Devlok With Devdutt Pattanaik Read online

  If you look at the entire Mahabharata from the point of view of the women—the stories of Kunti, of Gandhari—it’s a bit tragic.

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  Varaha and Narasimha

  Vishnu has many avatars; tell us about his Varaha avatar.

  Varaha means wild boar, as in the Asterix comics! There was a time when Bhu-loka, the world, sank into the ocean. Different reasons are offered for this. Some believe it happened due to ignorance, due to paap (sins) or in the aftermath of pralaya (doomsday). Some say asuras drove it into the ocean, and Vishnu took the form of Varaha and brought it out. Varaha’s characteristic is to dig into the earth. So Vishnu, in this form, scoops earth out of the ocean. In images, you’ll sometimes see Varaha holding Bhudevi on the tip of his nose or on his shoulder.

  What’s the story of Narasimha?

  Nara is human and simha is lion. So it’s a combination of lion and human. The story of this avatar is associated with an asura who cannot be killed by anything that is human or animal. So Vishnu becomes human and animal to defeat him; and he’s neither human nor animal. While we see sheer physical strength in Varaha, we see intelligence, strategy and cunning in Narasimha.

  But why lion?

  Lion is associated with kings and royalty in India. A king sits on a singha-asana (lion throne). To defeat a king, Vishnu takes on the form of a lion. In some images and artwork, a tiger is depicted. But most of the time, it’s a lion, with sharp teeth and a flowing mane but always a human body.

  There are many stories of half-animal, half-humans in the Puranas . . .

  In the Simhachalam Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Varaha and Narasimha have been merged. They call it the Varahanarasimha Temple. Both are worshipped as a combined form; they are not separated from each other. There’s a story in which the dwarpal (gatekeepers) of Vaikuntha—Jaya and Vijaya—upset some rishis and are cursed to be born as asuras. Vishnu tells Jaya and Vijaya that they cannot escape the curse, but assures them that he will come down to earth and save them. So Jaya as Hiranyaksha does an evil deed by taking the earth down into the ocean, forcing Vishnu to come to the rescue. Hiranyakashipu, Vijaya, too follows the same pattern. He receives a boon that makes him unconquerable by humans and animals. His terrible treatment of his son Prahlada compels Vishnu to take the form of Narasimha and release him.

  This is the concept of vipreet bhakti or reverse love. Here, anger too is a form of bhakti. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu show vipreet bhakti. They are two brothers, joined to Vaikuntha as Jaya and Vijaya. That’s perhaps why Varaha and Narasimha are worshipped together in many places.

  Doesn’t Goddess Lakshmi also make an appearance in both their stories?

  The first avatar of Vishnu is the Matsya avatar, a helpless fish, and Lakshmi has no role here. The second is Kurma avatar, which supports the Amrita manthan, in which Lakshmi is born. But here again, the two are not associated. Then the animals start taking on an ugra roop, a violent form, with Varaha and Narasimha. Usually, Vishnu’s image is always relaxed, smiling, with mischievous eyes. But in the images of these two, they are very aggressive. A wild boar, as rural folk know only too well, is a very violent creature. If you hunt it, it will attack you. It is said that when Varaha looks at Bhudevi (a form of Lakshmi), his aggression is reduced. Lakshmi calms him down. Varaha is said to frolic in muddy water because he loves Bhudevi, Lakshmi, so much. In images, Varaha looks at Bhudevi lovingly as he carries her out of the ocean. And when he clasps the earth, his embrace is so tight that mountains and valleys are formed. His tusks sink into the earth from which trees are born. So it’s a very virile, sexual, intense relationship with Bhudevi. He is called Bhupati or lord of the earth. In the Shiva Purana, it is said that he was so deeply in love with Lakshmi that he forgot to return to Vaikuntha. Finally, Shiva had to attack him in the form of a bull and force him to go to Vaikuntha—as there was other work to be done!

  When he kills Hiranyakashipu as Narasimha, he drinks his blood and becomes extremely aggressive and frightening. To calm him, Lakshmi had to arrive. This is from the Shakta parampara. But in the Shaiva parampara it is said that Shiva took the form of Sharaba, a lion with eight legs, and overpowered Narasimha to calm him down.

  People say that these two stories are more a result of the rivalry between the Shaiva and Vaishnava maths, to prove one’s superiority over the other. A story to counter this one then emerges. When Sharaba too goes out of control, Vishnu takes the form of an eagle with two heads, Gandaberunda. In many places the two-headed eagle is a sign of royalty. You’ll see it in the emblem of the Karnataka flag. This eagle is so strong that it can lift even an elephant.

  What is Shiva’s connection with Varaha?

  Once, Shiva takes the form of a jyotirlinga called Lingobhava or a pillar of fire that has neither beginning nor end. Brahma and Vishnu try to find its beginning and end. That’s when Vishnu becomes a varaha and goes deep down into the earth looking for the base of this linga. He is unable to find it, so he returns and acknowledges Shiva’s greatness.

  What is Brahma’s connection with Varaha and Narasimha?

  Brahma is connected more with Varaha than with Narasimha. The Puranas are 2000 years old, and the Vedas came a long time before them. In the Vedic granth—the Brahman Granth—when the yagna parampara is discussed, yagna has been given the form of Varaha. In the original stories, that is, during the yagna parampara, Varaha is related to Brahma; these stories do not appear later when temples were built. According to one story, Varaha came out of Brahma’s nose. In another, Prajapati, an older name for Brahma, takes the form of Varaha, called Emusha, himself. In this form, he brings Bhudevi out of the ocean, places her on a lotus leaf and creates Bhu-loka. There is no mention of Vishnu here. Brahma is associated with Varaha but not Vishnu. In Puranic tales, however, Varaha is Vishnu’s form.

  In many images, Hanuman is also seen with Varaha and Narasimha. What’s his relationship with them?

  This is Panchmukhi Hanuman—Hanuman with five heads. His story comes from the Adhbut Ramayana. You must have heard about Patali Hanuman, one who lives in Patala, the netherworld. Once, in a battle with Ravana, Rama is abducted by Mahiravana rakshasa and taken to Patala, to be offered as human sacrifice (nara-bali) to Goddess Kali. To rescue him, Hanuman goes to Patala (hence his name) and takes an ugra, or violent, form—Panchmukhi Hanuman. His four extra heads are those of varaha, lion, horse and garuda. He kills Mahiravana, prays to Kali and saves Rama. In this form, he has all the qualities and powers of these four creatures.

  There’s a philosophical aspect to this. If you observe, Hanuman is a monkey who usually obeys Rama at all times, without applying his mind. He doesn’t take initiative, is not proactive. So, when Rama is kidnapped and he takes initiative, he discovers many of his own qualities. When you take initiative and responsibility, you learn many things about yourself.

  Vishnu’s many qualities are seen in his avatars. The Matsya avatar is helpless; Kurma depicts stability; Varaha and Narasimha convey aggression (physical and psychological), strength, the power to strategize. Just as in businesses, people try to get around laws, Vishnu as Narasimha finds a way to block the asura. Through the symbol or medium of animals, he is trying to tell us something.

  We hear a lot about the Vishnu avatars Rama and Krishna but not so much about Varaha and Narasimha.

  From the fifth up to the tenth century, when royal powers began to emerge, Varaha and Narasimha were very popular. Rama and Krishna gained in popularity from the tenth century onwards. The reasons are not clear. There is a possibility that India’s military might have reduced gradually. The rajas guna (royal qualities) ceased to be appreciated in India; Varaha and Narasimha seemed too rajasik. We needed satvik (calm, non-aggressive) qualities, hence, Rama and Krishna.

  Another reason may be the advent of Islam in India, via the Sultanate and the Mughals. Pigs are haram (forbidden) in Islam. When that became known to the local population, the importance of Varaha reduced. The kings too felt they should not associate with