Hayagrīva Vadha

Hayagrīva Vadha is the killing of the asura Hayagrīva, told in the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 1, Chapters 5 and 6. The asura gained a vara (a boon) that only one named Hayagrīva could kill him. Then Bhagavān Vishṇu lost his head by an accident, and by the word of Devī Tribhuvaneśvarī he became the horse-headed Hayagrīva Avatāra. In that form he killed the asura and brought back the Vedas.

The asura Hayagrīva’s vara

In Skanda 1, Chapter 5, there lived a mighty asura named Hayagrīva (horse-necked). He did hard tapas (austerity) to please Devī Tribhuvaneśvarī. When she appeared to give him a vara, he asked with cunning: “May I be slain only by one named Hayagrīva.” She gave him the vara. She knew that in time even this vara would serve the order of the worlds.

With this protection the asura Hayagrīva grew very strong. He ravaged the three worlds and stole the Vedas from Brahmā.

Vishṇu loses his head

The devas went to Bhagavān Vishṇu for help against the asura. Vishṇu got ready for battle and stood in a ready posture with his great bow drawn. While he waited, the drawn bow rested on the ground with its tip against his chin. Vishṇu fell into yoganidrā (yogic sleep), which is his natural state of light rest. The devas did not want to wake him, so they waited.

After a long time, some devas asked the ants (valmīka-kīṭas) to gnaw the bowstring. They hoped the string would snap and the noise would wake Vishṇu gently. The ants did so. But the force of the bowstring as it broke was so great that it cut off Vishṇu’s head. His divine head flew away and was lost. The body stayed, headless, alive but still. The devas were struck with horror.

Brahmā prays to Devī Tribhuvaneśvarī

In Skanda 1, Chapter 6, the devas, in terror at this unheard-of disaster, went to Brahmā. Brahmā was himself overwhelmed and did not know what to do. He turned in prayer to the supreme Devī, Tribhuvaneśvarī. In her grace she told him: “Find the head of the horse-asura Hayagrīva. Place that head upon Vishṇu’s body. Vishṇu will then bear the name Hayagrīva himself, and he alone can slay the asura.”

This was the answer to the vara. The asura could be killed only by one named Hayagrīva, and now Vishṇu himself would become Hayagrīva.

The Hayagrīva Avatāra

As Devī Tribhuvaneśvarī had told him, Brahmā obtained the head and it was set on Bhagavān Vishṇu’s divine body. One variant says it was a horse’s head. Vishṇu rose up as Śrī Hayagrīva, the horse-headed form, shining and strong. He took back the Vedas from the asura and killed the asura Hayagrīva in battle, because Vishṇu now bore that very name. Then he gave the Vedas back to Brahmā.

Hayagrīva, the form of Vishṇu, is greatly honoured as Jñāna-Mūrti, the form of knowledge. He is shown with a white horse’s head, seated in padmāsana (the lotus posture), holding the śaṅkha (conch), the cakra (discus) and the Vedas.

Devī as the final refuge

The Devī Bhāgavata shows Brahmā turning to Devī when a great crisis strikes the worlds. In the same way he turned to Yoganidrā, who is Devī, in the Madhu-Kaiṭabha crisis. The Devī Bhāgavata presents Devī as the final refuge (parā śaraṇa) even when Bhagavān Vishṇu himself is in need.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 1, Chapters 5–6