________________
14. THE CONCEPT OF AVATARS
87-92. Abandoning all sorts of enjoyments, with control over his senses and without any food, the Daitya (Hyagriva) did Japam of the (repeated) one syllabled Mâyâ-Vija-mantra and, meditating the form of the Utmost Sakti of Mine, adorned with all ornaments, practised very terrible austerities for one thousand years. I, too, went to the place of austerities in My Tâmasî form, meditated by the Daitya and appeared before him.
93-95. Hayagriva said : -- "Obeisance to the Devi Mahamaye!...
96-100. The Devî said :-- "O child! I am very much satisfied with your wonderful tapasya and devotion. Now say what boon do you want. I will give you the boon that you desire". Hayagriva said ;- "O Mother! grant me that boon by which death will not come to me, and I be invincible by the Suras and Asuras, I may be a Yogi and immortal".
The Devi said :-- " Death brings in birth and birth brings in death; this is inevitable." This order of things is extant in this world; never its violation takes place. O best of the Raksasas! Thus knowing death sure, think in your mind and ask another boon..... There is none in the three worlds to kill him. So let Visvakarmá take a horse's head and fix it on the headless body of Visnu. Then Bhagavân Hayagriva will slay the vicious wicked Asura, for the good of the Devas".
106-112. ... Sûta said : -- Hearing these words, Visvakarmâ quickly cut off with his axe, the head of a horse, brought it before the Devas and fixed it on the headless body of Visnu. By the grace of Mahâmâyâ, Bhagavân became horse-faced or Hayagrîva.
Then, a few days after, Bhagavân. Hayagriva killed that proud Dânava, the Deva's enemy, by sheer force. Any man, hearing this excellent anecdote, becomes freed, certainly of all sorts of difficulties. Hearing or reading Mahâmâyâ's glorious deeds, pure and sin destroying, gives all sorts of wealth.
Thus ends the fifth chapter of the first Skandha on the description of the narrative of Hayagriva in the Maha Purana S'rimad Devî Bhâgavatam.
This evidently is not a Vaishnavite version since even Vishnu has become victim of death and was subject to the Goddess who is above all gods even of Vishnu. After the death of Vishnu, the idea was to resurrect Vishnu by putting on a new head similar to that of Hayagriva and regain the Vedas with cleverness.
Madhu Asura and Kaitabha Asura Connection
Another legend has it that during the creation, the Asuras Madhu and Kaitabha stole the Vedas from Brahma, and Vishnu then took the Hayagriva form to recover them.
311
