Question: Who is Hyagriva avatar? Are there more than one?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
There is not much detail about the Hayagriva Avatara in the Bhagavatam. He killed Madhu and Kaitabha when they tried to steal the Vedas from Brahma. The story is told differently in different Puranas. In the Matsya Purana Madhu and Kaitabha confront Brahma and tell him that they are supreme and that they would cover the entire universe with passion and ignorance. Brahma replies that Visnu would kill them. Visnu then just grabs them by extending His arms right from the place on His couch, has a short talk with them, and then squeezes them to death. In the Matsya Purana, this Visnu form is not described as Hayagriva. The Bhagavatam, however, mentions Hayagriva or Hayasirsa at least twice in connection with the killing of Madhu and Kaitabha. One recension of the Ramayana tells that Madhu and Kaitabha were born from the ear wax of Maha-Visnu.
While the Bhagavatam does not mention the killing of Madhu and Kaitabha in connection with Hayagriva described in SB 2.7.11, this is nevertheless the passage that Rupa Gosvami chose for his description of the Hayagriva Avatara in his Laghubhagavatamrta: “He (Hayagraiva), having appeared from the sacrificial fire, killed the two Danavas Madhu and Kaitabha. Thereafter He returned the Vedas to the lord of the goddess of speech (Vagisvari).”
There seems to be only one Hayagriva Avatara.
