Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī remarks that Nārada’s addressing Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi as an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa is perfectly appropriate, in accordance with the following statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.3.28): ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ/ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. “All of the above-mentioned incarnations [including Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi] are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.”

In his commentary on this verse, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi asking, “Why do you offer obeisances to Kṛṣṇa instead of Me, your guru, who am standing here before you?” Nārada explains his action by saying that Lord Kṛṣṇa assumes all-attractive incarnations like Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi to end the conditioned souls’ material life. By offering obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa, therefore, Nārada honors Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi and all other manifestations of Godhead as well.

This prayer of Nārada’s is the essential nectar he has extracted from the personified Vedas’ prayers, which themselves were churned from the sweet ocean of all secrets of the Vedas and Purāṇas. As the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad (Pūrva 50) recommends, tasmāt kṛṣṇa eva paro devas taṁ dhyāyet taṁ rasayet taṁ bhajet taṁ yajed iti; oṁ tat sat: “Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Godhead. One should meditate on Him, relish the taste of reciprocating loving exchanges with Him, worship Him and offer sacrifice to Him.”