Varaha avatar - the fourlegged avatar

The myth:

Vishnu has two Dwara palakas who guard the entrance to his abode. They are very loyal to him and take utmost care to prevent the Lords slumber from being disturbed. A powerful rishi once comes to meet Vishnu and these two refuse to let him in. The angry rishi curses them to be born as mortals. Hearing the commotion, Vishnu comes out and this cools the rishi down. He offers the Dwara palakas options - they could either be born for a lot of centuries as mortals who adore the lord (his bhaktas) or they will be born thrice and hate the lord in all three births and will finally become one with him after the three births. Both of them unanimously pick the second option for they will come back earlier than later. Their three births are - Hiranyakshan & Hiranyakasipu (who feature prominently in this avatar and the next), Ravanan and Kumbhakarnan (Ramayana), Kamsan and Sishubalan (Krishnavatara)

Hiranyakshan is powerful asura who like his other counterparts wrecks havoc in heaven and earth. He steals the Vedas and hides them in the water. Brahma is upset as without the Vedas, there is no structure in the society. The asura also catches a glimpse of bhooma devi and takes her away to his abode under the water. Once bhoomadevi (mother earth) is gone, the whole world is lost and there is a lot of turmoil. Vishnu takes the form of a boar and goes under water to find his consort. A gory battle ensues and Varaha is finally able to subdue Hiranyakshan and rescue Bhooma devi and the vedas.

The philosophy :

The two dwarapalakas mean no harm and they are only dispensing their duty. However, no matter how right what you are doing is, if you prevent a just man from finding the divine, you are performing an injustice.

Another interesting part in the Dwarapalakas incident is how they manage to opt for coming back in three births for to them their devotion to the lord outweighs the hardships and the ill name they have to endure as demons to get back to him.

Any body who chooses to hide knowledge from the world is a demon by his own right. For without knowledge and awareness, the world will plunge into a darkness from which nothing can save it. Anybody who restores that knowledge, even if it is a boar, is divine for knowledge is power supreme.