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Varaha (Var?ha, "boar") is the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu who takes the form of a boar to rescue goddess earth. Varaha is listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. In a symbolic Hindu mythology, when the demon Hiranyaksha tormented the earth (personified as the goddess Bhudevi) and its inhabitants, she sinks into the primordial waters. Vishnu took the form of the Varaha, descended into the depths of the oceans to rescue her. Varaha slew the demon and retrieved the Earth from the ocean, lifting her on his tusks, and restored Bhudevi to her place in the universe. Varaha may be depicted with a boar's head and human body. The rescued earth lifted by Varaha is often depicted as a young woman called Bhudevi. The earth may be depicted as a mass of land balanced on his tusk.