Varaha Avatar of Lord Vishnu is the 3rd one in the unordered list of Dasavatara. Next Few avataras are combinations of one of the events happened in Vaikuda. When 4 Kumaras – Sanaka (Ancient), Sanatana (Eternal), Sanandana (Ever Joyful) and Sanatkumara (Ever Young), came to see Lord Vishnu, The gate keepers of Lord Vishnu – Jaya and Vijay stopped them from entering as Lord Vishnu was resting.
The sage Kumars cursed them. Lord Vishnu came out and requested Kumaras to excuse his gate keepers and blessed his devotees. But curse couldn’t be changed. The gate keepers pleaded for curse relief. Lord Vishnu said he couldn’t lift the entire curse but gave choice for them either to be demons for 3 births against him or be his devotees for 7 births. They chose to be demons to get back to Lord Vishnu as soon as possible just in 3 births.
They were brothers as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha in the first birth. Hiranyaksha meditated upon Lord Brahma and got boons that he should be so powerful not to be killed by anyone in this Universe! Bad luck he missed the name of Wild Boar in the list. No one in this Universe could win over him. Hiranyaksha meaning, the person who has eyes of gold. He wanted all in this universe just for himself. Such was his greed. Larger than the universe. He captured The Earth and he kept in the Pralaya Samudhra, Ocean of Deluge. The dwellers of Earth suffered. They were tormented by Demon’s greedy actions!
This Earth is the symbol of Wealth. It has all in itself! Water, Air, Bountiful Forests, Varieties of mineral wealth, Money, Work Force and What not! In Vaishnava Sampradhaya, they believe that Bhu Devi is a form of Lakshmi. Indeed yes, The Earth is full of richness! And ‘Sri’ was abducted by Hiranyaksha! Even now places with the prefix ‘Sri’ symbolizes richness. ‘Srinagar’ – Beautiful place it is with natural beauty beyond human measure! ‘Sri Lanka’, when ruled by Ravana is termed as the Golden City! And these places had faced so many issues because of the richness. So Earth wasn’t/isn’t an exception.
Under Hiranyaksha’s control The Earth kept suffering and Lord Vishnu, The Protector, incarnated as Wild Boar from the nostrils of Lord Brahma to safe guard Mother Earth from the demon Hiranyaksha. He fought hard to win over the Demon and lifted Earth with his tusks and placed The Earth in it’s Orbit, protecting his creation yet again! Peace was restored.
The story seem known, same old story of fight between evil and good. But it has one of the beautiful and much needed messages for the current situation from a global perspective. Looking at the Blooming real estate projects built on lakes, rivers, growing population of cars for single man use, no respect for the five elements and exploiting them for a selfish motive give a projection that most people are wanting to become Midas. While We The People need money to lead a good life, through one’s own efforts in an ethical, legal way but the process tend to have taken a back seat. Sometimes we demand more than required. We tend to take more than we can hold in hands. We put more weight on our shoulders. Sometimes unknowingly but most of the times people do it knowingly. In short, people sometimes see through the eyes of Hiranyaksha, meaning sees all as gold and all for oneself with a No caring and No sharing motive.
Varaha Avatar can be summarized with the quote of MK Gandhi. “The World has enough for everyone’s need. But not enough for everyone’s greed”. It’s time to refocus on need and shed the lens of greed, that is consciously moving away from seeing through the eyes of Hiranyaksha. Thus, nurturing and protecting natural wealth leading a sustained life and giving a glorious future for the coming generations.
Happy Navarathri Day 3!
References:
1. Wikipedia on the story of Jaya and Vijaya
2. http://www.amritha.edu
Paintings:
1. Varaha Avatar – Orissa Pattachitra Painting on Patti – Dolls of India
2. Varaha Avatar – Oil Painting – ArtnIndia
3. Varaha Avatar – http://www.pinterest.com
4. Varaha Avatar – pixels.com
5. Varaha Avatar – Artist Keshav
The Quest 
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