In this era of technology and modernity, debates arise on the topic of existence and nonexistence of the god. Pious or impious, atheist or believer, devotion or fanatic, natural or supernatural, science or myth, whichever is the choice, the answer is one that the god resides in oneself with or without the knowledge of a person.
God Vishnu is considered to be the saviour of all creations. The ten incarnations or Dashavataras of God Vishnu is evident that these stories are not myths but history. Each avatar has a reason and tells a lesson to carry throughout in a human’s life.
On knowing the 10 avatars of Vishnu, you will understand the purpose of creations on earth and each creation has one common destiny - the so-called peace.
Let’s walk through the 10 transcendental avatars of God Vishnu.
1. Matsya Avatar
Matsya Avatar is the first Vishnu avatar among Vishnu's Dashavatara. The purpose of this incarnation of God Vishnu on earth was to save the world from a serious flood.
It is said that a demon named Hayagriva terrorised the world with a motive to put an end to the human race. He also seized the Vedas from God Brahma in an intention to stop the preaching of sacred texts.
To cease the adharmic acts by this demon, God Vishnu embodied as a fish to be caught by Manu, the first man who was believed to flourish human class. During the flood, God Vishnu grew like a giant fish and rescued Manu by holding his boat tight from collapsing in water. Hence, he also saved the sacred Vedas.
Matsya appears as a human in the upper half of the body and as a fish in the lower half, with four arms and possessing the features of God Vishnu.
2. Kurma Avatar
Kurma (tortoise) avatar is the second God Vishnu avatar to help in churning the ocean of milk that produced an elixir of immortality (Amrita).
There raised a dispute between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons). In a situation where Asuras were likely to overpower Devas, God Vishnu advised them to extract the sacred potion of immortality called Amrita. Both Devas and Asuras agreed to churn out the potion from the milk ocean with the help of mount Mandara as a churning stick and serpent Vasuki as the rope. To manage Mount Mandara from sinking into the ocean, God Vishnu took the incarnation of the tortoise and carried the huge mountain on him.
After this, Asuras conquered the potion and to recover it from their hands, Vishnu took another minor avatar of Mohini. Finally, handed it to the good spirits, Devas.
The Kurma Avatar of God Vishnu is depicted as half-human in the upper half of the body and half tortoise in the lower half of the body.
3. Varaha Avatar
Varaha Avatar is the third avatar of God Vishnu; Varaha means Boar or wild pig.
The purpose of this God Vishnu avatar was to save the earth from a deadly demon, named Hiranyaksha, torturing the human class. Before taking birth as a demon on earth, he was cursed by the sons of God Brahma in his previous birth as the gatekeeper of Vishnu.
He was so terrible that he dragged the whole earth into the seawater. To save the world from sinking, Varaha lifted the earth up using his tusks and executed the fate of Hiranyaksha’s death in the hands of Vishnu.
God Vishnu’s Varaha avatar is often depicted as a boar faced human body.
4. Narasimha Avatar
Narasimha Avatar is the fiery avatar of God Vishnu and is the fourth among Dashavatara. This Vishnu avatar shows his anger and rage.
It was the demon Hiranyakashipu who enraged God Vishnu by his ferocious greedy acts. Hiranyakashipu was also a gatekeeper for God Vishnu in his previous birth and was cursed along with Hiranyaksha, by God Brahma’s sons. Hiranyakashipu greedily aimed at conquering the whole world under his power and wanted all the people to praise only him. He slashed down the people who worshipped Vishnu denying him. In that way, he even decided to kill his own Prahlad who showed extreme devotion towards Vishnu.
So, God Vishnu appeared as a lion-human bodied incarnation. To break the boon of Hiranyakashipu, he appeared from a pillar, killing him neither stepping in nor out the door, placing the demon on the lap and tearing his stomach viciously.
5. Vamana Avatar
Vamana avatar is the dwarf avatar of God Vishnu and is the fifth among Dashavatara.
The history rolls back to the ages of the grandson of Prahlad, Mahabali, the generous king. God Indra’s kingdom was in the hands of Bali over which he took pride. Devas became intolerable.
Bali was a very good ruler and was known for his selfless charity. Once he performed horse sacrifice (Ashwamedha Yagna) in which God Vishnu entered the hall as a dwarf brahmachari with a wooden umbrella. On receiving the new guest, Bali asked for Vamana’s wish for what God Vishnu sought a land with a size of his three footsteps. As Bali agreed for that, Vaman grew gigantic and measured Bali’s kingdom with one foot and the heaven and space in between with his other foot. Bali realised it was the god and generously placed the third footstep on his head dropping his weighed head down.
Thus, God Vishnu’s Avatar saved Indra’s kingdom and made Bali the king of the underworld. Bali is one of the seven chiranjeevis on earth.
Onam is the festival celebrated in view of Mahabali’s yearly visit to his kingdom to assure the wellness of his citizens.
6. Parashurama Avatar
Parashurama avatar is the sixth avatar of God Vishnu who is depicted as a warrior with an axe.
God Vishnu was born to Jamadagni and Renuka who owned a sacred cow called Kamadhenu. Parashurama was the first Brahmin warrior who learnt war skills formally and was blessed with Pashupatastra from God Shiva.
When a Kshatriya king Kartavirya stole Kamadhenu, Jamadagni killed him and brought back the sacred cow. Kartavirya's sons turned furious upon hearing the news of their father’s death and took revenge on Jamadagni to lie him to death.
Parashurama decided to end the illegal acts of Kshatriyas, so he set off to search and kill the Kshatriyas all over the world. He is considered as one of the seven Chiranjeevi who would teach warfare skills to Kalki.
7. God Rama
Rama avatar is one of the most popular Vishnu avatars among the ten avatars of God Vishnu.
The perfect man incarnation by God Vishnu emphasizes the responsibilities of an individual in leading his life. God Rama was born into the royal clan of the solar dynasty to king Dasaratha and Kosala. Though born with a silver spoon, God Rama had to face many difficulties in life such as being exiled from the kingdom and rescuing Sita from Ravana.
Each instance in his life gives a moral and teaches how a man should live a life with patience and courage to take over troubles. Faithful wife Sita, affectionate brother Lakshmana and immensely devoted Hanuman are also the people who teach life lessons. Rama and Sita together is the best couple that most people look up to.
God Vishnu’s avatar of God Rama destroyed the evil king Ravana and saved his loyal wife Sita. God Rama is often depicted blue in colour with a bow in hand and a quiver on his back.
8. God Krishna
God Krishna is another popular incarnation of God Vishnu in a motive to uproot adharma. The teachings of this Vishnu avatar are a fundamental guide to living in this world.
God Krishna was born after facing a lot of struggles by his real parents - king Vasudeva and Devaki. His uncle Kamsa was egoistic who was determined to kill his own sister’s children believing that one of them would kill him. Krishna did the same and grew as an adorable child doing cute mischiefs, in the warmth of king Nanda and Yashodha. God Balarama is his brother.
Who wouldn’t know the great war Mahabharata?
In the war between Pandavas and Kauravas, God Krishna stood with the Pandavas as charioteer for Arjuna. He enlightened every soul on the land of Kurukshetra with his illuminating thoughts. Arjuna was enlightened with the great advice of Krishna which was later revered and cherished as Bhagavad Gita.
With the help of Krishna’s advice, Pandavas killed adharmic Duryodhana and rooted dharma on earth.
9. God Buddha
God Buddha is considered to be the ninth avatar of God Vishnu by some sects of people, especially in Vaishnavism. For many other people in Hinduism, he was assumed to be born as Siddhartha who was later turned as a spiritual ideal.
Gautama Buddha is claimed to be the recent God Vishnu avatar who went on strong meditation and attained an enlightened state.
God Vishnu’s avatar of God Buddha practised a lot of preaching and his scriptures too speak of non-violence and righteous motives. His thoughts have been carried through by a lot of his followers called monks, even now. In this Kalyuga, it is believed that such monks and devotees are responsible for flourishing dharma and spirituality.
Buddhism is a sect now followed by millions of people around the world.
10. Kalki Avatar
Kalki avatar is the last avatar of all Dashavatara. This avatar of God Vishnu is not yet incarnated but will rise at the end of Kalyuga.
Kalyuga is the last era of all four Yugas in which all kinds of adharma will stand high. To cleanse all the sins and to reorganise the world, God Vishnu’s avatar of Kalki will take birth on the earth. His birth will be the end of Kali Yuga and would put an end to all those evil heads ensuring a peaceful place for people to live in.
His weapon, the Nandaka sword will slay the enemies down to death.
This is the end of all ten God Vishnu avatars, wherein each avatar marks the end of adharma rising in different forms. We are already into Kalyug and the time when adharma will cross all its limits if not far, the time when God Vishnu’s last avatar will be seen is not far.
Great scientist Albert Einstein and a very true astrologer Nostradamus have acknowledged these in their lives. So, there may be many instances to prove the existence of the almighty, but the perspective on the almighty may alone vary from person to person.
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