Friends, the story of Hayagriva appears in many Puranas. In some, Hayagriva is shown in the incarnation of a god, in some as a demon, and in some in both the forms. Like other mythological characters, Hayagriva is also taken from the Vedas. “Haya” means horse and “grivā” means neck. The one who has the body of a human being or a god, the neck and the head of a horse, is Hayagriva.
According to a story in Bhagwat, when Brahma was going to sleep at the beginning of the Doomsday, the Vedas that came out of his mouth were stolen by the demon Hayagriva, who was killed by Vishnu in the form of a fish. He took the Vedas from him and returned them to Brahma, who had awakened after the cataclysm.
It is almost similar in Agni Purana also that when the world was reduced to ashes during the cataclysm, the demon Hayagriva started destroying the Vedas, but Vishnu took the form of a fish and killed him.
It is mentioned in Matsya Purana that when the world was burnt due to the cataclysm, Vishnu saved the Vedas by taking the form of Hayagriva.
It is mentioned in a story of Bhagwat that Vishnu in the form of Hayagriva had killed the demons Madhu and Kaitabh and obtained the Vedas from them.
According to Devipuran, the demon Hayagriva got a boon from the goddess that he would be killed only by Hayagriva and not by anyone else. Therefore Vishnu has to come in Hayagriva avatar to kill him.
According to Skanda Purana, the gods started the Yagya and they located Vishnu, who was performing meditation somewhere on an island etc. in the middle of the ocean with a bow. He lifted Vishnu, due to which one end of the bow string broke and cut Vishnu’s neck, which had been eaten raw by ants. Vishwakarma then gave him the head of a horse. Vishnu was pleased and gave gods the Vedas, which completed the yagya. Then termites and Vishwakarma also asked for their share in the yagya.
Meaning Hayagriva is somewhere in all three forms, somewhere in divine form, somewhere in demonic form and somewhere in a combination of both together. He has both forms in Bhagwat Purana, but each form is in different stories, not both together in the same story, because Vishnu is the main one in this Purana. But in Devi Bhagwat Purana, both the forms are shown in the same story, because in it Devi is the main one, not Vishnu.
Spiritual analysis of the legendary myth of Lord Hayagriva
Although the situation becomes more clear only by reading the Purana in original Sanskrit, but still you can try like this. So many Puranas can be found together in the library itself. I couldn’t find these available even online. There is a Shivpuran lying at home, in which I feel like gaining expertise, because I find it to be the most simple, and scientific. Anyway, we are part-time or hobby researchers, not full-time. Therefore, we want to limit ourselves to Shivpuran only. Anyway, the theme of the stories of all the Puranas is the same, which is mainly Yoga, only the stories change. The stories of Hayagriva, Matsya etc. from other Puranas are often mentioned due to the context. Even in printed Shivpuran, many times there is a problem that it takes more time to find anything, whereas online search is done in the blink of an eye. Found a site by the name of SanskritBooksOnline.com but the PDF books in it are such that Nothing inside these is searchable. Then how will scientific research happen? There is a need for a single PDF that contains at least all 18 Puranas, with a search function. If found please let me know. If all the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and other Sanskrit literature are in one PDF, then great research can be done. I think that the best use of today’s online communication facilities is to read and understand the ancient Sanatan culture. Today’s technology and old culture, this is the best combination. Today’s culture is such that there is nothing much except technology. Spiritual awakening and liberation, which is the ultimate goal of mankind, to which the old, especially Sanatan culture was completely dedicated, there is not their even a trace visible in today’s culture.
The time of doomsday means when the entire knowledge of Brahma in the form of man was immersed in the darkness of Mooladhar, meaning Brahma had fallen asleep. Many people will say that the lifespan of man and his expressed mind is hundred years, then why is the age of Brahma said to be many ages long. This is because the mind can go far beyond the body. By the time an organism evolves and becomes a human being, millions and billions of years have passed since the creation of the universe. Therefore, the influence of that entire time is accumulated in the mind of man, also because he can think so much and also through DNA during evolution. The longer the day, the longer the night. The time a person spends awake working, he sleeps for the same amount of time. Meaning that as long as he lived as Brahma, even after death he would remain in that state for the same amount of time, which would be Brahma’s night and sleep.
A unique feature of the horse’s body is that it has special and large hair in the central line on its back, just above the path of the Sushumna Nadi. They are very beautiful and large in size in the neck and head, forming mane of its body. That is why in Hayagriva incarnation only the neck and head of the horse have been taken, the rest of the body is of a human being only, because only he can do yoga properly. It means that the figure of a Yogi is like that of Hayagriva. From this body, Shakti ascends from Mooladhar through Sushumna to Sahasrara located in the brain. This power is the basis of all knowledge and science. It is natural that through which body the energy ascends, it also descends through the same body. The ladder by which a person climbs to the roof of the house, he also descends by the same ladder. When at the time of death, the power of a person’s brain descends through the front channel to the Muladhara, then it is said that Brahma was going into sleep, and at the same time the Vedas came out of his mouth, because the front channel passes down through the mouth. Demon Hayagriva hid in the sea with those Vedas. When that person is reborn, he realizes the power and consciousness in his brain, because then the power is ascending from the muladhara to the brain. The proof of this is the growth and deepening of the mutual love affair between the newly conceived or newborn child’s parents. Their mind is receiving power from their Mooladhara through their bodies like Hayagriva. Due to extreme closeness and love, the same power is being transmitted to their child also, due to which he develops rapidly. Parents also keep raising the power of the child from his Mooladhar level in his Hayagriva-like body by lovingly caressing the child’s body and massaging it well. It is said for him that Brahma has woken up from sleep, and Lord Vishnu has incarnated as Hayagriva and killed the demon Hayagriva, freed the Vedas from him and returned them to Brahma.
At many places the birth of Brahma is said to be from the lotus in the navel of Vishnu. Here Vishnu in the form of Hayagriva helps Brahma awaken. It’s the same thing, only the words are different. Only one who is awake can be said to be born. What is the birth of someone who is asleep or of a person devoid of knowledge? Meaning here also Vishnu is creating Brahma. In the first case, Vishnu is lying on Sheshnaga aka cosmic serpent in the sea, in the second, Vishnu is searching for the Vedas in the sea. In the first case also Vishnu creates Brahma by the development of his body, the same happens in the second case also. The lotus of consciousness that blossoms in the minds of parents due to mutual love is also the awakening of Brahma from sleep. This can also be called the birth of Brahma, because what kind of birth is that of a sleeping person? Just as Brahma is born in their brain, the same can happen in the potential child growing in their womb. In a way, the Kundalini sleeping in Muladhar is also Brahma sleeping in Pralyarnav aka doomsday ocean. When Vishnu or Yogi in the form of Hayagriva lifts it up, it starts awakening in Sahasrara, and starts the process of creation. Complete awakening i.e. awakening of Kundalini should be understood as the completion of creation. This is a matter of the scriptures about Brahma’s sleeping and waking up. But it is also mentioned in the scriptures that Brahma himself becomes liberated after the completion of creation. Man is also like this. One who has not attained the perfection of awakening, wakes up or takes birth again after sleeping or dying, but one who has attained it, becomes free after the completion of his life.
Now let us understand a little more how the demon Hayagriva steals the Vedas and keeps Brahma unconscious. It is known that the energy of the brain goes to the perineum through the front channel. Consider the front channel as the demon Hayagriva, and the back channel as Lord Hayagriva, because in both, most of the energy travels through the central line. If Lord Hayagriva is not there, then all the energy in the form of Vedas will remain buried in the ocean of Mooladhar. Such up and down movement of power happens in everyone, but because only yogis have direct and clear experience of it, that is why the things of yoga have been linked to it.
The forms of fish, Sheshnag, Hayagriva etc. are philosophically related, hence anything can be said. At the time of the cataclysm, at some places the world is said to be a pile of burnt ashes and at other places it is said to be submerged in the ocean. Both indicate darkness and absence as that’s there at Mooladhara.
According to a story, Hayagriva killed and the fish saved vedas or creation, let us understand this. This seems to me a tantric matter like Matsya Purana. How a small sensitive fish in the form of Kundalini picture becomes a huge fish and provides worldly happiness and awakening in the form of creation to the living beings trapped in the bondage of karma.
I think Madhu kaitabha is the epitome of Ida Pingala. These nadis cover the left and right sides of the body. Due to this, the body remains extroverted, due to which the person becomes distant from spirituality. Energy remains in the body only, and the body also remains healthy, but it is not able to circulate in the central loop or ring, due to which there is a lack of energy in the Sahasrara. Sahasrara is the most important chakra of spirituality. The knowledge that is present in Sahasrara is the entire form of creation, because in it the knowledge of the world is non-dual, and the creation is also non-dual. Due to Hayagriva’s meditation the energy comes into the central ring, meaning Madhu Kaitabh dies, and the Vedas which correctly describe the creation become active. Anyway, when any unnecessary thought is troubling the mind, then in the meditation of Hayagriva, it disappears and in its place comes the Kundalini picture. The horse listens less to his brain and more to his heart. The donkey seems to be one step ahead in this matter, that is why it is the vehicle of Mata Shitala Devi and Kalratri Devi. It is possible that the names or faces of the two goddesses may not get much attention, that is why the donkey has been kept with them. This means that if there is any worry about facial beauty etc., then by meditating on Hayagriva it gets eliminated and Kundalini appears.
The wavy wooden base of the bow is the back channel of the man’s wavy spine, and the string tied to it is the front channel of the body. It is said that Vishnu was doing sadhana with the bow, because yoga is done with the help of these two main channels. His energy was not going down from the brain due to the useless thoughts clinging to it. These thoughts are called termites, because they keep eating the life of a person like wood. Due to this, his front channel was already weak, when the gods lifted him from yoga, it broke completely, meaning the neck was cut, because the channel itself is called neck. Then the horse’s head was placed so that the front channel ran best. From this Lord Hayagriva became apparent. When this energy loop was completed, it was natural that the Vedas in the form of creation were restored in Sahasrara. With this the yagya of the gods was completed. Yagya is performed for the welfare of the universe. Worldliness with Advaita, what better welfare of the universe can there be than this. Vishnu is called Yagyapati because only he can complete the Yagya in human form with correct behavior. Other gods are like slave servants, who are engaged in the service of the body of Vishnu i.e. the place of sacrifice and Vishnu himself in the form of soul. The final decision regarding life behavior and attitude has to be taken by the soul himself. That is why only Vishnu gets the largest share of the fruits of the yagya. Through Hayagriva meditation, one gets good attention on Manipur Chakra, and Manipur Chakra is also called the place of Yagya, where the offering of food is always given through the fire god in the form of Jathragni or stomach fire for the satisfaction of all the gods in the body, but the Yagya is finally performed by the Yagya Purusha. It is completed only with the participation of Lord Vishnu or Lord Rama or a noble human being.
Demystifying Kundalini 