VARĀHA JAYANTĪ
Artowrk by: @designerayushkejriwal
September 13th
The auspicious occasion of Lord Varāha Avatāra’s appearance (वराह जयंती), the third incarnation of the Daśāvatāra of Lord Viṣṇu, the Divine Boar, is observed on the third tithi (Tṛtīyā) of the bright half (Śukla Pakṣa) of Bhādrapada (August/September).
Varāha Dev is one of the four full Paramātmās, whose līlā narrates how Lord Viṣṇu rescued Bhūdevī (Pṛthvī, Earth) — the one Avatāra who lifts and supports her, allowing her to rest.
Varāha’s story begins with the doorkeepers of Lord Viṣṇu’s realm, Jaya and Vijaya, who were cursed by Lord Brahmā’s four sons to take human birth and incarnate on Earth. The curse would be lifted only if the two, in human form, were slain by Lord Viṣṇu himself — a fate they accepted.
One brother, Hiraṇyākṣa, dragged Mother Bhūmi to the bottom of the cosmic ocean to provoke the Lord’s attention. In response, Lord Viṣṇu emerged from the nostril of Brahmā as a boar no larger than a thumb, and within moments expanded to an immense, cosmic form to slay the demon, rescue the Earth, and restore her to her rightful place in the universe.
Lord Viṣṇu, the sustainer of worlds, incarnates age after age whenever dharma is disrupted. This incarnation, Varāha Dev, is associated in Jyotiṣa with Rāhu, kāraka for fearlessness, courage, truth, justice, self-sacrifice, risking one's life for a cause, challenging the established order, the foreigner, and the protector of Earth.
With his tusks, Varāha is said to uproot impurities lodged in the heart. In the Navagraha Kavacam, we ask for Rāhu to protect our tongue.
ॐ वराहाय नमः।