Hayagrīva Avatāra in the Mahābhārata
In the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 347, there is an account of the Hayagrīva Avatāra. At the beginning of creation two drops of water fell from the lotus on which Brahmā sat. From them came the asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha. They stole the four Vedas, carried them to the northeastern ocean and hid them in rasātala. Brahmā could not create without the Vedas. He praised Nārāyaṇa, and Nārāyaṇa took the form of Hayagrīva, the horse-headed one. Hayagrīva sang the Sāmaveda, drew the two asuras away, took back the Vedas and killed them.
Where this account stands
This account is set inside the Nārāyaṇīya, the great section of the Mokshadharma Parva (Chapters 334 to 351). In the Nārāyaṇīya, Nārada tells of his journey to Śveta-dvīpa and how he received the Pāñcarātra teaching from Nārāyaṇa himself. Chapter 347 is an account told within that larger section. It tells how the Vedas were first rescued by Nārāyaṇa in horse-headed form.
Madhu and Kaiṭabha are born
At the very start of Brahmā’s work of creation, Brahmā was seated on the lotus that had risen from Nārāyaṇa’s navel (padmanābha). The lotus was open, and drops of water from the first ocean lay on its petals. Two of these drops fell. One had the quality of tamas and one had the quality of rajas.
From the tāmasa drop came Madhu. From the rājasa drop came Kaiṭabha. Both were asuras. As soon as they were born they were strong, and at once they saw the Vedas resting with Brahmā and seized them.
The theft
Madhu and Kaiṭabha carried the four Vedas (Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda) away from Brahmā and fled to the northeastern ocean. From the shore of that ocean they went down into rasātala, one of the seven pātāla realms beneath the earth, and hid the Vedas in its depths.
Brahmā was left without the Vedas and could not go on with creation.
Brahmā’s stotra
In his distress Brahmā praised Nārāyaṇa with a stotra (hymn of praise) that named seven of Nārāyaṇa’s births and forms. He praised Nārāyaṇa as the source of all, the one who rules all the workings of the cosmos, and the one whose avatāras appear when the Veda and dharma are in danger.
Nārāyaṇa takes the Hayagrīva form
In answer to Brahmā’s praise, Nārāyaṇa took the form of Hayagrīva. This is a divine being with a horse’s head on a human body, shining with light and with great power of sound.
Nārāyaṇa entered the northeastern ocean and went down into rasātala unseen. Madhu and Kaiṭabha did not notice him. They were wrapped up in guarding the Vedas.
The Sāmaveda sung in rasātala
Hidden in rasātala, Hayagrīva began to sing the Sāmaveda. He sang it with its full and correct svara (the three accents: udātta, anudātta and svarita) and kept exactly to the chandas (the metres) of the sāman melodies. This sound was unlike any sound Madhu and Kaiṭabha had heard before.
The two asuras hated the Vedas, yet the beauty of this sound overcame them. The Sāmaveda is the Veda of melody, in which the words of the Ṛgveda are set to fixed tunes and sung at yajñas. Sung by Nārāyaṇa himself in his Hayagrīva form, it drew Madhu and Kaiṭabha out of their hiding place. They left the Vedas behind and moved toward the sound.
The Vedas are taken back and the asuras are killed
While Madhu and Kaiṭabha followed the sound, Hayagrīva, still unseen, went back to the place where the Vedas lay hidden. He gathered all four and carried them up through rasātala and the ocean to the surface. He gave them back to Brahmā.
Madhu and Kaiṭabha saw that they had been tricked. They went back to rasātala, found the Vedas gone and understood what had happened. They came up out of the waters to fight. Hayagrīva killed both Madhu and Kaiṭabha.
Hayagrīva’s place at the northeastern ocean
After he had killed the two asuras and returned the Vedas to Brahmā, Nārāyaṇa set up his Hayagrīva form at the northeastern ocean, to stay there for ever.
Gālava’s phalaśruti
The account ends with a phalaśruti (a statement of the fruits of hearing) spoken by the ṛshi Gālava. It lists the fruits gained by hearing, reciting or meditating on this account. To hear the story of Hayagrīva is itself an act of devotion to Nārāyaṇa in his form as protector of the Vedas, and it carries the puṇya (merit) of sacred recitation.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 347 (within the Nārāyaṇīya, Chapters 334 to 351)