Dasavatara and Bhagavatgita-Varaha and Nrsimha

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Varahavathara

 

Varaha means wild boar. HiranYaksha hid the earth in the

ocean and the Lord took the form of Varaha and killed him and brought back the

earth. Hiranya means gold and HiraNye akshiNee yasya, one whose

eyes are on gold is Hiranyaksha, who represents the materialistic outlook, hiranyabudDhi,

as opposed to bhagavathbuddhi , thoughts on the Lord. The earth is

immersed in materialism and the Lord brings it back and puts it on the waters

of bhagavtbuddhi. Mahavaraha, as the incarnation is called, is also known as vrshaakapi,

(Vishnusahasaranama), meaning dharma varaha, embodiment of dharma, vrsha

meaning dharma and kapi also means varaha besides monkey.

Srimadbhagavatham describes Varaha as yajna varaha, while Gita says sarvagatham brahma nithyam yajne

prathishTitham, Brahman the supreme reality is established in yajna.

Further in Gita the Lord says aham krathuh aham yajnaH , "I am the

sacrifice." In Narsimhavathra Hiranyakasipu stopped all the yajnas since Lord

Vishnu is present in yajna.

 

In Varahapurana the Lord says that if one contemplates on

Him always while he has control over his faculties , The Lord will remember him

even if the man is not able to think of the Lord in his last moments. He says

in the Gita ye thu sarvaaNikarmaaNi mayi

sannyasya mathparaaH ananyenaiva yogena maam Dhyaayantha upaasathe theshaam

aham samyudDhartha mrthyusamsaarasaagaraath (BG.12.6), I uplift those, who

offer all there actions tome and worship Me with unfailing devotion, from the

sea of samsara. This is the implication of varahavathara. Bhoodevi prayed to

the Lord when she was immersed in the

ocean and she is not only His consort but also a devotee and a dependent. Hence

the Lord took the form of a wild boar and

lifted her from the ocean.

 

Narasimhavathara

 

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu were brothers and alike in

attitude. Kasipu means food and clothing. hiraNyam kasipuH yasya saH hiraNyakasipuH, meaning, one to whom

gold is the food and clothing. Prahlada represents bhagavathbuddhi which is hindered by hiranyabuddhi. When the true devotee is persecuted by the

materialistic world the Lord comes to his rescue as he protected Prahlada every

time when Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him. Finally when his faith was

challenged the Lord appeared as Narasimha and killed Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada

told his father that the Lord Hari is everywhere and when Hiranyakasipu asked

him whether his Lord would protect him

if Hirnyakasipu kills him by his sword right then, Prajhlada replied

"no, He would not because the Lord would not allow you to raise the sword in the first place." Such

faith was rewarded which confirms the declaration in the Gita kountheya

prathijaaneehi name bhaakthaH praNaSyathi,(BG9.31) " affirm on my behalf ,

Arjuna , that my devotee never perishes.

 

The reason the Lord appeared as half man half lion was to

protect the words of another devotee, Brahma, who has given the boon to

Hiranyakasipu that he would not be killed either by man or animal, either

during day or night , either inside or outside and by any weapon. The Lord had to satisfy all the conditions to

make true the words of Brahma though He could have killed Hiranyakasipu in any

manner He liked. Also to prove true the words of Prahlada that the Lord is

everywhere, in a blade of grass or in a pillar Narasimha was occupying all

places at that moment ready to come out of whichever place Hiranyakasipu was

going to point at. Deiska says in his varadarajapanchasat that the whole

universe except that one pillar out of which the Lord came , is nrsimhagarbha,

occupied by Narasimha even today.

 

Narasimha was described as na mrgam na maanusham,

neither man nor animal, being half man

half lion. This signifies that he was dhvandhvaatheetha, beyond the

pairs of opposites, dhvandhvas such as love and hate, gain and loss and joy and sorrow, while

the boons of Hiranyakasipu denote the dhvandhvas. The meaning of

Narasimhavathara is that only one who has transcended the dhvandhvas,

like raga-dvesha, likes and dislikes can win over the hiranyabuddhi.

 

Prahlada is the example of a true devotee as described in

the Gita, vaasudhevassarvam ithi sa mahaathmaa sudhurlabhaH (BG. 7.19), the

great soul who considers that vasudeva is

everything is very rare.

The Lord proved by His protecting Prahladha the

declaration in the gita yo maam paSyati

sarvathra sarvam cha mayi paSyathi thasya aham na praNasyaami sa cha me na

praNasyathi(BG.6.30) One who sees Me everywhere and everything in Me, I

never perish (cease to exist) in him nor he perishes in Me.

 

The story goes that the Dvarpalakas of Vaikunta were

cursed by the sages sanakadhi to be born on earth and the Lord granting their

request that they will be taking three births as His enemies so that they wpuld

return to vaikunta soon. Their first birth was Hiranyaksha and Hiranya kasipu,

and the next was as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and the last was as Sisupala and

Dhanthavakra. The pride of the dvarapalakas had to be quelled and since the

pride is associated with the other five

enemies of man, they had to be conquered.

 

The Lord says in the Gita, ahamkaaram balam dharpam kaamam krDham cha samSrithaaH maam

aathmaparadheheshu pradhvishanthaH abhyasooyakaaH, while describing the

nature of asuree sampath, demonic qualities. It means, arrogance, brutal

strength, pride, lust, anger and cavil and jealousy which make them inimical

towards the Lord.

 

Hiranyaksha stands for madha, arrogance and

Hiranyakasipu denotes krodha , anger. Ravana signifies kama,

desire and kumbhakarna, moha, delusion Sisupala and Dhanthavakra denote maathsarya,

jeolousy, and lobha, greed respectively. It is significant that the Lord destroyed

Ravana and kumbhakarna in one incarnation as Rama and Sisupala and Dhanthavakra

in the next as Krishna. But to destroy the two

brothers Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu He had to take two incarnations which

shows that it is more difficult to conquer arrogance and anger.