One of the lesser known avatars of Vishnu (not the top 10 ) is his avatar as a horse faced God or Hayagrivar.
The myth:
"Haya" was a horse faced demon who was terrorizing the world (as usual). He hid the Vedas, had a boon of invincibility from Brahma and was plain horrible to say the least. Vishnu, on behalf of the devas fights with him. The battle is fierce and the whole world just watches astounded. It goes on for quite a long time and Haya is still undefeated. Both of them are tired and Vishnu decides to take a break.
He places a sword near his neck (upright), rests his head on it and concentrates and meditates. He reaches a state of deep meditation and does not stir. The devas are worried because Haya takes this as a sign of victory for himself and goes around effortlessly destroying the world and preparing for a battle with the devas.
They request Lakshmi to do something about it and she tries to remove the sword in the hope that the movement will stir the Lord out of his dhyana. The sword ends up cutting his head and the devas are scared. They hear an aakashavani (divine voice) telling them , "This was intended. Haya has a boon from Brahma by which only another horse faced person can slay him. Find the head of a horse and fix it on the Lord's head."
They fix the head of a horse and Vishnu in the form of a Hayagrivar defeats Haya and restores balance in the world.
The philosophy :
Another famous necessity to co-exist with animals story. This reminds us yet again of how important co-existence with nature is.
That being said, we pray to Hayagrivar for intelligence and education. Considering he is a God with a face of a horse, this ritual is interesting as anyone who can rid the world of evil and lead towards enlightenment is someone worth praying to.
More to come on him.
The myth:
"Haya" was a horse faced demon who was terrorizing the world (as usual). He hid the Vedas, had a boon of invincibility from Brahma and was plain horrible to say the least. Vishnu, on behalf of the devas fights with him. The battle is fierce and the whole world just watches astounded. It goes on for quite a long time and Haya is still undefeated. Both of them are tired and Vishnu decides to take a break.
He places a sword near his neck (upright), rests his head on it and concentrates and meditates. He reaches a state of deep meditation and does not stir. The devas are worried because Haya takes this as a sign of victory for himself and goes around effortlessly destroying the world and preparing for a battle with the devas.
They request Lakshmi to do something about it and she tries to remove the sword in the hope that the movement will stir the Lord out of his dhyana. The sword ends up cutting his head and the devas are scared. They hear an aakashavani (divine voice) telling them , "This was intended. Haya has a boon from Brahma by which only another horse faced person can slay him. Find the head of a horse and fix it on the Lord's head."
They fix the head of a horse and Vishnu in the form of a Hayagrivar defeats Haya and restores balance in the world.
The philosophy :
Another famous necessity to co-exist with animals story. This reminds us yet again of how important co-existence with nature is.
That being said, we pray to Hayagrivar for intelligence and education. Considering he is a God with a face of a horse, this ritual is interesting as anyone who can rid the world of evil and lead towards enlightenment is someone worth praying to.
More to come on him.
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