॥ श्रीः॥
ु
॥ श्रलक्ष्मरहयवदन लक्ष्मरनारायण वेणगोपाल परब्रह्मणे नमीः॥
ु
॥ श्र शठकोप रामानज देशशके भ्यो नमीः॥
ु
॥ श्र ब्रह्मतन्त्र स्वतन्त्र परकाल गरुपरम्परायै नमीः॥
SRI LAKSHMI HAYAVADANA AVATARAM
It is well known that the Supreme Lord has incarnated Himself on several occasions for the
cause of righteousness and Dharma. The most popular of these are the Dashavatarams.
Besides these, there have been several more as well. One such is the avataram of Sri
Hayagriva, the presiding deity of knowledge. All forms of learning and knowledge have their
origin in Him and emanate from Him. The avataram of Sri Hayagriva is the foremost of all
the other avatarams of Lord Sriman Narayana. It is an avataram with great significance.
Brahma, Rudra, Devas, Rishis and the like have meditated upon this Lord for gaining
knowledge. Bhagavan Vyasa has extolled Him as “vidya-sahaayavaan” (one who guides all
forms of study). Lord Sriman Narayana after having woken up from his yoga nidra created
Chaturmukha Brahma, the representation of satva gunam and ordained him with the duties
of creation after having initiated him into the Vedas. Two demons Madhu, the
representation of tamoguna and Kaitabha, the representation of rajoguna saw Chaturmukha
Brahma singing the four vedas in a nectarous tune with his four faces. With evil designs,
they plundered with the four vedas and went into the dark depths of patala lokam. A
helpless Brahma having lost the splendor of his knowledge, prayed to Lord Sriman Narayana
with all devotion. Pleased with his devotion, the Lord with the power of His Yoga, incarnated
with a wonderful horse face. This was not a ‘man-horse’ incarnation, but instead, the
manifestation of the Supreme form of vyuha Aniruddha into that of Sri Hayavadana. The
Hayashiropakhyana of Mahabharata attests to this fact by saying – “AinéÏtnaEiSwtm!”. It is
declared in the Vedas that in order to subdue the despicable rajoguna and tamoguna, the
best form of build is that of Hayashira or Hayagriva. The Lord incarnated in a resplendent
spotless white form of Hayagriva with four hands (chaturbhujam). His horse head depicted
the dwelling of the four Vedas showing the forms of the stellar world, His mane shone like
the rays of Sun, His two ears beamed like Akasha and Patala and His forehead like the Earth,
His eyebrows were vibrant like the rivers Ganga and Sarasvathi, His two eyes looked like the
Sun and the Moon with oceans inside, His nose looked like dusk (sandhya) and His utterance
or neigh was the supreme pranava (udgita), His tongue looked like a lightening streak, His
lips looked like bhulokam and pitrulokam and His neck looked like the deep dark night. The
Lord after having attained this divine and magnificent form that was the substructure for all
other forms of His went after the two demons into the Patala lokam. Having terminated the
demons effortlessly and redeemed the Vedas back to their pristine glory, He then taught the
same to Chaturmukha-Brahma, along with the Pancharatra and other shastras. It is for this
reason that Lord Hayagriva is considered the first acharya in the lineage of preceptors and
also the treasure house of the Vedas and the essence of all knowledge and vidya. This
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