VARAHA SWAMY

Varaha is the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in form of a boar, succeeding Kurma and preceeding Narasimha. Varaha is listed as third in the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. When the demon Hiranyaksha stole the earth and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue her.

Once Lord Sriman Narayana was insulted by a Maharishi named Brugu but in turn the Lord was very kind to him. However Goddess Sri Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Narayana was displeased with the Lord's sympathetic attitude to his devotee Maharishi Brugu. The great goddess Sri Lakshmi took the Brugu incident as a deep insult to her. She felt that the Lord of fourteen worlds who governs both above and below should never be mistaken as an ordinary being by anyone else. She poured out her grievances to the Lord, "The headstrong Brugu should have been taught a serious lesson. He has knowingly dishonored the highest among the gods. All the rest of the world bow to you, the supreme Lord. There is no super intelligence that does not recognize this truth. Yet Brugu Maharishi has cared nothing for the ultimate Godhead. He has not only dishonoured you, my Lord. But he has assaulted me, thine heart dweller. Your duty is to punish the wrong doer. On the other hand you have comforted him and let him go free which is really not fair. Since he is a rishi, an omniscient being, I am restless and could not bear any more his dishonor.

Gleaming a smile at Sri Lakshmi the Lord spoke to her consort by pacifying her emotional imbalance, "Dear, there are no separating barriers between the Lord and his devotees. They merge into one in their devotion. Since you are not aware of this oneness between the Godhead and his true devotees you are feeling this incident as an insult to us. Hence you are also finding fault with me as well. It is highly difficult to probe deep into the mind of my devotees. Only I can understand in depth the finer feelings of my devotees. Brugu Maharishi is a great devotee, he knows all things, and he can never do wrong. He must have done this surely for a different purpose. Can he really disrespect me? May be to initiate a mighty task only he has done this, can any Godhead punish his own true devotee? Will any mother seriously punish her child or take him to task if he does play even mischieves with her? Will it be at all justified in this world and similar is the relationship between the Gods and his devotees? Patience should be the foremost quality of a woman in general and you in particular." But all this was in vain for the Goddess Sri Lakshmi was not happy with these words of the Lord. Her anguish on Brugu Maharishi rose up to the worst by these arguments of the Lord. "By the Rishi's assault you may have a name as the compassionate Godhead. But I don't like it any way, you may excuse him but I cannot. Therefore I cannot stay in the Vaikuntha any moment further, I am leaving right away. Our good relations break away this moment. This very moment I am leaving thee! Since our separation is caused by a Brahmin, let the Brahmin poverty be proverbial hereafter and they shall be cursed to sell their vedic learning to survive on the earth."


By the misdeeds of the elite Brahmin, all Brahmins, in spite of their omniscient knowledge, forethought and omni competent abilities, as a clan, have been financially endowed with very weak vitality. This reflects their honesty and integrity on the other hand. Following the well known adage �Better to rule hell than serve in heaven', Sri Lakshmi preferred to penance in forests than have her celestial abode with shame and indignity. She left not only Sri Vaikuntha, but also her unshakable trust on her Lord Sriman Narayana as the superior savior. With great effort she cast aside all her love and adoration she held for the Lord, for she is the most beloved devotee of the Lord. None of the words of the Lord could appeal to her heart any more. She came down to the earth as speedily as she decided to quit the Vaikunta Loka. Down on earth she walked a while, crossing forests, rivers, mountains and finally reached the banks of Godavari River and it was there in a small hermitage near Kolhapur she stayed performing penance seeking peace of mind.

Strangely by the absence of Goddess Sri Lakshmi the beautiful loka of Sri Vaikunta lost all its charisma. The Lord could easily feel it was no better than a desert on earth. The Lord was also restless and was seriously in search of his divine spouse, Sri Lakshmi. The sages and seers of Sri Vaikuntha tired to pacify the Lord but could not in any way comfort the Lord from his intense feelings of his separation from Sri Lakshmi. The Lord also forgot his duty of relieving the distress of his devotees. In search of Sri Lakshmi, the Lord also finally came down to the earth plane. He roamed all around in vain to find Sri Lakshmi. "O Dear! Where are you? Who shall tell me your whereabouts? How can I be separated from you really? I could not control myself without seeing you! The test of the Maharishi has wedged out our timeless companionship." The Lord was crying these words in widerness. The Lord wandered all around, exposing him to all the vagaries of weather, whether it rained or shined. Continuing his journey over countless regions including forests, rivers and mountains, the Lord spent several restless days and sleepless nights. He began to inquire every one whether they could guide him to Sri Lakshmi. At a point of time the savior of the Universe Lord Narayan started inquiring even inanimate trees and flowers as well as animals. But his doubt began to echo again and again in his mind as time passed without any sign of Goddess Sri Lakshmi's return. In every object he saw the adoration of his consort Goddess Sri Lakshmi. His eyes became red because of his continuous sleeplessness and the Lord lost his glow for his face was dull because of the wanderings without food. He finally reached a famous mountain range known by the name Seshachalam.

Once upon a time an argument between Vayudeva (The Lord of Air) and Adhisesha (King of Serpents) rose as to who was stronger than the other. Each one of them claims their supremacy over the other. Sri Narada saw them quarrelling with one another fiercely. "Dear friends, shall I suggest you an easy way to test who is stronger than the other between you both. Though both of you appear to be equally endowed in strength, certainly one of you should be stronger than the other. Only by an open test we can conclude clearly the stronger being." To this idea of pulling their strength to test, both of them readily agreed. Sri Narada proposed a plan, "Adhisesha you may go round circumbulating the little Meru known as the Anada parvada. O, Vayudeva, you should try to shake the Anada parvada while Adhisesha is circumbulating it. If you shake up the mountain at least once, you are stronger than Sesha, or else Sesha has more strength." This test of strength appealed to both Sesha and Vayu. Immediately Adhisesha encircled Anadaparvada while Vayudeva focused all his might to move the mount. His initial trial failed. Night and day Vayu blew fierce tempests over the little Meru.

By centering his concentrated will Adhisesha held the mountain in his grip so powerful that Vayudeva's might was simply seemed to dwarf away. But Vayudeva was also strongly determined to prove his potentials. He gathered his strength which lay spread all over the universe to fight out the hard tussle. When he did this, he withdrew his energy from other parts of the universe, the life force began to diminish everywhere. All living creatures were to put to suffering to breathe even. Yet both Sesha and Vayu were pursuing their ultimate test further and further. A few days passed in this state of energy crisis. Devendra, the king among the angels, appealed to Sesha, "O Lord of Serpents, is it justified to sacrifice all the living beings for the simple argument of who is stronger between you and Vayu. The whole universe is under the threat of death and decay. If Vayudeva withdraws his energy the entire life on the globe will be wiped out instantly. Kindly give up your trials at once." Moved by the request of the High Command of the Devas, Devendra, Sesha slightly loosened his tight grip over the Anada parvada. Quickly ceasing that opportune moment Vayudeva shook off the mountain range from the Meru and lifted through a vast distance. However on the way hillocks fell down at a spot well known as the Varaha Kshetra. The hills then onwards were known as Seshadri (the hill brought down by Adhisesha) after the serpent Lord, Sesha who was the chief cause for the shier of the Anada parvada from its parent mountain, the Meru, from the north.