Lord Hayagri:va (God of Knowledge)
Lord Sri:manna:rayana’s incarnations are innumerable. We may not be able to know fully about all these avata:ra:s. But we may note that some of them were meant to give us knowledge and some others were meant to show us a practical example of how should we use that knowledge. One such incarnation is Lord Hayagri:va.
“Hayagri:va” means the one with the head of a horse and the body of a human being. Like the Narasimha avata:ra this incarnation is also wonderful and amazing. God’s ways are always miraculous, astonishing, and joyous.
Several million years ago, at the very beginning of creation, Lord Na:ra:yana taught the Vedas to the four-faced Brahma. But Brahma was inattentive to the teaching. Such inattentiveness to the upade:sa of the teacher is improper. Because of Brahma’s negligence, two demons Madhu and Kaitabha arose and stole the Vedas from him. Lord Na:ra:yana, out of compassion, taught the Vedas to Brahma as soon as he was born and without even asking for it. Vedas are the repositories of all branches of knowledge. Knowledge unsought has little value. That is the reason why Brahma lost the knowledge given to him. The four Vedas assumed human form as Vedapurushas and appeared before Brahma. At that very moment the demons Madhu and Kaitabha appeared and stole them from Brahma. The demons left Brahma and escaped with the Vedas to the nether world.
Darkness ensues when the lamp is extinguished. Brahma lost the lamp of knowledge. He realized and now undertook a great ya:ga seeking knowledge from Lord Na:ra:yana. The Lord went to the nether world in the form of Hayagri:va and neighed so loudly that the demons who heard it were terrified and fled in great fright. Hayagri:va collected the four Vedas and appeared in the sacred fire of the ya:ga, and returned the Vedas to Brahma who was eagerly seeking them.
The neighing of Hayagri:va was like the Udgi:dha, a form of recital of the Sa:ma Veda. The demons who fled on hearing the neighing of Hayagri:va returned to the place where they had concealed the Vedas. Not finding the Vedas there, they concluded that none other than Vishnu could have taken them away. They
went in search of Vishnu and found Him reclining on the A:dise:sha in the Ocean of Milk. They fought with him. Can anyone battle with the Lord? Soon the demons lost their lives.
This time, as Brahma regained Vedic knowledge after he has sought for it, it remained with him forever. He never forgot the same nor was inattentive or negligent towards Vedas any more.
This is the reason why our elders say that knowledge should not be given to one who does not sincerely ask for it. Vedic knowledge given without asking does not help the receiver.
The day following the full moon or new moon is known as “pratipat” or “pa:dyami”. Lord Na:ra:yana created Brahma on such a day. He also gave Vedic knowledge to him on that day originally. The lesson taught on the pratipat day did not last long. Soon it was stolen from Brahma. It is therefore laid down by our elders that no new lessons should be started on pratipat tithi.
The Lord grants knowledge on any day. But if it is sought on the day of His appearance, on His birthday after due worship and pa:ra:yana, the Lord is pleased. Lord Hayagri:va appeared out of the sacred fire in Brahma’s ya:ga on Sra:vana Poornima, the full moon day of the Sra:vana month. If one worships Lord Hayagri:va on that day for mastering any particular branch or branches of knowledge, He grants it readily. He also makes sure that the knowledge learned is also retained forever. Lord Hayagri:va is worshipped as the personification of all knowledge. “Haya” also means knowledge, and “gri:va” means one who holds all branches of knowledge in his throat.
The sources for all branches of knowledge are the four Vedas; Rug, Yajus, Sama and Atharva Vedas. They abound in powerful mantras. The power of the mantra lies in the root syllables called bi:ja aksharas. We may not be able to study all the mantras in the Vedas, but if we worship Lord Hayagriva moorthi who is their source, all knowledge we are seeking will be ours by His grace.
Sriman Nigama:ntha De:sika composed 33 verses (Slokas) describing the greatness of Lord Hayagri:va. Each sloka of this sto:tram incorporates some bi:ja aksharas. Sriman Desika has composed and favored us with this sto:tra in such a manner that each sloka has the divine power of the aksharas within it. Great persons have been witness to this. For this reason, our a:charyas of the past as well as learned scholars of the present times declared that those who recite this sto:tram will get great power of speech, knowledge with understanding, good memory, oratory and debating skills, proficiency in studies and much more.
Let us all pray to Lord Sri Lakshmi Hayagri:va with this sto:tram and benefit from Lord’s grace.