Shloka 1
Bhagavān’s Avatāras, Their Protections (Poṣaṇa), and the Limits of Knowing Him
ब्रह्मोवाच यत्रोद्यत: क्षितितलोद्धरणाय बिभ्रत् क्रौडीं तनुं सकलयज्ञमयीमनन्त: । अन्तर्महार्णव उपागतमादिदैत्यं तं दंष्ट्रयाद्रिमिव वज्रधरो ददार ॥ १ ॥
brahmovāca yatrodyataḥ kṣiti-taloddharaṇāya bibhrat krauḍīṁ tanuṁ sakala-yajña-mayīm anantaḥ antar-mahārṇava upāgatam ādi-daityaṁ taṁ daṁṣṭrayādrim iva vajra-dharo dadāra
Brahmā sprach: Als der grenzenlose Herr, als göttliches Spiel, den Varāha-Leib annahm, der die Essenz aller yajñas in sich trägt, um die im großen Ozean Garbhodaka versunkene Erde emporzuheben, erschien in den Tiefen der erste Dämon Hiraṇyākṣa; und der Bhagavān durchbohrte ihn mit Seinem Hauer, wie Indra, der den Vajra trägt, einen Berg spaltet.
Since the beginning of creation, the demons and the demigods, or the Vaiṣṇavas, are always the two classes of living beings to dominate the planets of the universes. Lord Brahmā is the first demigod, and Hiraṇyākṣa is the first demon in this universe. Only under certain conditions do the planets float as weightless balls in the air, and as soon as these conditions are disturbed, the planets may fall down in the Garbhodaka Ocean, which covers half the universe. The other half is the spherical dome within which the innumerable planetary systems exist. The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth. A similar disturbance was created formerly by the demons headed by Hiraṇyākṣa (the great exploiter of the gold rush), and the earth was detached from its weightless condition and fell down into the Garbhodaka Ocean. The Lord, as maintainer of the whole creation of the material world, therefore assumed the gigantic form of a boar with a proportionate snout and picked up the earth from within the water of Garbhodaka. Śrī Jayadeva Gosvāmī, the great Vaiṣṇava poet, sang as follows:
FAQs
This verse says the unlimited Lord Ananta assumed a boar form to raise the earth from the depths of the great ocean, demonstrating divine protection of creation.
Brahmā highlights that the Lord is the very essence and goal of yajña—His actions to restore dharma are themselves the highest sacrifice and sanctify the cosmos.
When life feels “submerged,” this līlā teaches trust that the Lord can uplift what has fallen, and that restoring dharma—through sincere duty and devotion—is itself sacred service.