In a sloka in Vedanta Desika’s Yadavabhyudaya, Yoga Maya says to Kamsa, “I am the maya of the One who killed Madhu and Kaitabha.” This reference to Madhu and Kaitabha here, by Desika, is a masterstroke, said V.S. Karunakarachariar, in a discourse. It reminds us of the Lord’s Hayagriva avatara and Durga’s role during that avatara. Hayagriva avatara is described in the Santi Parva of Mahabharata, and also in Devi Bhagavatam. Brahma was given the Vedas by the Lord and asked to create, using the Vedas as his guiding manual. But Brahma became arrogant because of the important role he had been assigned. To curb his pride, the Lord caused two asuras to emerge from His ears. Brahma was on the Lord’s navel, and the two asuras made their way towards Brahma. Brahma was not afraid of them. He stroked one of them and remarked, “You are soft [mridu].” Mridu became Madhu, which became that asura’s name. Brahma then touched the other asura and said, “Your body is hard [kathina].” And so, this asura came to be called Kaitabha.
The asuras stole the Vedas from Brahma. They were able to do something so daring, because they had the protection of Yoga Maya (Durga). How did they earn Her favour? When the two asuras appeared, clouds and lightning appeared. The asuras, upon seeing this, exclaimed, “Ai.” This is a beejakshara in the Durga mantra. Upanishads say that if there are obstacles to one’s bhakti yoga, this mantra should be recited. Although the asuras had not consciously and knowingly uttered the beejakshara “ai”, the very fact that they had said it, got them Yoga Maya’s protection. Eventually, Lord Narayana took the Hayagriva avatara to kill the demons. It is to remind us of this important avatara that Desika’s sloka has Durga mentioning the two asuras.
