Hayagreeva Avatar :
The avataram of Hayagriva Bhagavan took place to restore the Vedas to Brahma. Lord Vishnu taught Brahma the Creation through His breath of Vedas. Brahma understood how various kalpams had begun due to Lord Vishnu's teachings. But Brahma became extremely proud and head-strong of his position as the creator and about his powers of wisdom. Lord Vishnu wanted to remove the pride of Brahma. A couple of water droplets from the lotus seat of the Lord incarnated as two Asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha; They stole the Vedas from Brahma, as he yawned out the Vedas recklessly. Unable to carry on his work of creation without the Vedas, Brahma rushed to the Lord and pleaded to Lord Vishnu for mercy and saving the Vedas. Brahma prostrated to Lord Vishnu and begged the Lord to give him back his vision (Vedas) which had been blinded by his own pride.
Lord Vishnu incarnated as Hayagreeva, appeared as the white horse faced, faultless sphatika (crystal) hued form, with strong luminous body and lustrous form with a lovely long nose, like the heaven surrounded by white bright stars that illumined the whole world. He rushed to Paathaala Lokam fought with the asuras and killed them. Hayagreeva handed over the Vedas to Brahma. Brahma continued his work of creation
Greatness of Lord Sri Hayagreeva :
Swami Desikan in his Hayagreeva SthOthram, says:
"Even DhakshiNA moorthy (Sivan) and Saraswathi pay obeisance to Hayagreevan and are blessed with VidhyA Sakthi by Lord Haygreevan's grace.
Also he says: the followers of Sri Haygreevan shall chant this stotram and benefit with the blessings of Lord Hayagreevaa ("patata hayagrIva ?) "Read the haygriva stotram with bhakti", for attaining fluency over words and true knowledge about the Truth and to attain true knowledge about the siddhAntam.
In Paraasara puraaNam, agasthya naaradha samvaadham, Sri Hayagreeva ashtOthra sadhanaama stHothram blesses us a palasruthi - naama naamshtOththarasatham hayagreevasya patEthe,
avaapya sakalaan bhOgaannithE hari padham vrajEth" BhakthAs of Sri Hayagreevan, will be blessed with sakala Vedha saasthra jnAnam and be blessed with truthful knowledge. They will also live very happily in this world with their spouse and children with sakala sowbhAgyam and REACH THE LOTUS FEET OF SRI HARI for sure.
Origin of Hayagreeva Stotram :
In 1267 AD a great saint, poet and logician by the name Sri Venkatanatha was born, who was later to be known as Sri Venkatadesika. During his times, he was considered to be "Vishnughantavatar" ( an incarnation of the famous bell of Lord Srinivasa (Tirupati Balaji). One might wonder how an inanimate object such as a bell could be born as an avatar, but the fact is, in Vaikunthaloka everything is animate. The objective of his incarnation was to re-establish 'Sanathanadharma'
He was also known by the titles "Sarvatantraswatantra" and "Vedanta Acharya" that were conferred to him by none other than the Divine Mother Goddess Ranganayaki of Sri Rangam (in Tamil Nadu). He lived up to 101 years and did a great service to Hinduism. He not only protected important scriptures from being destroyed by frequent invasion from Muslim kings but also consolidated the Hindu rule by bringing together the hitherto divided Hindu kings and succeeded in driving away invaders like Malik Gafur and the likes.
His Guru initiated him into Garuda Mantra at the age of 20. He went to a secluded place at Thiruvaheendrapuram (in Tamil Nadu) and did several lakhs of Japa in 6 months and had the grand vision of Sri Garuda appearing before him and initiated him into Hayagreeva Mantra. He performed the japa of this mantra also at the same spot and had the fortune of the vision of Lord Sriman Narayana in the form of Lakshmi Hayagreeva. Sri Desika went into raptures following this vision and the most popular and powerful hymn known as the "Hayagreeva Stotram" started flowing like nectar in praise of Lord Sri Lakshmi Hayagreeva. The strength of this mantra is to enhance the learning faculty. If well imparted, it will be of immense help to the millions of little children who are burdened with heavy workloads in the schools and a stiff academic competition
