Hayagrīva at Dharmāraṇya

Bhagavān Vishṇu bears a horse’s head and is known as Hayagrīva. This account, from the Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, tells how this came about. The devas could not find Bhagavān Vishṇu when they called him to a yajña (fire ritual). White ants ate the bow-string under his chin, and when it snapped it cut off his head. Viśvakarma fixed on a horse’s head taken from the horses of Bhagavān Sūrya’s chariot. The account also tells of an earlier śāpa (curse) of Brahmā. As Hayagrīva, Bhagavān Vishṇu then did tapas (austerity) at Dharmāraṇya and made it a supreme kshetra (sacred land). There the lake Devavarma and the Mukteśvara liṅga came into being.

Skanda’s question

Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Skanda talk together in this account. Skanda asked: “O Tripurāntaka! How did Bhagavān Vishṇu come to have a horse’s head? He is the master of all, he took countless avatāras, and he is the cause of all creation. He holds all the worlds in the pores of his skin, and his glory is beyond the Vedas. How did he become Hayagrīva? Tell me the reason.”

Bhagavān Śiva answered: “O Mahābāhu! You have asked well. I will tell you the account of Hayagrīva.”

The yajña and Vishṇu’s sleep

In ancient times the devas held a great yajña on the earth. They called Bhagavān Vishṇu with Vedic mantras, but he could not be found. He was not at Vaikuṇṭha, not at the Kshīrābdhi, and not in Pātāla.

The devas were puzzled and anxious. They went to Brahmā and Bṛhaspati. Bṛhaspati meditated for a short while and then told them where Bhagavān Vishṇu was. He was deep in yogic sleep (yoga-rūḍha). His divine body lay on the earth, with his bow propping up his chin. Bṛhaspati said that the only way to wake him was by a loud sound.

The white ants and the bow-string

The devas tried to wake Bhagavān Vishṇu but could not. Then a being like Kṛtyā said: “White ants eat through wood and cord. If they eat the bow-string, the snap of the bow will wake him.”

The devas asked the white ants (vamrī) to do this work. The ants first bargained for a share in all yajña offerings, and then they agreed. They chewed through the dhanush-guṇa, the bow-string.

But by the māyā (power of illusion) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the devas were misled. The string did not simply wake him. When it snapped, the stored force of the bow was let go, and it cut off the head of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The head flew up and was lost. It could not be found anywhere. The devas were horrified.

Brahmā’s earlier śāpa

A deeper cause was told. In an earlier assembly of Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu had said: “Brahmā and all the worlds are under my māyā.” Brahmā was angry at this in the assembly, for he felt that Bhagavān Vishṇu was claiming to be above him. In anger he said: “O Vishṇu! The mouth with which you said this in the assembly, let that head of yours fall swiftly, within a short time.”

So Brahmā’s words had already been spoken, and the incident of the bow-string was their coming true. Bhagavān Vishṇu himself had heard Brahmā’s words and accepted them: “What Brahmā declares shall come to pass.”

The horse head and Viśvakarma

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s head was gone. The devas asked Viśvakarma to fix a new head on him. Viśvakarma said that he needed a head to use.

At midday the devas saw Bhagavān Sūrya in the sky in his chariot. One of the horses of Sūrya’s chariot was taken and its head was cut off. Viśvakarma, with great skill, fixed the horse’s head onto the body of Bhagavān Vishṇu. At once Bhagavān Vishṇu rose up, grand with his horse’s head.

The devas were full of joy and respect, and they offered a stotra (hymn of praise) to the horse-headed Bhagavān Vishṇu:

“O Jagadīśa! I bow to you. O Kamala-aksha! I bow to you. O protector of all living beings! O Hayagrīva! I bow to you. You are Oṃkāra, Vashaṭkāra, Svāhā and Svadhā. You are the yajña, you are the master of the yajña, and you are the one who performs the yajña. You are the offering, the priest (ṛtvika) and the one who receives it. All is you.”

Vishṇu’s joy in the horse-head form

Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased and said: “O devas! I am very pleased. I am Deva-deva and Jagat-pati. I have become Hayagrīva, and I am glad in this form. The horse face (Hayānana) is not a defect. It is not a fearful form. It is a divine form, served by all the devas.”

The devas held the yajña with the blessing of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Brahmā was cleansed of the results of his words of śāpa through 300 years of tapas in the presence of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Viśvakarma and the white ants received their share of the yajña offerings, as promised.

Hayagrīva’s tapas at Dharmāraṇya

After he received the horse head, Hayagrīva came to Dharmāraṇya, the supreme kshetra, and did 300 years of hard tapas there. Brahmā also did tapas at Dharmāraṇya for the same length of time. He sought to settle all the results of the incident in the assembly. By their tapas together, they made Dharmāraṇya still holier.

Devavarma Tīrtha and the Mukteśvara Liṅga

Through the tapas of Hayagrīva at Dharmāraṇya, the holy lake Devavarma was made at that place. It is a beautiful, deep and shining lake, and its waters are as holy as the Gaṅgā.

The Mukteśvara liṅga of Bhagavān Śiva was set up at this spot by Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva together. It is the form of Bhagavān Śiva who gives moksha (liberation), especially to those who suffer from lack of children.

Bhagavān Vishṇu said: “This Dharmāraṇya is a mahā-kshetra, supremely holy and purifying. Because of the māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu here, this place will not afflict anyone.”

The results of Devavarma and Mukteśvara

Those who bathe in the Devavarma lake, offer tarpaṇa (water offering) to their pitṛs (ancestors) there, and worship Mukteśvara gain very great puṇya (merit). Women who cannot have children, or who have lost child after child, are freed from the doshas (faults) that cause childlessness if husband and wife bathe together in the Devavarma and worship Mukteśvara with devotion. Their children then thrive. A bath on the day of Kṛttikā nakshatra in Kārtika, followed by worship of Mukteśvara, gives the fruit of the Agnishṭoma yajña. Those who offer fruits in a bamboo vessel before Mukteśvara are freed from the doshas that block children.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 14
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 15