VERSES IN PRAISE OF VARAHA AVATAR

[Guest guest]

When Lord Varaha appeared He declared: For the benefit of all, I shall

bring back to her former place the earth, who has the girdle of the

oceans, whose limbs are overrun by all kinds of creatures and who has

disappeared. I shall kill the naughty Hiranyaksha, an offspring of

Diti. (Mahabharata 12.236.71-73)

Verses in praise of Sri Varaha

 

The supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices accepted the incarnation of a

boar for the welfare of the earth. He lifted the earth from the nether

regions of the universe. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.7)

 

When the unlimitedly powerful Lord assumed the form of a boar as a

pastime, just to life the planet earth which was drowned in the great

ocean of the universe called Garbhodaka, the first demon (Hiranyaksa)

appeared and the Lord pierced him with the tusk. (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.1)

 

When her child falls in a well, the mother because of excessive

parental affection (vatsalya) jumps in and saves it. Similarly when

earth (prthivi) was sinking in the underworld, the Lord took the form

of a boar and in the twinkling of an eye dived in and brought her out.

(Sri Pillan's Tiruvaymoli 7.5.5)

 

To rescue the earth He appeared during the Svayambhuva- manvantara,

from Brahma's nostril, and during the Caksusa-manvantara, He appeared

from the water. Lord Varaha, the best of tusked beasts, appears to

kill Hiranyaksa and rescue the earth. Sometimes Varaha is a wild

animal of the forest and sometimes He is a domestic animal. Sometimes

He is dark as a raincloud and sometimes He is as white as the moon. In

this way, smrti-sastra describes two gigantic forms of Lord Varaha,

the form of Vedic sacrifices. Maitreya Muni described Lord Varaha's

pastimes at two different times as if they happened at the same time.

(Srila Rupa Gosvami's Laghu-bhagavatamrta 1.3.10-12,17)

 

O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the

form of a boar! All glories to You! The earth, which had become

immersed in the Garbhodaka Ocean at the bottom of the universe, sits

fixed upon the tip of Your tusk like a spot upon the moon. (Sri

Jayadeva's Dasavatara-stotra 3)

 

O Boar-bodied, foe of the demon (Hiranyaksha), holder of the earth (on

the tip of the tusk), possessor of excellent limbs (serving as means

of sacrifice), I salute You. (Sri Madhvacharya's Dvadasha-Stotra 4.4)

 

yad roma-rAndhra-paripUrti-vidhAv adakSA

vArAha-janmani babhvur amI samudrAH

taM nAma nAtham aravinda-dRzaM yazodA

pANi-dvayAntara-jalaiH snapayAM babhUva

 

"Although in His Varaha incarnation, many oceans could hardly even

fill the Lord's hair follicles, Yashodamayi bathed that same

lotus-eyed Lord (i.e, Shri Krishna) with just the water contained in

her two joined palms." --Krishna-karnamritam, 2.27

Varaha-avatara ki jaya!