Varāha Avatāra (Narasiṃha Purāṇa)
The Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells the Varāha avatāra in Chapter 39. When a great pralaya (dissolution) had ended the earlier creation, the daitya Hiraṇyāksha stole the śakti (divine power) that holds the earth in her place and dragged the earth down into Pātāla. The Purāṇa gives a long account of the form of Varāha, the divine boar, in which each part of his body is one part of the yajña and of Vedic knowledge. After he slew Hiraṇyāksha, Varāha set the earth back in her place. Then he laid down his great form at the holy place called Kokāmukha kshetra.
Hiraṇyāksha steals the earth
A great pralaya had dissolved the earlier creation, and Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa lay on the waters of creation. The mighty daitya Hiraṇyāksha rose from the depths. He used the time of dissolution. He seized the very śakti that holds the earth in her proper place. He plunged with the earth into the first Pātāla, the bottomless ocean-depths below creation, and hid her there. Without the earth, the new creation could not begin, and no later being would have a place to live. (Chapter 39)
Brahmā and the devas could do nothing against Hiraṇyāksha’s power. They prayed to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa to save the earth. (Chapter 39)
The body of Varāha
Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa took the form of Varāha, the divine boar, to go down into the first ocean and bring the earth back. The Narasiṃha Purāṇa describes this form and names each part of Varāha’s body with a sacred reality.
- The four feet of the divine boar are the four Vedas: Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva. By them the cosmic Purusha is known and honoured.
- The yūpa-stambha (the post of the yajña) is Varāha’s tusk.
- The citi (the built altar of fire) is Varāha’s face.
- Agni (the sacred fire) is Varāha’s mouth.
- The soma plant of the yajña is the boar’s tongue.
By this description the Narasiṃha Purāṇa shows the Varāha avatāra as the form of yajña itself. The divine boar is more than a strong animal. He is the whole world of the yajña taking shape to bring the earth back. (Chapter 39)
The descent and the defeat of Hiraṇyāksha
Bhagavān Varāha dived into the first ocean and went down to Pātāla, where Hiraṇyāksha had hidden the earth. In the unfathomable depths a terrible battle was fought between the divine boar and the mighty daitya. Hiraṇyāksha was fierce and would not give way. But no power of the asuras could win against Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, who had taken this form to protect dharma and creation. Varāha slew Hiraṇyāksha. (Chapter 39)
The earth set free
Hiraṇyāksha was dead. Bhagavān Varāha lifted the earth on his huge tusks and carried her up through the waters to her proper place in the universe. The Purāṇas call the earth Bhūdevī or Medinī. She was set back in her place, and creation could go on again. The devas praised Varāha with songs of joy. (Chapter 39)
Kokāmukha kshetra, where Varāha rested
When the rescue of the earth was done and Hiraṇyāksha was slain, Bhagavān Varāha drew back his great form and laid it down at the holy place called Kokāmukha kshetra. The divine presence of the Varāha form made the place holy, and it became one of the secret tīrthas (sacred places) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In the Vishṇu-vallabha stotra, taught in Chapter 65 of the same Purāṇa, Bhagavān Vishṇu himself says that Kokāmukha is the kshetra where his Varāha form is always present. He says: “At Kokāmukha, I am worshipped as Varāha.”
Sources
- Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 39
- Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 65 (the Vishṇu-vallabha stotra), for the words about Kokāmukha