Vajimukha, The Horse-Headed Self
Like many ideas coming straight from an imagination’s stretch, this drawing began as a simple pencil sketch intended to represent something I had not come across yet: a mythical horse-headed being. The whole image was supposed to convey not an idea of violence, but of serenity and grace.
Occidental mythologies which I read a lot about in my childhood abound of such hybrid characters; and one can think of the Minotaur or centaurs. However, their persona were generally impulsive and bent towards aggressiveness and violence…
Keeping on that original idea, I chose to use a background evoking ancient Greece, and as horses were usually linked to Poseidon, the trident seemed coherent.
Vājimukha
It remained a sketch for a while, and one day, as I decided to rework it, my researches brought me to a strikingly similar image in ancient Cambodian art, named Vājimukha, Vāji meaning horse, and mukha, face.
It was part of Vishnuite art, and supposed to represent one of the avatars of Vishnu, the supreme God in Hinduism.
Inconsistencies in the legends highlight an ambiguous aspect of this being. Depending on descriptions, it also could be a demon (Daiytas), or a form assumed by Vishnu, however, in both cases associated with the loss of the sacred texts, the Vedas.
Known by the names Hayasivas or Hayagrivas, he protects the Vedas from the demons Madhu and Kaitabha.
In another version, at the end of times, the demon Ajnana (Ignorance) steals the Vedas and carry them down to hell (Rasātala). Hayagriva retrieves them and gives them back to Brahma.
Kalki
The tenth of Vishnu’s avatars, Kalki —for “white horse” (or Kalkipurana, Kalkyavatara)— is yet to manifest on Earth.
It is interesting to notice that exegetes are not unanimous on his form. Is it a man mounted on a horse, or simply a horse ?
One should know that the horse is thought to represent the beast or physical form of “evil”, hinting at a very Oriental reflection on the initial idea: unlike the Minotaur, the monster is not merely annihilated but becomes integrated, as if “evil”, the shadow part of self, were but a part of an indivisible whole, one has to acknowledge and accept to transcend it…
Batō Kannon
馬頭観音 Name of a manifestation of the Buddha Kannon (Kuan Yin) 観音(菩薩) (Kannon-Botatsu), who is also represented with a horse-head in Japan ; a wrathful deity, his power of salvation operates on the realm of animals.
This wrathful form is worshipped in Tibetan Buddhism. Hayagriva is thought to beget 108 forms whose powers are to cure diseases, especially skin diseases as severe as leprosy —such diseases are traditionally related to waters and to the serpentine spirits inhabiting them, Nagas.
