Hayagriva - Two stories about His udhbhava (genesis)

 (These two paragraphs are verbatim copy pasted from https://manblunder.com/articlesview/lalitha-sahasranama-purva-bhag. My sincere thanks to the people involved in this excellent resource)

There is a story in Bṛhadāraṇayaka Upaniṣad (II.v) about a learned person with horse head.  There was a sage by name Dadhyac, an exponent in Atharva Veda who taught madhu vidyā to Lord Indra.  Indra asked Dadhyac not to teach this madhu vidyā to anyone else after teaching him.  If Dadhyac taught this anyone else, his head would be chopped off by Indra. Aaśvin deva-s somehow wanted to learn this madhu vidyā.  They told Dadhyac that they would first replace his head with a horse head and that he should teach them madhu vidyā with the horse head (detailed in Bṛhadāraṇayaka Upaniṣad II.v.16).  Once it is taught, Indra would chop of his head and that Dadhyac would lose only the horse head.  The horse head would then be replaced by his original head.  Everything happened according to their plan and Aaśvin-s were taught madhu vidyā by sage Dadhyac. In the said Upaniṣad, V.v.16 ends with pra yadīmuvāca.  In this word kāmakalā bīja īṁ ईं (pronounced as eeṁ.) is secretively placed.  Kāmakalā is discussed in nāma 322 in this Sahasranāma.  This īṁ is considered as the most important aspect of Śrī Vidyā.  However, the riṣi who taught madhu vidyā is not the incarnation of Viṣṇu.  Hayagrīva, the incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu initiated Agastya into Śrī Vidyā worship through Lalitā Sahasranāma.  

The following story is found in Devi Bhāgavata (I.5). Viṣṇu was very tired after waging a war with demons. He sat in padmāsana (well known cross legged or lotus posture) resting his head on one side of the bow after placing the other side of the bow, firmly on the ground.  Indra and other gods wanted to perform a great yajña and came to seek blessings from Viṣṇu as He is the Lord of all yajna-s.  They went to Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of Vishnu.  But He was not there. They found out He was resting elsewhere and reached there.  They decided to wait till He woke up.  Since the yajña was to be urgently performed, they could not wait any longer and they asked termites to bite the bow string of Viṣṇu’s bow.  The string was snapped and in the force it chopped off Viṣṇu’s head.  Gods and goddesses searched for His head, but that was not to be found. They all prayed towards Lalitāmbikā who asked them to bring a horse head and fix it on Viṣṇu.  Viṣṇu was then known as Hayagrīva.  He got Śrī Vidyā initiation from Her and this avatār of Viṣṇu is known for the highest wisdom.  Based upon this story Hayagrīva is worshiped for gaining knowledge.  Hayagrīva in turn initiated Agastya into Śrī Vidyā cult. Please note the contextual difference from what is narrated in the ‘the presentation’ section.

A new Sri Lalita Sahasranama Class

 On Sept 5th 2023, under the auspices of https://www.sanatanadharmausa.org/  

Sanata Dhrma Pratishtana,  a new class on Sri Lalita Sahasrana nama has started.

Shri Lalita Sahasranama stotram (SLSS) class is being conducted online (zoom) under the auspices of Sanatana Dharma Pratishtana (SDP) [www.sanatanadharmaUSA.org].  The classes are held on Tuesdays from 8 to 9 PM EST. To register for the class, please email the host organization at: sanatanadharmausa@gmail.com  and explore their website for other classes too!  Registration and the classes are free. 

 Course materials are being made available from a google site to all course attendees. The content of this personal google site will include materials discussed in the class, audio files, additional resources for self-paced learning, and related stuff. Please email to slss.class@gmail.com for access.

The person involved in this is Gopal Gopinath from Rockville, MD.  A research scientist by profession (microbial genomics), a student of Sri Aurobindo and a devotee of Ambaal by Her Grace, a Maadhva by birth familiar with Kannada Haridasa sahitya, a scourer of Tamil literature due to geography, and a perennial learner of Sanatana Dharma traditions by choice. For the past three  decades and a bit more, he has been blessed by his Gurus to wander around in a space in which there is a convergence of Rig Veda mantras, mantraartha by Sri Aurobindo and Sri Madvacharya, brahma-jignaasa, Sri Vidya and Divine Mothers.

 

**Shrii Maatre NamaH**

 

 Ilaa - Mahii - Sarasvati 

 - a blog on Divine Mothers

 

Ā no yajñaṁ bhāratī tūyam etu,  iḷā manuṣvad iha cetayantī,
tisro devīr barhir edaṁ syonam   sarasvatī svapasaḥ sadantu.  (Rig Veda 10.110)

“May Bharati come speeding to our sacrifice and Ila hither awakening our consciousness (or, knowledge or perceptions) in human wise, and Sarasvati,—three goddesses sit on this blissful seat, doing well the Work.”

"As Sarasvati is an awakener of the consciousness to right thinkings or right states of mind, cetantī sumatīnām, so also Ila comes to the sacrifice awakening the consciousness to knowledge, cetayantī. 

Mahi (Bharati), then, is the luminous vastness of the Truth, she represents the Largeness, bṛhat, of the superconscient in us containing in itself the Truth, ṛtam. She is, therefore, for the sacrificer, like a branch covered with ripe fruit.

As Sarasvati represents the truth-audition, śruti, which gives the inspired word, so Ila represents dṛṣṭi, the truth-vision. If so, since dṛṣṭi and śruti are the two powers of the Rishi, the Kavi, the Seer of the Truth, we can understand the close connection of Ila and Sarasvati. 

Bharati or Mahi is the largeness of the Truth-Consciousness which, dawning on man’s limited mind, brings with it the two sister Puissances. 

We can also understand how these fine and living distinctions came afterwards to be neglected as the Vedic knowledge declined and Bharati, Sarasvati, Ila melted into one."  

(Sri Aurobindo, Secret of the Veda - Sarasvati and her Consorts)