Sri Hayagreeva avtaar

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Sri:

 

Dearest Sisters and Brothers,

 

jnAnAnanda-mayam devam nirmalas sphaTikAkRtim |

AdhAram sarvavidyAnAm hayagrIvam upAsmahe ||

 

Introduction:

 

Generally vidyaarmbam among sri vaishnavas begins with a prayer to Lord

Sri Hayagreeva, preceded by obeisance to our Acharyaas. Even today

Vijayadasami and Sarsvathi pooja are celebrated in Srivaishnavas homes

with the recitation of Sri Hayagreeva sthOthram. (in our home at

least!). The Parakala Mutt, situated in Mysore, is one the most ancient

and premier Srivaishnava religious institutions in the country that came

into being for the specific purpose of propagating Sri Ramanujam's

Visishtadvaita philosophy. Sri Lakshmi Hayagreeva (the Lord with the

horse's face) Haya-horse: greeva-neck: this Lord is the presiding deity

for all knowledge - 'Aadhaaram sarvavidhyaanaaam Hayagrivam upaasmahe'-

is the principal deity of the Parakala Mutt, the icon being one of the

most beautiful ever adorning the mutt. Sri Hayagreevar Divya MangaLa

vigraham is also the president deity for Sri Poundareekapuram Andavan

Ashramam and also greatly revered by Sri Ahobila Mutt and Andavan

Ashram.

 

 

SRI HAYAGREEVA AVATAAR

 

The avataram of Hayagriva Bhagavan took place to restore the Vedas to

Brahma. Emperumaan had taught BrahmA the Creation through His breath of

VedAs. Then, Brahma could understand how various kalpams had begun due

to Emperumaan's vEdOpasEam. He became extremely proud and head strong of

his position as the creator and about his powers/jnAnam. Sriman Narayana

as usual wanted to teach him and decided to remove his (Brahma's) pride.

A couple of water droplets from the lotus seat of the Lord incarnated as

two Asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha; Due to Bhgawath sankalpam, one

(kaitapan) was of thamO guNA and the other (madhu) was of rajO guNA.

They stole the Vedas from Brahma. Emperumaan smiled.

 

Unable to carry on his work of creation without the Vedas, Brahma rushed

to the Lord and pleaded the Lord Narayana for mercy and saving Vedas.

BrahmA prostrated to the Lord and said Vedas alone are my eyes; they are

my wealth; They are my Lord. The whole world is surrounded by darkness

due to the absence of Vedas. How am I to proceed on my creation without

the Vedas? Please arise from the Yoga nithrA and help me Lord! Please

give me back my eyes which have been blinded by my own pride.

 

"vEdhA: mE paramam sakshI: vEdhA: mE paramam param/ vEdhA: mE paramam

dharma, vEdhA mE brahma sOtthamam//"

 

Lord Narayana incarnated as Hayagriva, appeared as the white Horse

faced, faultless sphatika hued form, satva mUrthy, with Divya tEjas, and

lustrous form and destroyed the Asuras and restored the Vedas to Brahma.

(This avtaar was made on a AvaNi month, sravaNa nakshthram paurNami

thithi during some kalpam). With a lovely long nose, like the heaven

surrounded by white bright stars, the asva siras (head of horse)

illumined the whole world. The upper world and the lower world became

His ears. The rays of Sun's brightest lustres are His hairs at the nape

of His neck (pidari). BhUmi became His forhead; Ganga and Saraswathi

became two lovely eyebrows; Chandra Sooryar (The Moon and the Sun)

became His two eyes; SandhyA dEvathai became His nostrils; Pithru

devathAs became His teeth; GolOkam and Brahma lOkam became His two lips;

kalaraathri became His neck; The Divya tEjas Sathva mUrthy Sri

Hayagreevan thus, in a grandest beautiful manner appeared. He rushed to

PaathaaLa lOkam and raised His "uthGitham" in samavEdha swaram and

terrified Madhukaitapa asurAs; They hid the VedhAs (which were in the

form of babies) and ran away from the scene. Sri Hayagreevar handed over

the Vedas to BrahmA and went back. Madhukaitapar searched for the sound

which terrified them earlier but found the Vedas missing. They rushed to

BrahmA who in turn was terribly scared and sought the help of Sriman

Narayanan. Sri Hayagreevar made a "hoo….n" sign and fought with asurAs

and killed them. BrahmA continued his work of creation.

 

This avataar is described in VishNu puraaNam as "mathsya kUrma varaaha

ashva simha rUpaathibhi:". In BrahmANda purANam during

maheshwara-naradha samvaadham, Naradha describes this avthaar. Even when

naradha praises Sri rangan in this PurANam, he says "ashva sirasE

namah:". That is why the Lord is called Madhusoodhanan. (for having

killed madhu and kaitabhar). Sri Paraasara Bhattar in his Sri

Rangarajasthavam (utthara sathakam-52 nd slOka) sais "Sri ranganAthA!

You, as Hayagreeva rUpI, removed the hurdles of madhu, kaitapar to

BrahmA and recovered the VedhAs and saved the whole world!". In

MahAbharatham, Shanthi parvam, hayasira upaakhyaanam details Hayagreeva

avathaaram. Srimadh Bhagawatham, too, describes Hayagreeva avtaar.

 

2. There is another version of this avtaar and killing of asurAs. When

paraLayam was about to end, Bhagawaan out of His dirt from the ear drum

made two small solid balls and dropped on the Lotus leaf and BrahmA

activated the PrANa vaayu, which gave life to these two, as madhu and

kaitabhar. These asurAs appeared and grew up.

 

BrahmA started off his creation and Vedhas were snatched away by these

two asurAs. When the most compassionate Lord, Parama kaaruNikO Bhagawaan

wished to please the asurAs, without killing them, asked them as to what

they want as a boon. These two asurAs said "we can give You what You

want". That is it! The Lord decided to kill them. They said "Can You

kill us only where there is no cover for the sky?". The Lord immediately

took Hyagreeva avtaar and removed His cloth on the Thighs, put them on

His thighs and killed them. Bhagawaan's legs house the Earth and the

space/sky. Since the Lord removed the cloth from His thighs and killed

them, He still complied with what they challenged Him. What they thought

was impossible to happen, He could make it happen with no effort. He,

thus saved the Vedas and saves the world. The moral is: thamas, rajas

guNAs are to be destroyed to reach Him.

 

3. There is yet another interesting "different" version in BrahmANda

PuraaNam- Sri Devi Bhagawatham. There was a asurA, by name Hayagreeva

(with horse face) who did his severe penance/ tapas on Parvathi Devi.

Parvathi, pleased with his tapas, appeared in his front and the asurA

asked for "no death". She said "Impossible-can not be granted". Then the

asurA amended the request and said "Except for a horse faced one, no one

else can kill me". (thinking that it can never happen!). She consented.

He became tremendously proud of his achievement and started harassing

every deva and rishi. He troubles all three worlds. He snatched away the

Vedas from BrahmA and disappeared. Then is the history. The Lord

appeared as Hayagreevar and killed the asurA to save the world and bring

back the Vedas.

 

4. There is yet another puraaNic narration on Hayagreevar. At Kanchi,

Agasthya muni was on severe penance on Sriman Narayanan and the Lord

appeared as Hayagreevar and was immensely pleased with his tapas. He

blessed the muni with Devi mahaathmyam. This is described in BrahmANda

puraaNam Sri Hayagreeva agasthya samvaadham.

 

5. During Tripura samhaaram to entice the asurAs, the Lord appeared as

"other religious" saint (buddhism?) and appeared as Hayagreevar to

mislead the asurAs from the Veda maargham (from the path of Vediv

traditions and sayings). Thus, He made them lose their ability to get

saved and the Lord won. (As also claimed and reported in Buddhism in a

web site as follows: Like Mahakala, Hayagriva is one of the Eight Great

Protectors of Buddhism, a guardian and a destroyer of obstacles to

enlightenment(!). He is a popular personal, or tutelary, deity among the

Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism. Hayagriva's crown of skulls is

surmounted by Hayagriva's attribute, a horse's head, alluding to his

origin as a horse-headed Hindu god. The terrific neigh that emanates

from this horse's head is said to pierce through the illusory nature of

reality. Although he was also popular in Tibet and China, Hayagriva's

association with the horse may have had a particular appeal to the

Mongols. (This, I read in the Net in some buddhism web site!) Swami

Desikan in his "navarathna maalai" says " puRamuyarttha asurargatku

puRam uRaittha poyyinaan". (to explain the Lord thus, misleading the

asurAs by taking non-vedic religion (Buddhism)).

 

Scriptures on Hayagreevar (Madhusoodhanan): - Next post please

 

 

Ram Ram

 

With Best Regards

 

NarayaNa dAsan madhavakkannan

 

 

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Sri :

Srimate Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane Namaha

 

Dear Sri Madhava Kannan & other devotees ,

namo nArAyanA . kindly accept adiyen's pranAmams .

 

Sri mAdhava kannan wrote :

 

2. There is another version of this avtaar and killing of asurAs. When

 

3. There is yet another interesting "different" version in BrahmANda

PuraaNam- Sri Devi Bhagawatham. There was a asurA, by name Hayagreeva

----------------

 

adiyen : adiyen guesses that Sriman mAdhava kannan didn't quite express

his thiru ULLam (intention) exactly here (choice of words may be

misinterpreted by

readers like adiyen). There cannot be multiple versions of the same

incident

/ LeelA of Sriman NArAyanA with explicit contradictions. If they are

quite

contradictory in evidence (pramAnam) it is to be understood that the

narrations

pertain to the actual incidents that occured in different kalpAs ie.

In one kalpA ,

nArAyanA performed the LeelA as reported in one pramAnam & in another

kalpA ,

nArAyanA performed the leelA as reported in another pramAnam . The two

contradictory pramAnams obviously are not narrating the same incident .

The other

possibility is that both the LeelAs took place in the same kalpA at

different time

periods . Depending upon the particular incidents in question one can always

come to

some conclusions like that .

 

For instance , Suka Brahma Maharishi (Srimad BhAgavatham) while describing

the

most glorious Nrusimha avatAram says that even Goddess Lakshmi was

unable

to face the angry of Nrusimhan & kept some distance ( Ofcourse pirAtti's

intention

to glorify the bhaktA PrahalAdA is understood ) . This is the way it is

described in

other purAnams dealing with Nrusimha avatAram ,with one exception as that

of pAdma purAnam .

 

Our dear Kaliyan (Thirumangai AzhvAr ) describes the nectarian pastime

of how

Nrusimhan made pirAtti seated on His left lap & embraced Her with

1000 hands

( ie. With so much love ) giving the sevai as that of MAlolan , after

slaying the

demon Hiranyakashipu . This same description is given in pAdma purAnam

also

 

This doesn't mean that vyAsar is writting some fiction story with some

imagination

& Kaliyan is in a dream world of his own imaginations & speculations .

Unfortunately

all the rich & glorious writtings / revealations of Rishis & AzhvArs are

categorically

branded as "myths "& blasphemy after blasphemy are made on these things

over the

years by many ignorant men. These are not some "symbolism" of the

purAnic level ;

personification of this & that etc & are different from "vedic - level" . All

these funny & speculatory ideas are somehow prevalent these days .

 

VyAsar/ Sukar being parama bhAgavathAs had the qualification to enjoy

the nectarian

pastimes of NArAyanA in front of their eyes (jn~Ana drushti ) . NArAyanA

reveals to them . Similarly MAlolan revealed His pastimes to Kaliyan (

No wonder why he is an AzhvAr ).

Nrusimhan performed a type of pastime in one kalpA & another pAstime in a

different

kalpA & are revealed to such parama bhAgavathAs . It is not a joke

to become a

great bhAgavathA like either vyAsA or kaliyan . Humility is needed to

understand these things .

 

NArAyanA out of great compassion performs many leelAs for teaching some

dharmA

/morals to the baddha jIvAtmAs . This doesn't mean that all of His leelAs are

for that

only. There are many instances where He & His devotees enjoyed their

communion .

 

However , it is strongly to be noted that vyAsar is not writing some

fiction to teach

morals . Such blasphemies are somehow floated around by many & its

undigestable for

we Sri VaishnavAs / devotees of Sriman nArAyanA .

 

namo nArAyanA

adiyen

anantha padmanAba dAsan

krishnArpanam

P.S. : Sorry dear Sriman Madhavakannan for conveying some of adiyen's

frustrations using your postings as a vyAjA .

[Guest guest]

> However , it is strongly to be noted that vyAsar is not writing some

fiction to teach

> morals . Such blasphemies are somehow floated around by many & its

undigestable for

^^^^^^^^^^^

> we Sri VaishnavAs / devotees of Sriman nArAyanA .

 

The word "blasphemy" should not be a part of a SrI vaishnava's

vocabulary, in my humble opinion.

 

In this particular instance, are you saying that it is never

the case that our elders, including vyAsa bhagavAn, used

parables to teach us lessons? At least in the vedas, stories

are used often to extol the performance of sacrifice. This

is common in pUrva-mImAmsA, and is known as "pariplavana".

The story may not have any basis in reality, other than its

underlying significance.

 

With respect to episodes from the purANa-s, there are some

who accept them wholesale, and some who view them more allegorically

or symbolically, thinking that they signify a truth that does

not depend on the literal reality of the stories. My point is

not to say one is wrong and the other correct. But it does no

good to declare one viewpoint a blasphemy because it disagrees

with one's understanding of sampradAyam -- I think it is safe

to say that, at least among members of this list, no lack of

reverence and no contempt is shown in either viewpoint.

 

AzhvAr emberumAnAr dEsikan jIyar tiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

Thanking you,

daasan

Mani

 

P.S. Dear Members: please take care in formatting your

paragraphs. Do not let a line be more than 60 or 70

characters long, or your message will be far less readable.

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 17 Aug 1998, Mani Varadarajan wrote:

> With respect to episodes from the purANa-s, there are some

> who accept them wholesale, and some who view them more allegorically

> or symbolically, thinking that they signify a truth that does

> not depend on the literal reality of the stories. My point is

> not to say one is wrong and the other correct. But it does no

> good to declare one viewpoint a blasphemy because it disagrees

> with one's understanding of sampradAyam -- I think it is safe

> to say that, at least among members of this list, no lack of

> reverence and no contempt is shown in either viewpoint.

>

 

I second Mani's view on this matter as I find myself that a literal

interpretion of many of the incidents/descriptions lead to mutual

contradictions between different purANAs (I will put aside the

classification of these into Sattva, Rajas, Tamas for now) and also

within a purANa. For example the differences in the very geneaology

of the Solar Dynasty between Srimad Bhagavatam and Ramayana, the

difference in the story of Sunasshepa (DevarAta) and many others.

How do you explain literally the hiding of Bhoomi by HiranyAksha

in the 'waters'? You also have to keep in mind the interpolations

in almost all of these works.

 

I also thought I will raise another doubt that I have and haven't

yet got it clarified.

 

This pertains to the dasavataras as described in Srimad Bhagavatam.

In the many dasavatara stotrams that I have come across, the order

is always matsya, kUrma, varAha, narasimha, vamana, parasurama etc.

(in fact a number of our people wave this card to let others know

this anticipates the Evolutionary theory :-)). But if one reads

Bhagavatam the kUrma avatara comes after narasimha avatara. It also

fits in there in that the king of the daityas is Bali (the son of

Virochana and the grandson of Prahlada). Can someone try to explain

the reason for this difference. (the order is the same whether one

takes the dasAvatAra stotras of Sri Jayadeva, Sri Desikan or Sri Ananda

tIrtha).

 

 

-gopal