Shree Varaha Dev's Appearance Day 27th January.
(The Boar Incarnation)
"O Keshava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a gigantic boar! All glories to You! The earth, which had become immersed in the Garbhodaka Ocean at the bottom of the universe, sits fixed upon the tip of Your tusk like a spot upon the moon." (Dasavatara Stotram 3 of Jaya deva Goswami)
Outside the Gaudiya Vaishnava community (Hare Krsna Movement is part of this community) not many are aware of Lord Varahadeva. This humble rendition is to enlighten you on the greatness and importance of this very important avatar (Expansion of Lord Krsna) in Sanathan dharma. This year Shree Varaha-Jayanthi is celebrated on the 27th January. But the fast for Lord Varahadeva is observed on the 26th on Bhaimi Ekadashi…
The third incarnation among the Ten Incarnations of Lord Krsna is Varaha avatar, or the Boar incarnation.
When Lord Brahma received the order to carry out creation, he started thinking about the subject matters of creation. At that moment, a male named Svayambhuva Manu and a female named Satarupa manifested from his body. By the desire of Lord Brahma, Svayambhuva Manu accepted Satarupa as his wife for the purpose of creation. Seeing the earth submerged in the water of annihilation and desiring to seek a dwelling place for the living beings, Manu approached his father Lord Brahma and prayed to him to rescue the earth. When Lord Brahma saw the earth submerged in the water, he thought for a long time about how it could be rescued. He had earlier established the earth after removing all the water but he could not understand why the earth had sunk into the water again. He had been appointed for the work of creation but the earth had become inundated in a deluge and had sunk down to the Rasatala planetary system (FYI this is the bottom of the material creation). How was the creation to be done? How was the earth to be rescued?
Even after much effort, Lord Brahma was not able to think of any solution. At last, he took shelter of the Supreme Lord Vishnu. While Lord Brahma was still deep in thought, a small boar the size of the tip of a thumb manifested from his nose. But the most surprising thing is that the small boar expanded in front of Lord Brahma and within moments, filled the sky and assumed a form as big as an elephant. Lord Brahma, together with the great sages like Marici, as well as the Four Kumaras and Svayambhuva Manu saw the transcendental Varaha (Boar) form and began to discuss among themselves. Lord Brahma thought that this was some denizen of the transcendental world in disguise; travelling in the form of a boar. Oh! What a great surprise! It is very wonderful that this expanding Varaha form has come out of my nostril. Is Shree Hari, the Lord of sacrifice, hiding His form and trying to agitate us?'
In this way, while Lord Brahma was deliberating with his associates, Shree Hari roared tumultuously like the great mountain Giriraja. The omnipotent Shree Hari enlivened Lord Brahma and the other highly elevated sages by again roaring with His uncommon voice. The sound of His roar was so sweet that it destroyed all the miseries of the hearer. Lord Brahma, Svayambhuva Manu, and other sages who reside on Janaloka, Tapaloka and Satyaloka (these three lokas – worlds are the three upper worlds in the material creation), chanted auspicious mantras from the Vedas as offerings to Lord Varahadeva. Lord Vishnu in the form of Varaha accepted the prayers of Lord Brahma and other sages and for the benefit of the devas, entered into the waters of annihilation. Before entering into the water, Lord Varaha rose into the sky lashing His tail. The Lord raised the hair on His shoulders and scattered the clouds in the sky with His hooves. With raised hairs and white tusks, and with luminous effulgence, the Lord's form was brilliant. This is Shree Hari's unique transcendental pastime. Just the remembrance of it causes shivering in the body. He was omnipotent and omniscient, yet like an animal, He searched for the earth by the sense of smell. His external appearance was fearful; however, He pleased the sages engaged in offering prayers by glancing over them and entered into the water. His dive into the water with his thunderbolt-like body divided the ocean. The ocean prayed to Lord out of fear, "Please protect me, O Supreme Lord!"
The Lord of all sacrifices penetrated the water with His hooves, and in the depths of the Rasatala Ocean, He saw the earth lying there as it was carried by Him in his stomach during the time of devastation. Lord Varaha lifted the earth on His tusks and appeared very splendid.
At that time, a very powerful demon named Hiranyaksa challenged Him with a huge mace. In the depths of the Rasatala water, the demon Hiranyaksa misunderstood Lord Varaha to be only a boar, and considering Him to possess meager strength, spoke many deriding words to Him. The Lord, however, returned his taunts with equal vigour. Lord Varaha dodged the violent mace-blows of the angry demon Hiranyaksa, and thus a violent mace-fight began between the two. Lord Varaha expressed great anger.
Hiranyaksa displayed his prowess by using the mace and trident, and by casting illusions and striking hard with his fists, the Lord fought the demon with His mace. Thereupon, Lord Varaha killed the demon within the water, just as a lion kills an elephant. The body, head and face of the Lord became red with the blood of the demon. The sages headed by Lord Brahma, offered prayers to the Supreme Lord with folded hands. The Lord, being thus satisfied with the prayers of the great sages, placed the earth on the water with His hooves.
This pastime has been described in the 3rd canto, chapters 18 & 19 of the Srimad-Bhagavatam and the links to the full katha is given below FYI.
http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto3/chapter18.html
http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto3/chapter19.html
How to observe this extremely auspicious day: - After you have taken a bath in the morning and wearing clean clothes go to your prayer place and offer incense, lamp and flowers (all seven times in a clockwise around the picture of Lord Varahadeva. You should not have anything to eat or drink until noon of the 26th. For those that are diabetic well try your best to observe the fast to the best of your abilities. Then you can break your fast just after noon with EKADASHI food that has been offered to Lord Varahadeva. Please try to chant the maha mantra (hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare, hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare) as many times as you can on this most auspicious day. In the evening when you go to your local temple offer fruits and milk or any foodstuffs that you can afford to the Deities.
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