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Varaha Avtaar
Indian mythology has a number of legends and stories attached. Lord Vishnu in the Indian mythology is famous for his ten incarnations also known as roop. One of the third avtaar of Lord Vishnu is known to be the Varaha Avtaar. The Varaha Avtaar is known to be the third avtaar of the God. The word Varaha stands for the word Boar in Sanskrit. Lord Vishnu incarnated as boar to save the mother earth.
Legends attached to Varaha Avtaar:-
Lord Vishnu is connected to Varaha Avtaar. The story states that as Lord Vishnu was one day was resting at his palace. Lord Brahma’s four sons came to meet Vishnu. The palace of Lord Vishnu was guarded by two guards known as Jaya and Vijaya. Seeing Children, Jaya and Vijaya both denied them to enter the palace. Getting very annoyed with the gatekeeper’s , Lord Brahma’s sons cursed the doorkeeper’s to be born as human’s and be away from the godly status.
A little later hearing to the noise Lord Vishnu came out. Seeing the children, Lord Vishnu arrived at the spot and apologized stating that the doorkeepers were just doing their duty. So as compensation for their insult they said that the curse will be only lifted when Jaya and Vijaya in human forms would meet their death at Lord Vishnu’s hands.
So Jaya and Vijaya were born as on earth, they were known as Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksh. When the two were born the earth shook violently. Worrying Indra went to Vishnu saying that if at the time of birth the situation is this, what will happen once they become big. Vishnu assured Indra that they will be killed by him.
Many years when later Hiranyakashyap became a big devotee of Lord Brahma. Pleased with his devotion, Brahma blessed him with a boon that no God, human, Daitya or Asura would be able to kill him. Blessed with immortality, he started to display his strength. With his strength he started to turn his waist side by side and began to churn the sea. Due to churning the sea, the waves started to go high. Seeing the situation Varun Dev got very scared of seeing such a scene and looked for a place to hide.
But Hiryanksh challenged him. At his Challenge Varun Dev accepted his defeat. Hiranyaksh was filled with pride, he went deep into the sea to churn water. Reaching in deep waters, he met Narad Muni. Hiranyaksh asked him,”Is there anyone as strong as or stronger than me?” Narad Muni said, “Yes, Lord Vishnu is the strongest.” Hiranyaksha started searching for Lord Vishnu, he couldn’t find it. The world was made into a round ball and went underwater in Pataal Lok.
All the gods became worried, they rushed to Lord Vishnu for getting worried. They said, “Lord please save us. Hiranyaksh has taken Earth and disappeared.” Don’t worry. I know he has taken Earth to Pataal Lok. I’ll soon get Earth back at its position.” Lord Vishnu took the form of Varaha, which is wild boar with two tusks. He went to Paatal lok to have a fight with Hiranyaksha. He used a number of weapons on Varaha, but he had no effect on it. He wounded his strong arms around the boar’s neck to strangle his neck. At that very moment, he appeared in his true form.. Lord Vishnu directed his Chakra at Hiranyaksha. The Chakra separated his head from body. Hiranyaka died there and then. Vishnu again took the form of Varaha. He picked up the earth, shaped like a ball on his two tusks. He left Pataal Lok through the sea. He placed the earth in the original position. Lord Vishnu was praised by everyone in heaven.
Varaha Avatar – Story of Hiranyaksha
The story of Varaha avatar starts with Hiranyaksha and the story of Hiranyaksha starts with the story of Jaya and Vijaya. So let’s start with the story of Jaya and Vijaya to understand Hiranyaksha’s story a bit better.
Story of Jaya and Vijaya
Jaya and Vijaya were the gatekeepers for Vaikhuntadham or Lord Vishnu’s home. It was their job to keep unwanted people from entering Vaikunta.
Once there were four sages – Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara. They were born out of the mind of Lord Brahma and were known as the Kumaras. Due to their divine parentage, they were unlike anyone else in this world. They looked like children but had intelligence and wisdom beyond the comprehension of anyone in this world.
One day Lord Vishnu was busy and had asked the brothers Jaya and Vijaya not to disturb him. That day Kumaras came to Vaikuntha and asked the gatekeepers to let them go and meet Lord Vishnu. The gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijaya told the Kumaras that Lord Vishnu was busy and had asked not to be disturbed.
Kumaras still insisted that Jaya and Vijaya let Lord Vishnu know about their arrival and ask Lord Vishnu if he will meet with them today. Since the Kumaras looked like young children, Jaya and Vijaya did not think they were important enough to go and disturb their beloved Lord.
Now, this is the point where Jaya and Vijaya made the biggest mistake of their lives. They did not show proper respect to the Kumaras and did not help them.
This angered the sages, and they cursed the gatekeepers that they will have to leave their place from Vaikunta and go live like mere mortals. When Vishnu got to know of this, he was sympathetic to his devoted gatekeepers. While he could not undo the curse of the sages, he gave Jaya-Vijaya a choice.
Vishnu told them that they can either take birth as Vishnu’s devotees for seven times or they can take birth as Vishnu’s enemy for three times before they can come back to Vaikuntha.
Both Jaya and Vijaya did not want to stay away from their beloved lord for a long time. So they chose the option of taking three births in the hopes of coming back sooner.
In their first birth, they were born as Hiranyaksh and Hiranyakshypu. They were Vishnu’s enemy and were killed by Varaha and Narasimha avatars, respectively.
Their second birth was as Ravan and Kumbhakaran. They were the main antagonist of the Ramayan. They were ultimately killed by Vishnu’s avatar, Ram.
In their third and last birth, they were born as Shishupal and Dantavakra. They were minor characters in Mahabharata, and their stories are easily missed in the grand epic. Both were killed by Vishnu’s avatar, Krishna. They were one of many villains killed by Krishna.
Story of Hiranyaksha
Hiranyaksha was the first of the three lives of Jaya-Vijaya brothers. In this life, Jaya had forgotten everything about his life as Vaikuntha’s gatekeepers. As Hiranyaksha, all he knew was a life as a powerful Asura who wanted even more power.
Hiranyaksha was a big devotee of Brahma. He did tapas for a long time and was ultimately able to please Lord Brahma himself. Lord Brahma came in front of him and asked what he wanted. He asked for immortality. Then Brahma told him that he can’t grant him immortality and told him to ask for something else.
Hiranyaksha thought for a while and then asked a boon to be indestructible from humans and animals. When Brahma asked for details in animals, he provided a list of various animals who could no longer harm him. Brahma granted him this wish, knowing that it is effectively making him immortal.
Over time, Hiranyaksha started tormenting everyone on Earth. After a point, he decided to steal mother earth herself. So he stole her and hid her in the cosmic sea. This created a lot of chaos.
Seeing this, Lord Vishnu inquired about the boon given by Brahma and realised that not all animals were included in the list. Lord Vishnu then took the form of a Boar or Varaha and went inside the cosmic sea to go look for Hiranayaksha and rescue mother earth or Bhudevi.
In the cosmic sea, Hiranyaksha challenged the boar to fight him. He was overconfident about his own powers and was sure no animal like bore would be able to defeat him. This turned out to be a big misjudgement on his part. The bore was Lord Vishnu in Varaha avatar and he was able to defeat Hiranyaksha in no time. Varaha impaled Hiranyaksha with his tusks, thus killing him instantly.
Then Varaha picked Bhudevi on its tusks and brought her out of the cosmic sea. Varaha then placed Bhudevi in her original position.
Varaha went back to Vaikuntha Lok, and Jaya’s one life was over.
Analysis
Varaha avatar depicts the arrival of land-based life forms on earth. After the aquatic and amphibious forms, big and powerful animals ruled the earth.
The story of this avatar as well is about taming nature itself. Basically, it is about making the earth habitable for the land-based life forms.
There are more stories from Dashavatara as shown below. Do check them out and find out more interesting facts.
Along with Brahma, the creator and Shiva, the destroyer, Lord Vishnu is one of the three main male deities in Hinduism and they are together known as the TRIMURTI. Being a part of the Trinity, He has taken ten incarnations and the ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu or the Dashavatara are the several forms He took whenever the universe was in turmoil. Each of Vishnu’s Avatars had the same purpose which they achieved by different means. This divine purpose was the restoration of Dharma or righteousness and to save the planet and the good people from the hands of evils, demons or Asuras.
The third avatar of Lord Vishnu is the Varaha Avatar [Varaha meaning “boar” in Sanskrit] which he took in the Satya Yug. In this avatar Lord Vishnu incarnated as a Boar to protect the earth [Prithvi].
The Varaha Avatar Story as in Puranas
The Varaha avatar starts with the Doorkeepers of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu lived in Vaikunta. Vaikunta was guarded by two gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijaya. They loved Lord Vishnu and felt honoured that they were protecting him. They were many people who came to visit Lord Vishnu and it was Jaya’s and Vijaya’s job to allow every person who had grievance to see the Lord. They knew that Lord Vishnu’s time was precious and could not be wasted.
One day Lord Brahma’s four sons came to meet Lord Vishnu at his abode – Vaikunth. Since Lord Vishnu was resting at that time, the two guards named Jaya and Vijaya stopped them from entering the gates.Lord Brahma’s sons were very angry and they cursed Jaya and Vijaya to be born as humans on earth. Guards pleaded them but Lord Brahma’s son wouldn’t listen.
Lord Vishnu after hearing some noises arrived at the spot and apologized for his guards, saying they were just doing their duty.But the curse can’t be taken back saying this Lord Brahma’s sons left. Lord Vishnu then addressed his guards and said that curse would be lifted if you both in human forms would meet your death at my hands. The guards had no choice but to agree to this. Both the guards were born as brothers named Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha.
Hiranyaksha was a great devotee of Lord Brahma. He worshiped him for years and in return Lord Brahma gave him a boon. According to the boon no God, human, Asura, devta, animal or beast would kill him. Hiranyaksha started torturing the people on earth as he was assured of his immortality. His powers grew by the day. He was such a giant that mother earth trembled when he walked and the sky cracked when he shouted.
He started harassing devtas and invaded Indra’s palace. Fearing for their lives, devtas took shelter in the caves of mountain ranges of earth. To harass devtas, Hiranyaksha grabbed earth and submerged it in paatal lok. Mother Earth sank to the bottom of the ocean.
At this time Manu and his wife Shatarupa was ruling over earth. Seeing this Manu & his wife came to Lord Brahma, bowed and said, “Father, tell us how we may serve you & ensure our happiness in this world & the next. Where should Shatarupa and I live as Mother earth is submerged in the ocean?”
Lord Brahma became worried and thought that mother earth should be rescued. He said, “Hiranyaksha will not be Varaha Avatar Story – Dashavatar Lord Vishudestroyed by me because I have granted him a boon. Let’s take help of Lord Vishnu!”
As Brahma meditated to Lord Vishnu, a tiny Boar fell from his nostrils. Wondering what that creature was, it grew and grew till it was a size of a large Mountain. It was Lord Vishnu and he said, “I will enter into the ocean to lift Mother earth out of it.” He took the form of a boar to kill Hiranyaksha because while getting the boon from Lord Brahma, among all the animals, Hiranyaksha forgot to mention boar as an animal.
Emitting a terrifying roar, he (Lord Vishnu in the form of Boar) took one mighty leap into the air and tore the clouds with its hoofs and dived to the bed of ocean in search of Mother earth. He reached the other end of the ocean and discovered in its depths Bhoomidevi (Mother Earth).
Meanwhile Hiranyaksha rushed to the sea shore where he encountered with Varuna, Lord of the ocean, and challenged him, ”O supreme Lord! O guardian of the whole sphere! Come & have battle with me.” Varuna became very angry as he knew that at this moment Hiranyaksha was mightier than him so he curbed his anger and said, “I have given up fighting as I am too old. You must fight with Vishnu; none but he alone would be an equal opponent for you. Go seek him out.”
Suddenly Narad arrived there. Hiranyaksha asked him, “Do you know the whereabouts of Vishnu?” Narad told him that Lord Vishnu was in the ocean rescuing Mother Earth. Angry Hiranyaksha charged towards the ocean-bed.
Meanwhile the Boar had just dug his tusk into the ocean-bed and lifted Mother Earth onto it, and began rising towards the surface. Hiranyaksha rushed towards him with a mace in his hand saying, “You fraudulent fellow! Where are you carrying away the earth conquered by me? Stop or I’ll crush your head with this mace!”
Varaha Avatar StorydashaHiranyaksha challenged Lord Vishnu in the form of a Boar to have battle with him but Vishnu ignored all his warnings and continued rising to the surface. Seeing this Hiranyaksha gave a chase, but the boar didn’t even looked back.
Hiranyaksha said, “Wait! You impostor! I know you can defeat all with your magic power but at present you are near me and I’ll surely defeat you.” The boar escaped to put mother earth at a safe place.
To this, Hiranyaksha became very angry and shouted, “How can you run away like a coward? Return me my earth.” The earth was already frightened but seeing Hiranyaksha it began to tremble more.
Lord Vishnu in Varaha avatar brought earth over the surface of ocean and placed it gently on it’s axis and blessed her. He then turned to face Hiranyaksha. The demon threw his mace at the boar but the boar stepped aside and raised his mace. They fought for a long time with their mace.
Now Brahma warned Vishnu, “You’ve only an hour before the sunset. Destroy the demon before it’s dark so that he gets no opportunity to resort his black magic.” Hearing Brahma’s word’s Hiranyaksha hurled his mace towards Lord Vishnu but later flung it away. Having lost the mace, Hiranyaksha began hitting out with his fists on the chest of the boar.
Lord Vishnu in Varaha avatar hit Hiranyaksha hard on his face with his fist and tossed him in the air. He fell over his head and died on the spot. Manu got his earth back and the Gods got back their heaven.
In this way Lord Vishnu in Varaha avatar slayed Hiranyaksha and saved Mother Earth from harm.
Story of Varaha Avatar
The Varaha Avatar is the third incarnation of the ten incarnations (Dashavatara) of the Hindu god Lord Vishnu.
According to Hindu Holy Scriptures, Lord Vishnu took avatar whenever the universe was in turmoil. Here, we have shared with you the story of Varaha Avatar.
What is Varaha Avatar?
As per the Hindu mythology, it was the demon named Hiranyaksha who dragged the Earth to the bottom of the sea.
It was Lord Vishnu who took the form of a boar (Varaha Avatar) to rescue it. They fought for a full thousand years.
After that, the Varaha Avatar slew the demon and raised the Earth out of the waters using his tusks.
Varaha Avatar is represented in full animal form or with the head of a boar and body of the man.
He is shown as a colossal boar with the Earth, which clings to one of his tusks.
In half-human and half-animal form, he is often portrayed standing with one leg bent supporting Bhumi Devi.
The divine purpose of Varaha Avatar was to restore Dharma or righteousness and save the planet earth from the hands of demons or Asuras.
Lord Vishnu took Varaha Avatar in the Satya Yug.
He incarnated as a Boar for protecting the Earth (Prithvi).
The Varaha Avatar derives its name from the Sanskrit word “Varaha” (Devanagari: वराह,varāha) which means “boar” or “wild boar.”
The word Varaha is found in Rig-Veda, where it means “wild boar.”
The Varaha Avatar Story
The roots of Varaha Avatar start with the doorkeepers of Lord Vishnu. The abode of Lord Vishnu is Vaikuntha Loka. It was guarded by two gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijaya. They loved Lord Vishnu very much and felt honored that they were protecting him.
It was Jaya and Vijaya who would allow people into the Vaikunta Loka to see the Lord. They knew that Lord Vishnu’s time was very precious and could not be wasted.
Once it so happened, that Lord Brahma’s four sons came to see Lord Vishnu in his Vaikunta Loka. However, Lord Vishnu was resting at that time. Thus, Jaya and Vijaya stopped them from meeting Lord Vishnu.
Lord Brahma’s sons were very angry with Jaya and Vijaya. They cursed Jaya and Vijaya that they would be born as humans on Earth. Jaya and Vijaya pleaded pardon, but Lord Brahma’s sons didn’t listen.
After hearing some noises, Lord Vishnu arrived at the spot. He apologized for his guards. He said that they were just doing their duty. Lord Brahma’s sons told that now they cannot take back the curse and left the place.
Now, Lord Vishnu told Jaya and Vijaya that this curse could only be lifted when they both meet their death at his hands. The guards agreed to this.
In due course of time, Jaya and Vijaya were born as brothers named Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha.
Hiranyaksha was immensely devoted to Lord Brahma. He worshipped Lord Brahma for many years and got the boon that no God, human, Asura, Devta, animal, or beast would be able to kill him.
So, Hiranyaksha became assured of his immortality. He started torturing people on Earth. He was such a giant that the Earth trembled when he walked, and the skies would crack when he shouted.
Hiranyaksha harassed the Devas and attacked Indra’s palace in heaven. All the Devas ran for their lives and hid in the caves of mountain ranges of Earth.
Hiranyaksha grabbed the Earth and submerged it in the Patal Loka. So, the Earth sank to the bottom of the ocean.
At this time, Manu and his wife Shatrupa were ruling the Earth. Seeing this, Manu and Shatrupa came to Lord Brahma and told their grief.
So, Lord Brahma told them that they would have to take the help of Lord Vishnu.
Now, Lord Brahma meditated to Lord Vishnu. A tiny boar fell from his nostrils. The creature grew and grew in size until it became the size of a mountain. It was Lord Vishnu. He said that he would enter into the ocean and save the mother earth.
So, Lord Vishnu took the Varaha Avatar (the form of a boar) for killing Hiranyaksha. With a mighty leap, Lord Vishnu dived to the bed of the ocean in search of mother earth. He reached the end of the ocean and discovered Bhumi Devi in its depths.
Meanwhile, Hiranyaksha rushed to the seashore. He encountered Varuna, Lord of the Oceans. He challenged Varuna Deva to have a battle with him. However, Varuna cleverly told Hiranyaksha that he must fight with Lord Vishnu as he is only an equal opponent for him.
At this moment, Narad arrived. Hiranyaksha asked the whereabouts of Lord Vishnu. Narad told him that Lord Vishnu was in the ocean to rescue Mother Earth.
So, angry Hiranyaksha charged towards the ocean bed.
Lord Varaha had dug his tusk into the ocean bed and lifted Mother Earth onto it. He began to move towards the surface.
Hiranyaksha saw Lord Varaha and rushed towards him with his mace. He challenged Lord Vishnu as Varaha Avatar to have battled with him. However, Lord Varaha put the mother earth at a safe place.
Now, Lord Varaha turned to face Hiranyaksha.
The demon threw his mace at the Lord. However, Lord Varaha stepped aside. They fought for a long time.
At this time, Lord Brahma warned that he must destroy the demon before sunset so that he gets no opportunity to use his black magic.
So, Varaha Avatar hit Hiranyaksha hard on his face with his fist. He tossed him in the air. Hiranyaksha fell over his head and died on the spot.
Now, Manu got back his Earth, and the Devas got back their heaven. In this way, Lord Vishnu as Varaha Avatar slew Hiranyaksha and save Mother Earth.
Who killed Lord Varaha?
It was the demon named Hiranyaksha who stole the Earth and ran away. So, Lord Vishnu took Varaha Avatar to save the Earth.
It is believed that after saving the Earth, the Varaha Avatar is staying as Varaha Swami in Tirumala, and we can do Darshan. He is guiding people at Tirumala.
In fact, the Varaha Avatar of Lord Vishnu is known as a “pulsar” avatar, meaning that it was meant to serve the instantaneous purpose and go away.
Avatars of Lord Vishnu
Matsya
Kurma
Varaha
Narasimha
Vamana
Parashurama
Rama
Krishna
Buddha
Kalki
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