Varāha Avatāra (Vāyu Purāṇa)
The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa tells of the Varāha avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu in Chapters 5 and 6. Here Varāha is part of the account of creation. At the start of a kalpa (a day of Brahmā) the earth, Bhūdevī, lies under the primordial waters. Bhagavān Vishṇu takes the form of the boar, lifts her out, and the nine kinds of creation (nava-sarga) then go forward. This event gives the present cosmic cycle its name, the Vārāha Kalpa.
How creation begins
Chapter 5 sets the scene. At the start of a kalpa the three guṇas (sattva, rajas and tamas) are stirred in Prakṛti, and the Trimūrti comes forth:
- From the rājasic side comes Brahmā, the creator.
- From the tāmasic side comes Agni, the principle of fire.
- From the sāttvic side comes Vishṇu, the sustainer.
Bhagavān Vishṇu, the sāttvic form, finds Bhūdevī sunk in the primordial waters. In the Vāyu Purāṇa this is not the work of any asura. It is the plain state of the universe at the start of each kalpa. During pralaya (the dissolution) the earth melts into the first ocean, and it must be lifted up at the start of each new creation.
Nārāyaṇa on the waters
Chapter 6 shows Nārāyaṇa (Bhagavān Vishṇu) resting on the primordial waters before creation. He lies on Ādiśesha, the great serpent, with his eyes closed in yoga-nidrā (the sleep of yoga). The ocean spreads without end in every direction.
Bhūdevī, also called Pṛthivī, lies deep beneath these waters. She sank during the last pralaya. She calls out to be rescued. Bhagavān Vishṇu hears her and answers.
The descent of Varāha
Bhagavān Vishṇu takes the form of Varāha, the boar. As Varāha he goes down into the ocean to the very bottom (rasātala), finds Bhūdevī, lifts her on his tusk (varāha-daṃshṭra) and brings her back to the surface.
No asura in this account
The Vāyu Purāṇa’s Varāha account does not name the asura Hiraṇyāksha as an opponent. Lifting the earth is the first task of creation, not a battle. Other Purāṇas tell it differently:
- In the Bhāgavata (Third Skandha), Hiraṇyāksha is the asura who seized the earth, and Varāha fights him for a hundred years before he rescues Bhūdevī.
- The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa shows Varāha mainly as a figure of creation, the yajña in bodily form.
Bhūdevī is set in place, and the nava-sarga
When Bhūdevī has been lifted and set in her place on the waters, Brahmā arranges the nava-sarga, the nine kinds of first creation. Brahmā gives the command and the nine proceed:
- Mahattattva (Mahat-sarga): the first change of Avyakta (the unmanifest).
- Bhūta-sarga: the creation of the five great elements.
- Vaikārika sarga: the creation of the sense organs and the devas that rule them.
- Mūlya / Mukhyā sarga: the creation of things that do not move, such as plants and mountains.
- Tiryaksrotas sarga: the creation of animals.
- Ūrdhvasrotas sarga: the creation of devas and higher beings.
- Arvāksrotas sarga: the creation of human beings.
- Anugraha sarga: the creation in which sattva and tamas meet, the balance of wisdom and ignorance.
- Kaumāra sarga: the creation of the mind-born sons of Brahmā, the Kumāras and others.
The name Vārāha Kalpa
Chapter 5 of the Vāyu Purāṇa names the present age of the cosmos the Vārāha Kalpa, the cycle marked by the Varāha avatāra. The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa and the Kūrma Purāṇa use this name too. The Varāha event in the Vāyu Purāṇa is the founding event that gives the whole cycle its character and its name.
The presence of Śiva
In the Vāyu Purāṇa’s account of the Trimūrti, Agni stands as the tāmasic principle, not Bhagavān Śiva directly. But the Purāṇa names Agni throughout as a form of Bhagavān Śiva: Paśupati, the fire-body of Śiva in the system of the eight forms (Ashṭa-mūrti). So even in this account of Varāha, the presence of Bhagavān Śiva fills the scene through Agni.
Sources
- Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 5
- Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 6
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Third Skandha (named for comparison)
- Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa (named for comparison)
- Kūrma Purāṇa (named for the name Vārāha Kalpa)