Incarnations of Vishnu
An incarnation of
Lord Vishnu is called an avatara. Vishnu descends on earth whenever there
is a decline in religious practice and a predominant rise of irreligion.
In the Vedas, it is said that the Lord, although one without a second,
manifests himself in innumerable forms. Each and every incarnation has a
particular mission, and all these forms and their missions are described
in the revealed scriptures. Still, the essence of the mission is always
the same—to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to religious
principles. Sometimes Vishnu descends personally, and sometimes he sends
his bonafide representative in the form of his son or servant, or he
comes himself in a disguised form.
The Lord descends from his
abode to this world, and therefore he is called avatara, which means “one
who descends.” Sometimes people may think an avatara is an incarnation who
assumes a material form of flesh and bones, but avatara actually refers to
one who descends from a higher region. The Lord’s abode is situated far
above this material world, and he descends from that higher position; thus
he is called avatara.
Vishnu has ten major incarnations who are collectively known as the Dasavatara. They are:
1. Matsya, the fish
Before the latest creation of the present universe, the four Vedas
(the holy books delivered from the mouth of the Supreme-God) remained drowned in
the waters. It was necessary to get hold of them to instruct Brahma about the
work of creation. Vishnu was therefore appointed to bring up the Vedas from the
deep. He took the form of a fish (Matsya), descended into the waters and brought
up these sacred books.
2. Kurma, the tortoise
Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise (Kurma) and took the
newly created earth on his back in order to render stability to the trembling
globe. It is believed that even to this day the earth is supported on the back
of this tortoise.
3. Varaha, the boar (who killed
Hiranyaksa and saved the earth)
During a periodical destruction of the world, the earth sunk into
the deep waters. Lord Vishnu, the great preserver, taking the form of a boar
(Varaha), descended into the waters and drew up the earth with the help of his
tusks.
4. Narasimha, the half-man, half-lion (Narasimha
killed the demon Hiranyakasipu and saved his pure devotee Prahlada)
This special form was adopted by Lord Vishnu to kill a demoniac
ruler Hiranyakasipu, who had pleased the Lord Brahma with his religious
offerings. Lord Brahma had given him the blessings that no known man or
animal born in the natural process could kill him, that he could not die in the
day or in the night, on earth or in heavens, either by fire, water or by any
weapon. It was to kill such a tyrant and to remove him from the earth that
Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a man-lion, Narasingha or Narasimha. He came out of a
broken pillar, laid hold of the demon king by its teeth, put him up on his
thighs and tore him up in the middle by his claws. It was evening time
(twilight) - neither day nor night.
5. Vamana, the dwarf Brahmin (who begged three paces of land from
Bali Maharaja, the king of the demons, and in so doing reclaimed the
universe for the demigods)
The fourth lineal descendant of Hiranyakashyap, named Bali,
through his devotion and penance defeated Indra, the god of firmament, humbled
other gods and extended his authority over the three worlds. All the gods
appealed to Lord Vishnu for protection and He became manifest in His Dwarf
Avatar of Vaman for the purpose of restraining Bali. Once when this king
was making a great religious offering, Lord Vishnu in the form of Vaman appeared
before him in the company of other brahmins. Bali was extremely pleased to see a
holy man with such a diminutive form and promised to give him whatever he should
ask. Lord Vishnu asked only for as much land as he could measure by three steps.
Bali laughingly agreed to grant the boon of three steps. Lord Vishnu as dwarf
stepped over heaven in first stride and earth in the second stride. Then out of
respect to Bali's kindness and his grandfather Prahlad's great virtues, Lord
Vishnu stopped short and left him in pathal, the subterranean region. Bali's
capital was Mahabalipuram.
6. Parasuram, the ax-bearing
warrior (who although born a Brahmin, killed twenty-one generations of
ksatriyas (warrior caste) because of their failure to follow religious
principles)
When the kshatriya kings of the earth and their ministers became
very corrupt and tyrannical, the goddess Prithvi (Mother Earth) went to Lord
Vishnu and prayed for relief. Lord Vishnu answered the prayer and appeared on
the earth as a descendant of the great sage Brigu. Vishnu appeared as Rama the
Ax-Welder (Parasuram) and avenged the gruesome murder of his father by a
kshatriya king. This freed the earth of oppression perpetrated by the
rulers and cleaned the earth of kshatriyas.
7. Rama, the ideal king (who saved his wife from Ravana,
king of Lanka. The Ramayana narrates his activities)
Lord Rama is one of the most commonly adored gods of Hindus and is
known as an ideal man and hero of the epic Ramayana. He is always
holding a bow and arrow indicating his readiness to destroy evils. He is also
called "Shri Rama". More commonly he is pictured in a family style, (Ram
Parivar) with his wife Sita, brother Lakshman and devotee Hanuman who is sitting
near Lord Rama's feet.
8. Krishna
Krishna
is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and the embodiment of love and
divine joy. He is eternally a beautiful youth with an enchanting
smile and glowing complexion of the colour of new clouds.
Bewitching all who hear him, Krishna plays a flute, wears a
peacock feather in his curly black hair and a flower garland
around his neck. Ornaments caress Krishna's body, but his
transcendental body is so beautiful that it beautifies the
ornaments he wears. Therefore Krishna's body is said to be the
ornament of ornaments. Scholars accept the period between 3200 and
3100 BC as the period in which Krishna lived on earth.
9. Buddha
With the departure of Lord Krishna, the age of
Kali set in, in this age, the true devotion to Vedas was replaced by empty
rituals. To enlighten the world in such times, Lord Vishnu descended the earth
as Buddha, the enlightened one. Lord Buddha was born to Mayadevi, the wife
of Sakya King Shuddhodana, in the Lumbini forest, and named Siddhartha. Buddha
advocated the Middle Path, in which he offered a balanced, harmonious way
of life, steering between two extremes of self-indulgence and total
abstinence.
Buddhism rests upon Four Noble Truths:
a. Suffering is
universal
b. It is caused by desire and yearning
c. Suffering can be
prevented and overcome
d. Eradication of desires can lead to removal of
suffering. To prevent suffering one has to conquer craving and desire
and this conquest leads to the attainment of nirvana or complete enlightenment.
10. Kalki, the killer of the demoniac population at the end
of Kali-yuga.
The tenth and the last avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, is yet to
appear. Kalki will appear at the end of the Kalyuga. This avatar will appear
seated on a white horse with a drawn sword blazing like a comet. He shall come
finally to destroy the wicked, to restart the new creation and to restore the
purity of conduct in people's lives .
Besides the major incarnations
there are innumerable others. The Lord manifests in many species of life
to maintain the faithful and to annihilate the
unfaithful. Sometimes Lord Vishnu appears
in person as Lord Krishna or Lord Rama. Sometimes He appears as a
shaktavesha-avatara such as Lord Buddha. (Shaktavesha-avataras are
incarnations of Vishnu’s power invested in a living entity.) Living
entities are also part and parcel of Lord Vishnu, but they are not as
powerful; therefore when a living entity descends as an incarnation of
Vishnu, he is especially empowered by the
Lord.
Matsya
The first
incarnation of Lord Vishnu is Matsya, the fish incarnation. Matsya’s lower
body resembles a fish and his upper body a man. He has four hands, in
which he holds a club, lotus, disc, and club. Sometimes his hands are
depicted with the palm held outward, indicating blessings for his
devotees. In pictures he is often depicted as fish. At night when Brahma sleeps,
the three worlds are flooded with the waters of the Causal Ocean and all
beings inhabiting them are annihilated. At the end of the past millennium
(the end of Brahma’s day) Brahma felt tired and desired to lie down. The
Vedas were emanating from his mouth and a great demon named Hayagriva
stole them. Understanding this, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a fish to
save the Vedas and kill the demon. When the entire world was
covered with water, the Lord again took the form of a fish and saved King
Satyavrata, who lived on a boat attached to the fish’s
horn. Once King Satyavrata was
practicing austerity on the bank of the Kritamala River, drinking only
water. Cupping his palms to scoop up some water from the river to offer as
an oblation, he inadvertentlyxe "Satyavrata, King" scooped up a small
fish. The fish appealed to the king for protection, asking to be provided
with a safe place. The king then put the fish in a water jug. The fish
immediately expanded his body and became too big for the jug. King
Satyavrata then placed the fish in a large well, but that was soon not
large enough. The King then placed the fish in a lake, but the fish again
expanded and the lake became too small. Finally, the king placed the fish
in the sea, but that also became too small. The king then realized that
the fish was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The fish then told the King
that there would be an inundation throughout the universe within a week
and that he would protect the king. As the fish predicted, the Ocean rose
and the king saw a boat coming toward him. He got into the boat along with
the saintly people, herbs, seeds, and representatives of other living
entities. He then offered prayers to Matsya. Matsya taught King Satyavrata
and the saintly persons Vedic knowledge.
Kurma
The second incarnation, Kurma is Lord Vishnu in
the form of a tortoise. Kurma means “tortoise.” He is sometimes seen in
the form of a half-man, half-tortoise. He is often depicted with four
arms. In his upper two hands he holds a disc and a conchshell. In his
lower two hands he holds a club and a lotus. Sometimes these two hands are
depicted in protection and boon-giving postures (mudras). Kurma’s shell served as the
pivot for Mandarachala Mountain, when the demigods and the demons used the
mountain as a churning rod while churning the milk ocean (see Kumbha-mela
story). The demons and demigods were producing nectar from the sea by
using Mandara Mountain as the churning rod (the same nectar that is said
to drop during the Kumbha-mela, giving eternal life). Because the churning
rod needed support, Lord Vishnu accepted the form of a tortoise and
allowed the demigods and the demons to rest the mountain on his
back. There is only one Kurma temple
in India, at Srikurman (xe "Kurma-ksetra"Kurma-ksetra) in Andhra
Pradesh.xe "Srikurman"
Varaha
Lord Varaha, the third incarnation, appeared as a giant
boar to save the earth and to kill the demon Hiranyaksa, who had been
terrifying the universe. Varaha is often depicted as half-man, half-boar,
and is engaged in picking up the earth. He is also sometimes depicted
entirely as a boar. He may be seen holding a conchshell, disc, lotus, and
club. Sometimes he is lifting the earth planet and other times, fighting
with Hiranyaksa. He may also be seen holding a club, and one hand may be
in the protective or boon-giving postures. Varaha dove to the bottom of
the ocean to save the earth after Hiranyaksa put it there. Hiranyaksa was
Hiranyakasipu’s brother, the demon who was killed by Lord Narasimha.
Hiranyaksa was so proud, that he wanted to fight with Lord Vishnu in the
form of a boar. Lord Varaha then got into a vicious club fight with
Hiranyaksa. Hiranyaksa struck Varaha with his hard fist, but Varaha
slapped Hiranyaksa indifferently at the root of his ear and killed him
instantly.
Narasimha
In his
fourth incarnation, Lord Vishnu appears in the form of half-man,
half-lion, to kill the king of the demons, Hiranyakasipu, the older
brother of Hiranyaksa. Narasimha is usually depicted with four hands. The
upper hands hold a disc and lotus; the bottom hands are either seen
tearing out Hiranyakasipu’s innards or in the boon-giving and protective
postures. Hiranyakasipu was powerful.
After performing extreme austerities, he received a benediction from Lord
Brahma. He asked to be immortal, but Brahma told him he could not grant
such a wish because he himself was mortal. Hiranyakasipu then received the
blessing that he could not be killed by man, beast, demigod, or any kind
of weapon or hands. He would also not die in the air, in water, or on the
ground, nor be killed either inside or outside, neither during the day nor
at night. The Lord assumed the
incarnation of a half-man, half-lion and killed Hiranyakasipu. He killed
him on his lap, so that he was killed neither on land nor in water. He was
killed in the doorway of the assembly hall, which was neither inside nor
outside. He was torn apart by Narasimha’s nails, which was neither not a
weapon nor hands. He was killed at dusk, which was neither day nor
night. Prahlada Maharaja was the son
of Hiranyakasipu, and because the boy was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu,
his father tortured him. To save his devotee Prahlada Maharaja, Lord
Narasimha appeared to kill Hiranyakasipu.
Vamana
Lord Vishnu appeared as Vamana, a dwarf-Brahmin, and
attended Bali Maharaja’s sacrifice. Bali Maharaja was the grandson of
Prahlada Maharaja, and due to being born in a demon family, was king of
the demons. Bali had managed to overcome Indra, the king of heaven, and
Indra approached Lord Vishnu for help. Vamana begged three steps of
land from Maharaja Bali. As it is the duty of a king to grant charity to
Brahmins, Maharaja Bali replied, “Why take so little? I can give you much
more than that.” Lord Vamana replied “O my dear King, even the entirety
of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one’s senses
cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled. One should be
satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous destiny, for
discontent can never bring happiness. A person who is not self-controlled
will not be happy even with possessing the three
worlds.” Vamana then expanded his body
to take up the earth and all the heavens in his first two steps. There was
nothing left for Bali Maharaja to give for the third step, so he offered
his head. After taking everything from him, Lord Vamana made Bali king of
the underworld. Vamana holds a water-pot in
one hand and an umbrella in the other. He wears either a loincloth or a
deerskin. He wears a ring of kusa grass on his third finger and sometimes
holds a book. He is also called Trivikrama.
Tri means “three,” and vikrama means “victory.” Vamana attained victory
over Bali Maharaja by taking three steps. Lord Vishnu, as Vamana, may be
seen stretching his leg to take a big
step.
Parasurama
Parasuram, the
sixth incarnation, was born as a Brahmin, but later acted as a ksatriya.
He is seen in a human form holding a battle ax in one hand. Sometimes he
is seen with four hands carrying a sword, ax, bow, and arrows. There are
just a few temples dedicated to Parasuram in India. Parasu means “ax,” and
thus his name means “Rama with an ax.” He was the son of the sage
Jamadagni and Renuka. Siva showed Parasuram how to fight and also provided
him with his ax. One time, the powerful
ksatriya king, Kartaviryarjuna, who had one thousand arms, stole
Jamadagni’s kamadhenu (wish-fulfilling) cow. Parasuram then killed the
king to regain the cow. After killing the king, xe "Jamadagni" Jamadagni,
told him that killing a king is sinful, and that as a Brahmin he should
have tolerated the offense. Jamadagni advised Parasuram to atone for his
sin by traveling to various holy places. While Parasuram was traveling,
the king’s sons avenged their father by killing Jamadagni. Parasuram then
killed twenty-one generations of the ksatriya race in order to purify the
ksatriya race.
Lord Rama
Lord Rama is the hero in the famous story,
the Ramayana. He is also known as Raghunath and Ramachandra. Rama is the
husband of Sita. He appeared in Ayodhya as the son of King
Dasaratha. Lord Rama is almost always
worshiped with his consort Sita, his brother Laksman, and his monkey
servant Hanuman. He is depicted with two arms, and in one hand he holds a
bow. His wife Sita stands on his left, and she is often depicted holding a
blue lotus. On his right side stands Laksman, who usually holds a bow and
arrows. Hanuman usually kneels in front of Lord Rama. His father, Maharaja
Dasaratha, had three wives. From these three wives Maharaja Dasaratha had
four sons. One of his wives, Kaikeyi, served Dasaratha nicely and received
a boon from him. She said she would ask for the benediction at another
time. At the time of Ramachandra’s coronation, Kaikeyi asked her husband
to enthrone her son Bharata and to send Ramachandra to the forest for
fourteen years. Maharaja Dasaratha then ordered Ramachandra to go to the
forest. Rama went to the forest with
Laksman and Sita. When Marici assumed the form of a golden deer, Lord
Ramachandra wanted to capture the deer to please Sita. While he was
chasing the deer, the ten-headed demon, Ravana, kidnapped Sita and carried
her to Lanka. As Rama and Laksman searched the forest for Sita, they met
the dying Jatayu, who had been fatally wounded while trying to rescue
Sita. Rama then killed the monkey
Vali and made friends with Sugriva, the monkey king. The monkeys were
sent out to find Sita. Hanuman, Rama’s eternal servant, found Sita in
Ravana’s capital on the island of Lanka. Hanuman jumped across the sea.
When Lord Rama came with the monkey army, they built a bridge by floating
boulders on the water. This happened at Rameswaram. With Laksman’s help, along
with the help of the monkey army, Rama was able to kill Ravana and his
army. Rama then made Ravana’s brother, Vibhishana, king of Lanka. Rama
then returned with Sita to his own kingdom in Ayodhya to become
king.
Krishna
Krishna is considered to be the Supreme
Personality of Godhead by Vaishnavas. Krishna was born of Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva,
while they were imprisoned in Mathura. They were imprisoned because their
eighth son, Krishna, was destined to kill the evil King Kamsa. When
Krishna was born, the doors of the prison mystically opened and the guards
fell asleep. Vasudeva walked out of the prison and took Krishna across the
Yamuna River to Gokula to be cared for by his foster parents, Nanda and
Yasoda. When Vasudeva arrived in Gokula, he found Yasoda asleep after
having just delivered a baby girl. He exchanged babies and returned to the
prison. When Kamsa found out that Devaki’s eighth child had been born, he
rushed to the prison. He seized the baby, but the baby slipped from his
hands and flew into the air, as a goddess. She said, “Fool, you cannot
kill me. The baby that is destined to kill you has already been born
elsewhere.”
Krishna
is the embodiment of love and
divine joy. He is eternally a beautiful youth with an enchanting
smile and glowing complexion of the colour of new clouds.
Bewitching all who hear him, Krishna plays a flute, wears a peacock
feather in his curly black hair and a flower garland around his neck.
Ornaments caress Krishna's body, but his transcendental body is so
beautiful that it beautifies the ornaments he wears.
His complexion is blackish, the colour of a new rain cloud. He stands in a
threefold bending form, and plays on a flute. When worshiped in a temple,
he will often be seen with his consort, Radha. In paintings, he may be
seen dancing with the cowherd girls (gopis), playing with the cowherd
boys, or as the chariot driver of Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
He is also seen with cows because he was born as a cowherd boy. He is
often seen in Deity form as a small baby crawling, with a sweet in one
hand. He appeared in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh about 5,000 years ago. He
performed many of his pastimes in Vrindavan. Both of these places still
exist and are located about 150km from Delhi, between Agra and Delhi. In
order to protect his devotees, he killed the evil king Kamsa and many other
demons. He is the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna was married to 16,108 wives in Dwarka. His
main consort in Dwarka is Rukmini, an incarnation of Lakshmi, the goddess
of fortune. Krishna is unborn and eternal as confirmed in the
Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic literatures.
Buddha
Buddha is
considered to be the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is often seen
sitting on a lotus, wearing yellow cloth.
Buddha was born
around 560 B.C. in
Lumbini, near the city of Kapilavastu, Nepal.
He was
the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya. His
original name was Siddhartha,
which
means one who had accomplished his aim.
Siddhartha lived in the
protected splendor of the palace and at age sixteen was married to
Princess Yasodhara (who later became his disciple and was known as
the Lady of the Lotus). They had a son named Rahula.
After seeing a deteriorating
old man, an invalid, and an ascetic beggar, he learned of
suffering.
at age 29, Siddhartha left the
palace and his family
and decided to embrace
asceticism.
After plunging himself into a deep meditation underneath the
sacred Bodhi tree, he came out victorious with divine splendor and
effulgence. His heart was filled with profound mercy and
compassion. Siddharta attained supreme peace and Self-realization.
He became Buddha (The Enlightened One).
Buddha
advocated the Middle Path, a balance
between extreme
self-indulgence
of
worldly pleasure
and total abstinence
of ascetism. He died at Kusinagara the age of 80.
Kalki
At the end of Kali-yuga (the present age), Kalki, the
tenth incarnation, appears. He rides a white horse and carries a flaming
sword raised above his head. With this sword, he kills the demoniac and
atheistic population of the world. He appears at the time of Pralaya (the
great deluge).
Other Vishnu
Incarnations
Besides Lord Vishnu’s ten main incarnations,
there are many others. There are also shaktavesha avataras (empowered
incarnations). Twelve other main incarnations are: (1) the four Kumaras,
(2) the sage Narada, (3) Nara and Narayana Rishis, (4) sage Kapila (who
taught Sankhya philosophy), (5) Dattatreya, (6) Yajna, (7) Rishabhadeva,
(8) King Prithu, (9) Dhanvantari (doctor), (10)Veda-Vyasa (author of Mahabharata and
Srimad-Bhagavatam, who was empowered to present the Vedic scriptures),
(11) Mohini Murti (who bewildered the demons and gave nectar to the
demigods), (12) Hayagriva (who had a horse head and who killed the demons,
Madhu and Kaitabha, then recovered the Vedas, which they had
stolen).
DEITIES
Krishna