First three avatāras of Lord Viṣṇu have many interesting things in common. All three appear in the time of a cosmic crisis or deluge, representing those times of deep transformation which we all go through at some point on our spiritual journey. And no wonder — all three avatāras, Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha represent the influences of most tamasic and most transformative planets in our birth chart: Saturn & the lunar nodes (Rahu & Ketu). All three aspects of Viṣṇu help us to rise above the influence of tamas, ignorance and delusion within us, symbolically represented by water in each of those stories. But although the first two avatāras are clearly aquatic animals, a fish and a tortoise, it is the third one who finally rises above the waters of deluge rather than just helping us endure them, like previous two.
His name is Varāha, the boar incarnation — and He represents the influence of Rahu in our birth chart.
The esoteric secret of Varāha’s appearance
Varāha did not just appear out of nowhere, like Lord Viṣṇu’s two previous incarnations. His appearance was deeply symbolic and quite extraordinary.
When Brahma, the Divine Creator, was immersed in contemplation on how to lift the Earth which was hidden for ages under water, and bring her on the surface so the process of creation may continue, a tiny creature emerged from his nostril while he was exhaling. This being soon started to grow rapidly (similarly to Matsya avatāra) and took a gigantic shape of a boar. The Creator realised that it was Lord Viṣṇu coming in Varāha’s form.
Puranic stories are rich in symbolism and they rarely go into details which are irrelevant to the story. Lord Viṣṇu appearing in the form of a boar from the very breath of Divine Creator, while the latter was immersed in meditation, is a powerful metaphor of the power of our own breath to dive deep within the waters of chaos and excavate and elevate the symbolic earth, hidden in our root chakra at the base of the spine. Bhūdevī, Mother Earth, held hostile by the demon Hiraṇyākṣa (symbolising our materialistic tendencies), represents our own divine potential and divine energy lying dormant at the base of our spine: kuṇḍalinī śakti. Varāha, the divine boar, becomes her rescuer. He elevates her above the waters of chaos and restores her to her original glory.
And this is more than just a metaphor. It is precisely what happens within a body of a yogi: our consciousness gets elevated by Divine grace.
Hiraṇyākṣa — Golden-eyed enemy
The question may arise: how did Mother Earth end up submerged in the primordial waters in the first place?
It was the powerful demon Hiraṇyākṣa who had thrown Bhūdevī into the cosmic ocean and held her captive there, as the story says. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes him thus:
Hiraṇyākṣa took a club on his shoulder and traveled all over the universe with a fighting spirit just to satisfy Hiraṇyakaśipu (his elder brother). Hiraṇyākṣa’s temper was difficult to control. He had anklets of gold tinkling about his feet, he was adorned with a gigantic garland, and he rested his huge mace on one of his shoulders. His mental and bodily strength as well as the boon conferred upon him had made him proud. He feared death at the hands of no one, and there was no checking him. The gods, therefore, were seized with fear at his very sight, and they hid themselves even as snakes hide themselves for fear of Garuḍa.
Hiraṇyākṣa, travelling all over the universe and just waiting for an opportunity to pick a fight, all puffed up with pride, represents the most tamasic, destructive and materialistic form of our own ego, which keeps our spiritual potential captive and frightens even the gods, the heavenly powers within us. He keeps our understanding of reality completely submerged into the ocean of māyā, delusion — which is precisely what Rahu represents in our birth chart.
My Gurudev, Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda, comments beautifully on the symbolism of Earth submerged by Hiraṇyākṣa:
The Earth represents the gravity or gravitational forces of attraction which attract men. You are bound by the mind, the senses and the gunas, so automatically you are attracted to the outside reality. When you are attracted to the outside reality, Hiraṇyākṣa comes. He represents temptation and will tempt you in every way. Then, when you are tempted, you get deluded, you get submerged, and you drown yourself.
Hiraṇyākṣa literally means “the one who has golden eyes” — the one who is attached to gold or external reality. This reminds me of a verse in Bhagavad Gītā from Chapter 6:
The yogī who is fully content with knowledge and Realisation of the Self, who dwells in a transcendent state, whose senses are controlled will see earth, stone and gold the same.
The golden-eyed demon represents the wrong perception of reality within us. He stands for this unhealthy attachment to external reality, the delusion and ignorance, which degrades the very purpose of our physical body, represented by Mother Earth herself. Earth is the presiding deity of our physical body, because the body itself comes from her. Her longing is to be saved from the ocean of samsara, the vast waters of illusion, and become reunited with Her Divine Consort, the Supreme Lord — for it is the very purpose of every soul to find the Divine Beloved within, in this very body.
The same Mother Earth laughs at demons like Hiraṇyākṣa in the part of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam known as Bhūmi Gītā:
Just see how these kings, who are actually playthings in the hands of death, are desiring to conquer me. Great rulers of men, even those who are learned, meet frustration and failure because of material lust. Driven by lust, these kings place great hope and faith in the dead lump of flesh called the body, even though the material frame is as fleeting as bubbles of foam on water.
When we become overly obsessed with external reality, wrongly thinking in our delusion that it is all that is real, our mind itself becomes like Hiraṇyākṣa, the golden-eyed demon, which makes us constantly restless and ever willing to “pick a fight”. We become impulsive and irrational. And this is how we can spot the qualities of Rahu becoming amplified within us. We become completely submerged in the ocean of delusion, which gives rise to constant sense of greed and dissatisfaction. We always want more and it is never enough. Our gaze becomes completely focused on the outside. We start objectifying everything around us and slowly lose the capacity to appreciate and value this what was given to us.
On the contrary, when the very same symbolic Earth is in the embrace of the Divine, when our mind seeks salvation in the Divine presence, as a result, we slowly start to develop a deeper sense of satisfaction, a joy, which is not dependent on external factors. We start to appreciate life more and a natural sense of gratitude awakens.
Interestingly, it is Lord Varāha Himself who says in Chapter 2 of Varāha Upaniṣad:
To an ignorant man, the world is filled with misery; while, to a wise man, it is full of bliss, To a blind man, the world is dark; while, to men of vision, it is bright.
Lord Viṣṇu in the form of Varāha becomes the one, who frees us from our misconceptions and wrong perception of reality, so that we can develop a higher taste and discover what is real joy and real bliss, beyond all suffering of this world. The Lord in the form of great boar, diving into the ocean of samsara and elevating the Earth above the surface, rescuing her on His mighty tusks, represents the Divine grace saving us from the clutches of māyā, delusion, and rescuing our soul by elevating our consciousness.
Why the boar?
Boar is an unusual symbol even in the context of Vedic culture. Pigs and boars are considered filthy and thus impure. We can read in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that when Hiraṇyākṣa sees Lord Viṣṇu in the form of a boar, he actually laughs, considering this form to be very lowly. So why did the Lord chose this specific animal as His third avatāra?
We could settle for a very simple explanation: boars are known to always dig in the earth and search for something in it. Because of their extraordinary sense of smell they are praised even in the Vedas for their unique skill to find precious healing herbs hidden deep within. This makes a boar an ideal animal to metaphorically plunge into the ocean of samsara and dig the earth out of it.
But it’s not just that. A boar, who constantly digs in the earth and thus has a unique connection with Bhūdevī, is also reminding us to value and protect the Nature, this material reality given to us, rather than trying to just exploit it and conquer it, like the golden-eyed demon does. A boar digging in the earth is a beautiful symbol of making our own effort towards finding the real meaning and value in life, a higher purpose for our soul’s journey in the womb of material nature, rather than just taking it for granted.
Similarly, Rahu in our birth chart, when he becomes exaggerated, can make us a bit like Hiraṇyākṣa, the golden-eyed demon, who will sacrifice and destroy everything just to satisfy his ego. But the very same Rahu, the very same energy, which makes us strive tirelessly in the material world, once directed towards the Divine, can be also utilised for our spiritual progress. This Rahu, which is never satisfied and constantly searches for something more, eventually gets exhausted by the material world, which is limited by nature, and starts looking for a more permanent, transcendental source of bliss. When directed towards a transcendental purpose, the same yearning and longing for more can become a powerful force pushing us forward on our spiritual path and inspiring us to put our effort in that direction.
Lord Viṣṇu in the form of a boar, an animal so closely connected to earth, eventually marries Bhūdevī in this form and thus grants her eternal protection. What could be a more beautiful and humble message from God to show us how dear is this Earth to Him? Lord Viṣṇu as Varāha becomes the protector of Nature and reminds us all how important it is for each and every single one of us to make an extra effort to protect this beautiful planet and learn how to co-exist with Her in a more sustainble way, rather than just recklessly destroying everything for the sake of our self-gratification. We can see many Hiraṇyākṣa’s in our day and age who are so greedy for material wealth and power that they are ready to destroy even our beautiful planet in order to satisfy their greed. This lack of sustainability in technological growth and progress clearly reveals how over-dominated by Rahu the society has become in our times.
On a biological level, the battle between Hiraṇyākṣa and Varāha, can be also seen as battle between more evolved, analytical parts of our brain (which can also become the cause of our delusion) and this part of ourselves which is more connected to Nature. The overthinking mind can often cloud our vision and obstruct direct perception of reality — a well-known trademark of Rahu’s influence.
The demon in the story is golden-eyed Hiraṇyākṣa. The sense which we mostly depend upon is also, not surprisingly, sense of seeing. It is interesting, because vision is at the same time the most corrupted of all our senses. The information that we receive through our eyes is often almost immediately twisted by our pre-existing judgements and beliefs about life. If you want to experience this first hand, try spending an hour in a coffee shop and just observe other people, coming and going — and try not to create any judgement or belief about them based only on what you see. Good luck with that!
The most reliable of our senses, on the other hand, and at the same time the most intuitive one, is our sense of smell. It is in fact the only sense which doesn’t get filtered by our analytical mind, but bypasses it completely and delivers the information to our brain in its most pure, unaltered and direct form. Even though it’s the most primitive of all senses, it is (or maybe more “was”) vital for our survival, as it helps us to recognise which food is good for us to eat, and, on a more subtle level, through the medium of pheromones, helps us also to bind with our partners. No wonder that this sense is associated in yoga with earth element and our root chakra.
Lord Viṣṇu in the form of a boar, an animal which has a particularly sophisticated sense of smell (and a big nose), may represent in this context the idea of going back to our roots, to more simple and intuitive interaction with reality around us, as well as staying more connected with Nature — as opposed to dependency on the elusive ideas and desires produced by our mind. And how exactly do we do that? Well, in yoga it’s simple: you just bring your awareness away from your thoughts and try to focus it on your breath, the link between your physical body and the Divine. Is that a coincidence that the very same nostrils on which we focus initially during meditation or our yoga practice are also the seat of the sense of smell within us? I don’t think so. Interestingly enough, Varāha avatar is often called Sūkara in the Vedas — one of the meanings of which is “the one who makes a peculiar sound with his nose”.
It could be that the very image of Varāha embodies a deep yogic truth: the more we focus on the sūkara, the sound of our breath, the more we move beyond delusion and closer to the clear perception of reality. And this is not just a story. This is a real first-hand experience, well-known to those who meditate.
Lord Kṛṣṇa explains clearly in Chapters 5 & 6 of Bhagavad Gītā that through diligent practice of yoga one gains this sama-darśina or “equal vision” and starts perceiving “earth, stone and gold alike”. One stops being dominated by the inner Hiraṇyākṣa, the golden-eyed demon, and one starts to perceive the reality from an entirely different perspective.
No wonder that in so many cultures boar, an animal which is perhaps not particularly appealing on the outside, is a symbol of meeting the uncomfortable truths within us with courage, instead of hanging on lies that we tell ourselves. Varāha is a complete opposite of Hiraṇyākṣa. Hiraṇyākṣa’s gaze is fixed entirely on the outside and he cannot see any other reality than external forms and shapes. Lord as Varāha, on the other hand, comes to remind us that “all that glitters is not gold”. There is a higher reality, a deeper happiness to be discovered — and this can be experienced only when we drop the idea of focusing on the outside and judging things by their external appearance alone.
The battle between Lord Varāha and the golden-eyed demon is a fierce one. When many powerful weapons fail him, the great demon finally resorts to creating various illusions, which make the gods tremble — much like Rahu, who often covers us with the veil of illusion and make our senses greatly disturbed and agitated. Little does Hiraṇyākṣa know that Mahamāyā herself is a servant of the One, whom he is trying to trick with his magic. Lord Varāha smoothly cuts through the illusions of Hiraṇyākṣa with His illustrious sudarśana cakra, representing the divine vision itself. Shortly after He finally kills the demon.
The battle between Varāha and Hiraṇyākṣa, in reality, happens within us — it is the battle between attachment to the external reality and the yearning to “dig” and search for something deeper in life. No wonder Varāha avatāra of Lord Viṣṇu is considered both fierce and yet incredibly compassionate and merciful. Lord in this form is merciless towards our delusions — but the very reason He cuts through them (which may sometimes feel like an open surgery without anaesthetic) is to free us from our misery and rescue us from drowning in the ocean of samsara.
Ultimately, Lord Varāha coming from the highest heavens and digging the earth from the deepest, lowest point, known as pātāla loka, represents the descent of Divine Grace, which similarly enters into our life to rescue our soul from drowning in material reality. He represents this grace which saves when we are at our lowest point in life. And this grace often comes disguised — very much like Lord Viṣṇu assuming a humble form of a boar. If we are too preoccupied with external look of things, like golden-eyed Hiraṇyākṣa, we won’t recognise it. But if we “have the eyes to see” we will be able notice this grace and mercy when it enters our lifes.
Rahu in our birth chart, similarly, sometimes makes us feel like we temporarily descend to the lowest point (or even go directly through hell itself), where we need to face our own demons, our own negative qualities and delusions. But the very same Rahu who often forces us to descend into the netherworld of our subconsciousness and face our own lies, also forces us to grow and evolve by rising above those and by elevating our understanding.
Yajña-varāha — the embodiment of sacrifice
After Lord Viṣṇu slayed Hiraṇyākṣa and granted Mother Earth eternal protection by elevating her on His gigantic tusks, He was eulogised by the devas as the very embodiment of yajña, the Vedic fire sacrifice, with His different limbs and bodily parts representing different components of yajña. Thus He became known as Yajña-varāha.
What is yajña? Lord Kṛṣṇa makes it clear in the Bhagavad Gītā: yajña is any selfless action, which is not performed because of the desire for the result, but because of the sole desire to please the Lord. Only such action is free from any karmic consequences, as Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in Chapter 3. In this context, everything can become a yajña, or selfless offering to God. Lord Viṣṇu in the form of Yajña-varāha represents such a selfless action — and with the entire earth resting on His tusks, His message is very clear: only through selfless effort, through yajña, can the world be uplifted and can the balance be maintained.
If we look at the battle between Hiraṇyākṣa and Varāha from this perspective, suddenly it gets an entirely new dimension: it is a battle between selflessness and self-gratification.
Sanskrit scholars are sometimes even seeing the very word varāha as derived from varā-harta — “the one who acquires something auspicious”. Sūkara, Varāha’s other name, also means “the performer of good deeds”. Lord in this form reminds us that when we perform selfless actions and good deeds, we will acquire the treasure which is from beyond this world and is much more precious than anything we can find in the external reality. Because selfless effort elevates us.
In contrast to that, when Rahu in our birth chart becomes exaggerated, he often makes us too obsessed with mundane reality — to the extent of putting excessive effort into it in order to achieve something. Lord Varāha, coming in the form of such a powerful animal, also represents the power of effort within us — but it is the power of selfless effort, versus the “stressful” effort that Rahu can sometimes make us obsess about. When Rahu becomes too exaggerated in our chart, we, too, start to obsessively “dig in the earth”, in order to find something we are looking for, while being all the time fixated on the external reality. We try to control the earth and exploit it in every manner possible in order to feel a little less insecure and get the illusion of control, while forgetting the simple truth spoken by Jesus:
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Lord Varāha comes to liberate us from this mundane mentality and to remind us that we don’t need to so frantically worry about everything and always try to control things — for not even a leaf can fall from the tree without His will. As much as our effort is an important part of our progress, obsessing about it can also successfully hinder our growth.
Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha and what links them
The stories of first three avatāras of Lord Viṣṇu are strongly interlinked. Not only because all three appear in the time of cosmic crisis or because they represent three most tamasic and transformative planets in our birth chart. Their very stories are interconnected.
The Puranas say that when Bhūdevī was held captive by Hiraṇyākṣa in the depths of the cosmic ocean, in her heart she would silently pray to Lord Viṣṇu in the form of… Matsya. And no wonder. During the time of great deluge Lord Viṣṇu appears in a fish incarnation in order to save and preserve life for the next cycle of creation. Matsya avatar was not only the first incarnation of the Lord, but also the only one who could be known or remembered by Bhūdevī. So when the new cycle of creation begins, Mother Earth prays to Lord Matsya to come and save her from the waters of chaos, in the same way how He saved king Satyavrata and protected all life.
And her prayers are heard. Lord Viṣṇu appears once again to save her, but this time in the form of a great boar, Varāha. And what does Lord Varāha do after killing Hiraṇyākṣa, saving Bhūdevī and marrying her? He carefully places her on the back of… Kūrma avatar, as Padma Purana explains, so she can remain stable and protected forever.
Of course, through those stories, we are continuously reminded, that the Lord takes many forms within us when we go on spiritual path. He always takes the form which is most appropriate to the given situation. And the function of many of Lord Viṣṇu’s main avatāras are often interlinked.
But I feel that in the case of Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha there is more to it.
From perspective of Vedic Astrology and esoteric science, first three avatāras of Lord Viṣṇu play very interesting roles. All three represent different movements of prana inside our energy body, or different aspects of our breath itself. Matsya avatar, who represents the energy of Ketu, the planet which always inspires us to dive within, is the movement of the energy turned inwards and thus symbolises inhale itself. After Matsya, comes Kūrma, the Gigantic Tortoise, who with his power to withdraw his limbs, represents not only the influence of Saturn in our birth chart, but also our ability to remain still and silent during the time of transformation — or holding the breath. Varāha on the other hand, who elevates the earth and excavates her from the depths of the mystical ocean, represents Rahu and the outward movement of energy, or our exhale.
Matsya, who appears at the time of “the end of the world”, represents the inhale that inspires us to go within. Kūrma represents the stability and peaceful mind needed for the great inner churning — the qualities which arise within us when we hold the breath. Varāha, appearing at the beginning of the new cycle of creation, represents the exhale and outward movement of energy: the manifestation.
In this way, creation, maintenance and destruction are present in our every breath — but in a reverse order.
It becomes even more interesting once you realise that the first two avatāras of Lord Viṣṇu are naturally silent and mute animals (same when we inhale and when we hold the breath), while the third one, representing the exhale, is the animal who gets his name because of the sound he makes, Sūkara. Not only that — the boar avatar of the Lord is also considered the very embodiment of the Vedas or sacred vibration. It is only through our exhale that we can create sounds and words, or engage ourselves in repetition of a mantra. Similarly, it is only through a conscious external action, that we can engage ourselves in a metaphoric yajña, an offering to the Divine. Varāha embodies that very yajña, the symbolic selfless act, which is the cause of creation, the means to manifest anything good in life, as well as the means to preserve the balance in the world — and also transcend it altogether.
Healing the Navagrahas Within You
There is so much more to the story of each of those Divine incarnations, especially when we look at them through the lens of Vedic Astrology and our spiritual growth. Each story hides important life lessons in its details and symbolic language — the only type of language which doesn’t get twisted or deviated with time.
During our ongoing “Healing the Navagrahas Within You” course we will be looking much deeper into those stories from perspective of Vedic Astrology, decoding their meanings in our birth charts and meditating with those Divine incarnations, so we can truly heal those parts of ourselves and grow. It is the first such a course in which we will combine the wisdom of Vedic Astrology with the power of mindful meditation.
You are most welcome to join the introduction session for free, if it’s something that sparks your interest — click here to sign up for the free session. Click here if you want to learn more about the “Healing the Navagrahas Within You” course and enrol.
