Priya Bhagavad Bandhus !
Mangalasasanams
Jai Srimannarayana !

Countless are the forms which the Lord assumed for the upliftment of humanity. We may not be able to know fully about all these incarnations. But, we may note that while some of them were meant to bestow knowledge, some others were meant to be exemplars of human conduct. Incarnation as Hayagriva is meant to lit the worlds with Vedic Knowledge. "Hayagriva" means one with the head of a horse and the body of a human being. Like the Narasimha avatara this is also wonderful and amazing. God's ways are always miraculous, astonishing and joyous.
There is a mention of Hayagriva by Sri Veda Vyasa in Srimad Bhagavatham (2:7:11 and 5:18:16). Also, in the Mahabharata, the greatness of this incarnation is mentioned in Na:ra:yani:ya of Sa:nthi parva.
Several million years ago, at the very commencement of Creation, Lord Supreme created Bramha and taught the Vedas to him and instructed him to create the worlds. But Bramha was inattentive to the teaching. Such inattentiveness to the upadesa (teachings) of the guru is improper. Because of Bramha's negligence
two demons Madhu and Kaitabha arose and stole the Vedas from him. God assumed the form of Hayagriva to recover the Vedas from those demons and restore them to Bramha.

Srimannarayana, the omnipotent and omnipresent, is highly compassionate. He taught the Vedas to Bramha even without his asking for it. Veda is the repository of all the knowledge. Even so, knowledge unsought has little value, which is why Bramha lost the knowledge given to him. The four Vedas assumed
human form as Vedapurushas and appeared before Bramha. At that very moment the asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha appeared and stole them from Bramha. The vedapurushas fought on behalf of Bramha as they were meant for him. But this was of no use. The demons left Bramha and escaped with the Vedas to the nether
world.

Darkness returns when the lamp is extinguished. Bramha lost the lamp of knowledge. He now undertook a great yaga seeking knowledge again from the Supreme Lord. Out of compassion, Lord went to the nether world in the form of Hayagriva and neighed so loudly that the asuras who heard it were terrified and fled in great fright. Hayagriva collected the four Vedapurushas and appeared through the sacrificial fire and returned the Vedas to Bramha who was eagerly seeking them.

The neighing of Hayagriva was like the Udgi:dha a form of recital of the Sa:ma Veda. On hearing it the asuras fled, but soon returned to the place where they had concealed the Vedas. But, not finding the Vedas there they concluded that none other than Vishnu could have taken them away. They went in search of Vishnu
and found him reclining on the A:dise:sha (serpent bed) on the Ocean of Milk.
They fought with him. Can anyone battle with the Lord? Soon both the asuras lost their lives, but as they were slain by the Lord Himself they attained moksha (liberation). As Bramha regained Vedic knowledge out of his deep desire, it remained with him forever.

This is the reason for the sasthraic (scriptural) injunction that knowledge should not be imparted to one who does not sincerely seek it. Vedic knowledge given unasked does not help the recipient.

The day following the full moon or new moon is known as "prathipath" or"pa:dyami". Lord created Bramha on such a day. He also gave Vedic knowledge to him on that day. The lesson taught on the day of prathipath did not last. It is therefore laid down that no new lessons should be commenced on that day.

The Lord grants knowledge to seekers on any day. But if it is sought on the day of His appearance, ie.,on His birthday, after due worship and prayer, the Lord gets pleased. Out of kindness, Lord Hayagriva grants knowledge which is powerful, abiding and splendid and from which one may profit immensely. Lord
Hayagriva appeared out of the sacrificial fire on the full moon day of the lunar month Sra:vana.

If one worships Lord Hayagriva on that day, for mastering any particular branch or branches of knowledge, He grants it readily and sees to it that there are no obstacles to acquire such knowledge. Lord Hayagriva is worshipped as the personification of all knowledge. "Haya" means knowledge, "griva" means one who
holds all the knowledge in his throat.

The source of all the knowledge are the Rug, Yajus, Sama and Atharva Vedas. They abound in powerful manthras (Vedic hymns). If all manthras could assume a form, Lord Hayagriva is the head of that form. The meaning of Lord Hayagriva's neigh is not known. How can anyone know what the neighing of a horse signifies?
But the sound produced by Lord Hayagriva was not meaningless. It was full of power, fully capable of banishing all impurities. It is for this reason that the demonaic forces fled on hearing that sound.


Sri Vedantha Desikacharya composed 33 slokas describing the greatness of Lord Hayagriva. The Lord Himself made him compose the hymn. Cosmic administration is said to be in 33 divisions. Likewise the great ashtakshari & dwaya manthras have a total of 33 syllables. Sri Desika has composed and favoured us with this
hymn in such a manner that each sloka has within it the divine power of the root syllables called bi:ja:ksharas. Great souls have been witness to this. For this reason, great acharyas of the past as well as learned scholars of the present times hold this hymn in high esteem as the bestower of great power of speech and
knowledge with understanding.

May Lord Hayagriva bless you all with the strength and ability to acquire good knowledge and use it to serve the Vedic cause.

Jai Srimannarayana !
=chinnajeeyar=