Form of Visnu as guru

[Martin Gansten]

>Thankyou all for your helpful information. Hayagriva sounds like the form
>referred to. The verse offers salutations to Sriguruvisnu, the abode of
>moksalaksmi, the conqueror of the cruel Madhu and Kaitabha, personifications
>of pride and delusion. 

Yes, Hayagriva is the slayer of these two demons. Would you mind sharing
the Sanskrit verse? I have never seen the connection with Mokshalakshmi
before; Vidyalakshmi is more typical.

>Hayagriva sounds an interesting deity in that it is also worshipped by
>Buddhists. Thankyou Martin for the excellent web-site.

Glad to have been of help. The Vajrayana Hayagriva is not very similar to
the Hindu deity either in appearance or attributes. Interestingly, though,
in some Hindu accounts, Vishnu becomes Hayagriva in order to defeat a demon
also known as Hayagriva. (I'm afraid I don't have a ready source for this;
Mani's Puranic Encyclopaedia attributes it to the Valmiki Ramayana, but I
can't find it there.)

>I would be very happy to receive any further information on Hayagriva.

There are a few snippets in Mani (above), and also in S.K. Ramachandra
Rao's Vishnu-Kosha. Perhaps others are aware of better sources?

Regards,
Martin