the word "sahasranam" there and then skip around. This itself makes everything clear.

Meaning of Shiva's statement 

To understand the True meaning of Shiva's statement, have a look at what The Lord Told Arjuna while mentioning Shiva :

"He is the destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice and the tearer of Bhaga's eyes. O son of Pandu, Rudra should be known to have always Narayana for his Soul. If that deity of deities, viz., Maheswara, be worshipped, then O Partha, is the puissant Narayana also worshipped. I am the Soul, O son of Pandu, of all the worlds, of all the universe. Rudra, again, is my Soul. It is for this that I always adore him. If I do not adore the auspicious and boon-giving Ishana (Shiva) nobody would then adore my own self. The ordinances I set are followed by all the worlds." (Source : Mahabharata, Santi parva, Section CCCXLII)

Lord Narayana is the supreme soul of the universe i.e He is the supreme indweller of all beings, of all Gods, including Rudra(Shiva). So this basically means that All praises for ths Gods, be it Indra, brahma of Shiva, They are actually meant for the supreme being who is the indweller of all i.e Narayana. Lord Krishna further explains (highlighted in Orange) that if Shiva is not worshipped, that means his indweller i.e Narayana is not worshipped, so he worships him inorder to set an example, through which ultimately the indweller of Shiva who is Narayana,is actually worshipped. Further, Krishna also mentions how

The Narayanopanishad states :

"He is perennial. Narayana is Brahma. Narayana is Shiva. Narayana is Indra and Kaala (god of death). All directions are Narayana. All sides are Narayana. Inside and outside is Narayana. Narayana is what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. Narayana is the only God who is blemish less, stain less, order less, end less and who cannot be described and when Narayana is there, there is no other second. He who knows this, becomes himself Lord Vishnu. Thus is read, the Upanishads of Yajur Veda."

i.e This means that The self or indweller of all these Gods is Lord Narayana. A similar statement is given in the Narayana suktam also:

"In the middle of that Flame, the Supreme Self dwells. This (Self) is Brahma (the Creator), Siva (the Destroyer), Hari (the Protector), Indra (the Ruler), the Imperishable, the Absolute, the Autonomous Being."

And The Lord repeated this In the Mahabharata as well, in a narration to maharishi Markandeya, from the Markandeya samasya parva :

"O best of regenerate ones, I am Narayana, the Source of all things, the Eternal, the Unchangeable. I am the Creator of all things, and the Destroyer also of all. I am Vishnu, I am Brahma and I am Sakra, the chief of the gods. I am king Vaisravana, and I am Yama, the lord of the deceased spirits. I am Siva, I am Soma, and I am Kasyapa the lord of the created things. And, O best of regenerate ones, I am he called Dhatri, and he also that is called Vidhatri, and I am Sacrifice embodied. Fire is my mouth, the earth my feet, and the Sun and the Moon are my eyes; the Heaven is the crown of my head, the firmament and the cardinal points are my ears; the waters are born of my sweat." 

The sixth khanda of Subalopanishad clarifies this further :

"At first there was not anything in the least. These creatures were born through no root, no support but the Divine Deva, the one Nārāyaṇa. The eye and the visible are Nārāyaṇa; the ear and the audible are Nārāyaṇa; the tongue and the 'tastable' are Nārāyaṇa; the nose and the 'smellable' are Nārāyaṇa; the skin and the tangible are Nārāyaṇa; manas and that which is acted upon by it are Nārāyaṇa; buddhi and that which is acted upon by it are Nārāyaṇa; ahaṅkāra and that which is acted upon by it are Nārāyaṇa; citta and that which is acted upon by it are Nārāyaṇa; vāk and that which is spoken are Nārāyaṇa; the hand and that which is lifted are Nārāyaṇa; the leg and that which is walked upon are Nārāyaṇa; the anus and the excreted are Nārāyaṇa; the genitals and the enjoyment of pleasure are Nārāyaṇa. The originator and the ordainer as also the agent and the causer of changes, are the Divine Deva Nārāyaṇa only. Ādityas, Rudras, Maruts, Vasus, Aśvins, the Ṛk, Yajus, and Sāma, Mantras, Agni, clarified butter and oblation—all these are Nārāyaṇa. The origin and the combination are the Divine Deva Nārāyaṇa only. Mother, father, brother, residence, asylum, friends and dependents are Nārāyaṇa only. The divine midis known as virājā, sudarśanā, jitā, saumyā, moghā, kumārā, amṛtā, satyā, sumadhyamā, nāsīrā, śiśirā, surā, sūryā, and bhāsvatī (fourteen nādis in all), that which thunders, sings and rains, viz., Varuṇa, Aryamā (sun), Candramas (moon), Kalā (part), Kavi (Śukra), the creator Brahma and Prajāpati, Indra, Kāla (or time) of days, half-days, Kalpa, the upper, and the directions—all these are Nārāyaṇa. That which was and will be is this Puruṣa only. Like the eye (which sees without any obstacle) the thing spread in the ākāś, the wise ever see this supreme seat of Viṣṇu."

equating the Supreme being Narayana doesnt makes them equal to him, it simply means Narayana is their indweller. The uttara narayana anuvaka found in Taittiriya aranyaka mentions bhu and Sri devi to be the wives of The "Sun", so does that means They are the consort of the sun God? No! The entire uttara narayana anuvaka is a hym to the "golden person" inside the sun, who is Narayana. This is further elaborated by bhagwatpada Ramanujacharya in his Vedaratha sangraha 1.151-153:

Even Prahlada proclaims, ‘As the infinite one is all-pervading, I am he, all things arise out of me and they all dwell In me, the primeval one (Vi. Pu. 1:19:85),. Here the basis for such a proclamation is given clearly by the clause, ‘As the infinite one is all-pervading’. As the highest Self pervades all beings, sentient and non-sentient, and as they form his body, all terms denote him, whose body all these entities are. Therefore the term ‘I’ signifies the Paramatman of whom the individual self is a mode. It is for this reason that the Vakyakara holds, ‘ *One should grasp it as one’s own atman, for all emanates from it’, and thus advocates the meditation on Brahman as the ‘ego’.* All entities—individual selves and physical forms— both in unmanifested and manifested states are constitutive of the body of the highest Self. So it is that itself which exists as cause and effect. He alone is thus embodied in all conditions. The Vakyakara brings out the reason in the words, ‘For all emanates from it’. The Sutrakara has formulated the idea in the Sutra, ‘The seekers meditate on him as the self and the scriptures teach him as the self (4:1:3)’.

In the Mahabharata Brahma addressed these words to Rudra: ‘Your inner self, my inner self, and the inner self of all embodied beings is the supreme Lord, Narayana (Moksha. 179:4)’. The supreme Lord Narayana exists as the inner self of Rudra, Brahma and all other embodied beings. And in the same work these further passages are found: ‘Vishnu is the atman of the blessed Bhava, possessing unlimited energy. He withstood therefore the touch of that bow-string (Karna. 35: 50).’Again, these two are the best of the celestials. They are born of favour and anger. They are shown the way by him and bring about creation and destruction (Mokhsa. 169:19)’. It means that Narayana, who dwells in them as their inner soul, shows them the way and thus they, Brahma and Rudra, become the creator and destroyer respectively

Bhakta shrestha prahlad maharaj equates himself to the all prevading being, and then says he (prahalad) is the source of all, so does this means Prahalad is the supreme parambrahma? Absolutely no, this simply talks of the all prevading nature of the Lord and reference to his indweller i.e bhagvan narasimha. Coming back to Harivamsa parva, Shiva begins the section by saying aham tvam sarvāgō dev tvamevā aham Janārdan. It is a reference to all-pervasiveness. This all-pervasiveness is because everything is his body, and just as an Atma pervades a body, and all names of the body refer to the Atman, Bhagavan has pervaded Shiva and thus names of Shiva refer to Hari. Names of Hari refer to Shiva on this account as well, because when the Atman is being referred to, it includes the body as well. Thus, the whole shloka means :

āvayorantaraṃ nāsti śabdairarthairjagatpate ।
nāmāni tava govinda yāni loke mahānti ca ॥
tānyeva mama nāmāni nātra kāryā vicāraṇā ।
tvadupāsa jagannātha sevāstu mama gopate ॥
yaśca tvāṃ dveṣṭi deveśa sa māṃ dveṣṭi na saṃśayaḥ । na tadasti vinā deva yatte virahitaṃ kvacit ॥ yadāsīdyacca varteta yacca bhāvi jagatpate । sarvaṃ tvaṃ deva deveśa vinā kiñcitvayā na hi ॥

"O Lord who possesses the Universe as his body! there is no difference between us in terms of words and their meanings (which extend to the antaryamin by virtue of body-soul relationship). (And so), Whatever names are applicable to you are applicable to me too. Whoever worships you worships me too. Whoever hates you, he hates me too. There is nothing whatsoever that is without you. Whatever was, Whatever is, Whatever will be, is due to you. You are everything; there is nothing without you, O Lord of the Gods."

To clarify this further, This is a reference to ths Body-soul relationship, This does not Equates their identity at all i.e shiva is the body and Narayana is the aatma, so All names of Narayana are valid for shiva. 

Hence, when one says "Shiva", it can refer to both Lord shiva and His indweller who is bhagvan Narayana himself. Similarly, when one says “Narayana”, it can refer to the Lord and also Rudra-shariraka-paramatma, of whom Rudra is his body and hence an inseparable attribute. Moreover, Shiva says "sarvam tvam deva deveśā vinā kiñcitvāya na hi", which implies that that Since everything is him (lord Narayana), so shiva is also him because of all prevading attribute of the Lord i.e the supreme Lord who is the antaryamin of all, is the antaryamin of Shiva also. Hence by addressing the Lord as Jagatpati, Lord Shiva further clarifies the fact that the only identity that exists is "Oneness" due to already explained Body-soul relationship i.e Narayana being antaryamin of all. He is everything means, he is the innerself of everything which is his body. Without him, there is nothing, meaning, just as a body cannot exist without the self, nothing can exist without being his body. Names of bhagvan Narayana are names of Shiva's indweller. Worship of the Lord is thus worship of Shiva's indweller. Those who hate the Lord, hate Shiva's indweller as well, who is the same Lord and the all prevading Supreme being. 

            Conclusion

So far, the fact has been made clear that God Narayana is the supreme indweller of all Gods, and he is the actual one who is worshipped when all the Gods are worshipped. All their names, powers and attributes have been derieved from God Narayana, Who is the creator of all Gods. Hence, The Statement made by Lord Shiva in Harivamsa actually means :

"Whatever names you have Oh Govinda!,they are the names of my indweller only without doubt, because You are my indwelling soul."

This simply means that All names of Narayana are valid for Shiva, because Those names ultimately denote the indweller of Shiva, who is Bhagvan Narayana himself. 

                 ||Sri SitaRama||

                               ||Jai Hanuman||