Varaha Avatar: Vishnu’s Boar Incarnation That Saved The Earth

Varaha means boar in Sanskrit and is the third incarnation of Lord Vishnu which is known for saving the earth from drowning in the cosmic waters and slaying of the demon Hiranyaksh.

As with each of his ten incarnations, Lord Vishnu’s third avatar also has a fascinating story of origin and deeply layered symbols and meanings.

There are many versions of the origin story of Vishnu’s Varaha avatar, the oldest one coming from older Vedic texts that claim Varaha was a form of Prajapati (Brahma). The later scriptures, though, attribute Varaha as being the third of the ten significant incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

The most famous version of the story presents Varaha as the Satya Yuga incarnation of Lord Vishnu, often depicted in idols and pictures as rescuing goddess Earth on his tusk.

To know how exactly his story begins, we must learn the story and fate of Jaya and Vijaya, the two divine gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

Dwarapalakas Jaya-Vijaya get cursed

As the legend goes, once the four Kumaras (sages) - the eldest four sons of Lord Brahma - came to visit Lord Vishnu at his abode, Vaikuntha. Owing to their difficult tapa and righteous lives, the four Kumaras looked very young despite being old in their age.

At that time Lord Vishnu was taking rest and therefore Jaya and Vijaya, the two gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, denied entry to the four sages thinking them to be mere children.

Enraged at being stopped, the four Kumaras cursed both the gatekeepers that they will lose their divinity and will be born as mere mortals on earth, to be trapped in the cycle of birth and death forever.

When Lord Vishnu appeared knowing about the curse, Jaya-Vijaya requested him to lif the curse of the four sages, but Lord Vishnu said that a curse cast can’t be uplifted, but it can be modified.

Lord Vishnu then offered them an alternative of being born as demons in the next three lives, only to be killed at the hands of Lord Vishnu’s incarnations. Following these three lives as demons and being killed by Lord himself, they will be restored to their divinity and position as the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha again.

Jaya and Vijaya decided it was better to be born as demons and be killed by the Lord as it would mean they could get back to Vaikuntha sooner. Being born as humans, although higher in status than demons, would mean they won’t be able to get back to Lord Vishnu sooner.

Earth in cosmic waters

The first birth of Jaya-Vijaya was In Satya Yuga as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the demon brothers. Hiranyaksha was greatly devoted to Lord Brahma and did severe penance for years to get Lord Brahma to grant him a boon.

When Lord Brahma was pleased by his severe penance, he asked Hiranyaksha to ask whatever he wanted. Hiranyaksha asked that no man, god, animal, demon, or beast should ever be able to kill him.

As soon as he was granted this powerful boon by Lord Brahma, he became reckless and went about torturing gods and mortals alike, wreaking havoc in the world. He wanted to defeat Gods and gain heaven but Gods were still very powerful - even though they couldn’t kill him, they still defeated him.

Soon Hiranyaksh realized that he needs to disrupt the earth because it’s the devotion of humans that makes the Gods powerful. To permanently defeat the Gods, he used such strong weapons on Earth that the planet got displaced from its axis and slipped in the abysmal darkness of cosmic waters.

With Earth lost in the deep comic ocean, gods grew even weaker while mother earth pleaded with Lord Vishnu to save her. Meanwhile, Hiranyaksh challenged the gods to come and fight him.

The havoc that Hiranyaksh caused led the first man Manu and his wife Shatarupa worried about the current state of things. They prayed to Lord Brahma for his help. Since Lord Brahma himself had given the boon to Hiranyaksh, he couldn’t do much. Lord Brahma suggested they pray to Lord Vishnu and take his help.

Varaha kills Hiranyaksha, Saves Earth

Lord Brahma meditated on Lord Vishnu and a small boar came out of his nostrils and started growing larger and larger immediately, soon to be the size of a mountain.

This was the Varaha avatar of Lord Vishnu who promised Lord Brahma and others that he would save Earth from the cosmic waters and kill Hiranyaksh.

The reason behind Lord Vishnu taking the form of a boar was that while Hiranyaksh mentioned all the animals and living beings to be protected from, he forgot to mention boar.

As Varaha charged to the depths of the cosmic ocean to save mother earth, Hiranyaksh challenged various Gods to fight with him. God of water, Varuna, suggested that he himself is too old to fight, therefore instead of him, Hiranyaksha should fight Lord Vishnu.

Varaha, meanwhile, lifted Earth on his tusks and placed the planet in its proper place in the solar system. Soon after saving mother Earth, a fight started between Hiranyaksh and Varaha, and the demon was killed by Lord Varaha.

Symbolism and meaning

The Varaha is represented in the form of a God with the human body and the head of a boar. Often he is shown carrying Earth on his tusk.

The Varaha avatar of Lord Vishnu symbolizes sacrifice - as a being that brings in peace amid chaos by ritual sacrifice (of Hiranyaksha).

Various temples of North-eastern India worship Lord Varaha in temples on Varaha Jayanti. Varaha Jayanti falls on the third day of Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar and is celebrated by keeping an overnight vigil and telling the tales of Lord Vishnu to each other.

The most famous temple of Lord Varaha is in the state of Andhra Pradesh - Sri Varahaswami Temple in Tirumala. The legend says that this temple is the abode of Lord Varaha on earth, also called Adi Varaha Kshetra.