Lord Vishnu(The preserver,The caretaker of the world) plays a major role in “The TRINITY” alongwith Lord Brahma(The Creator) and Lord Shiva(The Destroyer).
Lord Vishnu had taken many forms for balancing the Dharma and righteousness on Earth.
Some of his forms/incarnations are very famous and well known to the people, but some are neglected as the sages/preachers are not telling about them as they also are not aware of these forms.
Here I’m discussing all the incarnations(major as well as minor)of Lord Vishnu as mentioned in Hindu Scriptures.
The ten main Avatars/incarnations of Vishnu —
(i) Matsya or Fish incarnation of Vishnu — In this incarnation as a Fish or Matsya, which is the first of ten divine incarnations of Vishnu, the Lord is said to have saved Manu, the progenitor of mankind, and the Saptarishis (the seven mental sons of the creator Brahma) along with their wives during the dooms-day deluge. They were made to board a boat which was pulled by this Fish and saved from being drowned. They re-populated the world later on. It is a story identical to the Biblical story of the Noah’s Arc.
(ii) Kurma or Tortoise incarnation of Vishnu — It is the second incarnation of Vishnu. The Lord had supported the legendary Mountain called Mandara which had started sinking during the churning of the ocean by the Gods and the Demons in search of Amrit, the elixir of eternal and life.
(iii) Varaaha or Boar incarnation of Vishnu — It is the third incarnation of Vishnu in which he killed the demon Hiranyaaksha and lifted the earth from the flood water where it had vanished. According to some versions, this demon had hidden the earth in the bowls of the ocean. This extrication and resurrection of the earth is a symbolic way of saying that the Lord saves the creation from being submerged in the vast ocean of sins and evil. An Upanishad preached by Lord Varaaha appears in the Krishna Yajur Veda tradition as its 30th Upanishad. The female aspect of Varaaha is known as Goddess Vaaraahi.
(iv) Nrisingh/Narsingh or half man and half lion incarnation of Vishnu — Lord Nrisingh or Narsingh is the half lion and half man incarnation of Lord Vishnu to slay the demon Hiranyakashipu who had been tormenting Prahalad, his son, because the latter worshipped Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Nrisingh to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu who had been tormenting his own son Prahalad because the child was a devout follower of Vishnu.He took this form because Hiranyakashipu had aboon that he cannot be killed by any animal or human, neither god or demon can kill him, not any weapons can kill him and also he can neither be killed on earth nor in heaven, neither in day nir in night. So Lord Narsingh killed the evil on his lap in the evening with his bare hands .
(v) Vaaman/Vaman or the Dwarf incarnation of Vishnu — This is the fifth incarnation of Vishnu. When Bali, the grandson of Prahalad for whom Vishnu had incarnated as Nrisingh, conquered the entire world and deprived Indra, the king of Gods who ruled over the heavens, Vishnu had taken the dwarfish form of a Brahmin mendicant to retrieve the heaven for Indra when he was requested by Aditi, the mother of Gods, to do so. He approached Bali, who was famous for his charities, as a ‘Vaaman’ or a dwarf, and begged him for ground sufficient enough to be covered by his three small steps. When the unsuspecting Bali agreed, Vaaman measured the entire earth with one step, the heaven with the second step, and for the third step he measured Bali’s own head symbolizing the crown of the kingdom of Bali. He put his third step on Bali’s head and pushed the latter to the nether world. Hence, Vishnu is also called ‘Trivikram’ — one who conquered the three worlds in three steps.
(vi) Parashuram or Ram with a battle-axe — This is the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. Parashuram was the son of sage Jamdaagni and his wife Renuka. He had subdued the haughty Kshatriya race or the warrior race led by king Kaartavirya who had become tyrannical and were oppressing others.
(vii) Lord Ram — This was the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. Ram was born in the Ikshwaku dynasty belonging to the solar race that ruled the kingdom of Ayodhya as the son of Dasrath and his eldest queen Kaushalya. In this incarnation, Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity who is the divine consort of Lord Vishnu, accompanied him as Sita, the divine consort of Lord Ram. The epic story of Ramayan in which the Lord slayed the arrogant and cruel demon Ravana is woven around this incarnation. Lord Ram exemplified the grand virtues of righteousness, auspiciousness, nobility, propriety and probity, and is therefore lauded as the ‘Maryada Purshottam’ — the excellent male who always observed the strictest code of proper conduct.
(viii) Lord Balraam — This is the regarded as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. Balram was the strong elder brother of Lord Krishna of the Mahabharat fame. Both Balram and Krishna, being brothers, were born in Dwapar Yug which was the third era of the four-era cycle of creation. At the time of his death, the celestial serpent Sheshnath emerged from his mouth giving credence to the theory that he was an incarnation of Sheshnath who had earlier manifested himself as Laxman, the younger brother of Lord Ram during the seventh incarnation of Vishnu.
(ix) Lord Krishna — Krishna is the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. He is a well known deity and it is he who had pronounced the famous Gita and preached it to Arjun on the eve of the epic Mahabharata war. Krishna’s story is narrated in full in Srimad Bhagwat Mahapuran. But according to some accounts, Krishna is the eighth incarnation replacing Balraam. This has been explained above.
(x) Kalki — This would be Vishnu’s tenth and last incarnation before one cycle of creation ends. It is predicted that he would be born during the present Kali Yug, which is the fourth and the last era. He is visualized as riding on the back of a white horse, a drawn sword in hand, eliminating evil-mongers and those who are opposed to Dharma or righteous way of life. His main aim would be to restore Dharma.
Aside of the ten Avtaars described above, the rest of the fourteen other Avtaars are briefly the following —
(xi) Sages Sankaadi — The sage Sanatkumar and others ancient sages are called Sankaadi Rishis. Sage Sanatkumar is considered as one of the four Manas Putras or the mental- born sons of the creator Brahma. The other three are Sanak, Sanatsujaat and Sanandan. They are regarded in a perpetual state of boyhood. Together they are called ‘Sanakaadi Rishis’.
Sanatkumar had taught the greatness of Vishnu to demon Vrittaasur, the enemy of Indra, the king of Gods. He also taught spiritual wisdom to sage Narad, the celestial sage.
Sanatsujaat taught spiritual wisdom to Dhritrashtra who was the blind father of the Kauravas of the epic Mahabharat fame. Sanak is said to an eternal companion of Lord Vishnu. Sanandan is regarded as the ancient preacher of the Sankhya Shastra, even more ancient than Kapil.
(xii) Sage Narad — The celestial sage Narad is said to be a manifestation of the Supreme Being’s Mana (mind and its thoughts, intentions, hopes, desires and wishes, as well as the heart and its emotions and sentiments). The Supreme Being implements his wishes and expresses his intentions and wishes by making Narad his spokesperson. Since he is a personified Mana, he is as fickle, unstable and transient as the Mana — never staying at one place for more than a fleeting moment, always roaming here and there in the entire creation, having nothing to stop his path as he could go anywhere he wished. And the remarkable thing is that he was never unwelcome anywhere — even the demons welcomed him with the same respect as did the Gods.
Since he had the Lord’s genes in him, his inclinations were more inclined towards the Spirit than the worldly charms of material sense objects which he detested from childhood.
(xiv) Sage Veda Vyas — Veda Vyas was the great grandson of sage Vashistha, grandson of sage Shakti, and the son of sage Paraashar and his wife Satyavati, a fisherwoman. Since he had dark complexion, he was also called Krishna, and since he was born on an island, he was called Dvaipayaana. Hence his other name was Krishna Dvaipayaana.
He is said to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. The Lord felt that the vast knowledge enshrined in the scriptures were so huge, jumbled up, abstract and complicated that they were beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Further, till this time, everything was based on memory — hearing and speaking, passing from one generation of disciple to another generation in the oral form. There was a need to sort them out, to codify, systematise and classify this vast ocean of knowledge contained in the Vedas to make them more useful and handy.
So, Vishnu took the form of Veda Vyas to undertake this mammoth, daunting and formidable task. It is believed that Veda Vyas was born at the end of Dwapar Yug during the period of the Mahabharat war.
(xv) Lord Nar-Narayan — As the name suggests, this incarnation of Lord Vishnu was to establish the principle of Advaitya or non-duality of Vedanta which says that the Jiva, the living being, and the Ishwar, the Supreme Being known as Brahm are not two distinct entities but the same cosmic Consciousness existing in two different planes — the former at the microcosmic level of creation and the latter at the macrocosmic level of creation.
The word ‘Nar’ literally means a man, and ‘Narayan’ refers to the supreme Lord. At the beginning of creation, the supreme Brahm had revealed himself in two forms called Nar and Narayan. From the angle of the Upanishads and the genesis of creation described in them, the Nar was the primary man, and the Narayan was the Viraat Purush known as Vishnu. The Nar was created as an image of Narayan. [Refer Aiteriya Upanishad of the Rig Veda.]
These two images of the Supreme Being, i.e. Nar and Narayan, were assumed by Lord Vishnu, the Viraat Purush, to establish the importance of Tapa (austerity and penance) as well as Vairagya (renunciation and total detachment from the material charms of this deluding world).
It is believed that Lord Nar and Narayan are personified forms of these grand and glorious virtues, and are still doing Tapa in the Himalayas. Perhaps this is the reason why one finds an extreme sense of spiritual fulfilment and surging exhilaration when one meditates in the Himalayas.
(xvi) Lord Dattatreya — Lord Dattatreya is a fractional incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the supreme Lord of creation in his cosmic form as the Viraat Purush from whom the rest of the creation, including the creator Brahma himself, was created. The word ‘Dattatreya’ means ‘one who was given to Atri’. According to mythological accounts, sage Atri and his chaste wife Anusuyia were childless, and having a desire to have a son they prayed and did severe penance. All the three gods of the Hindu Trinity, i.e. Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer, and Shiva the concluder appeared before the couple and requested them to ask for a boon. Upon the couple’s request, all the three Gods became their sons. Brahma became the sage known as Chandra representing the Moon God, Vishnu became the wise and enlightened sage Dattatreya, and Shiva became the angry sage Durvasa.
The Brihajjabal Upanishad of the Atharva Veda tradition, in its Brahman 7, verse no. 3 asserts that Dattatreya was one of the great ascetics who were known as ‘Paramhans’, showing that he was extremely wise, erudite, enlightened, self-realised and Brahm-realised besides being exemplarily detached and dispassionate towards this world and its material objects. He was renunciation personified.
(xvii) Lord Rishavdeo — King Naabhi had no son, so he did a great fire sacrifice accompanied by his wife Merudevi. As a result, the Yagya Purush — the personified form of the Fire God who is none other than Lord Vishnu because it is also one of the Lord’s many forms — appeared before them and asked them to ask for a boon of their choice. They requested a son in the image of the Lord, i.e. a son who would possess all the divine virtues as possessed by the Lord himself. The Lord granted them their wish and said that since there was no one like him, he would himself incarnate as their son.
Thus was born a divine son whom the king named ‘Rishavdeo’ — literally meaning the best one. The child had a magnificent charm around him and was endowed with auspicious virtues. When he came of age, the king handed over the reins of the kingdom to him and himself went to the forest to do Tapa.
He had a hundred sons, the eldest one being Bharat. It is after him that India is called ‘Bhaarat’. Bharat was an image of his father, and similarly endowed with noble virtues and mystical powers that come with Tapa.
When the time came, king Rishavdeo handed over the responsibilities of the kingdom to his eldest son Bharat and went to the forest. He was so full of Vairagya (renunciation, detachment and dispassion towards this material world) and overwhelmed with Gyan (enlightenment and wisdom) that he became a top-class Sanyasi (a mendicant, a monk or a hermit) of the order of Avadhut as well as a Paramhans. These two states are the highest levels of Sanyas.
(xviii) King Prithu — The story of Prithu is a narration of how Lord Vishnu actively takes part in making the earth self-sustaining for its inhabitant creatures, and how the Lord did this by manifesting as a great king to ensure that the creation revealed by him would not suffer for want of daily necessities of life.
In the race of Manu (the first Man) was a Prajapti (the father of a large clan) named Anga. He was married to Sunitha, the mentally-created daughter of Mritu (the God of death). From her he begot a son named Ven who was of a sinful nature, most pervert and an atheist. Sages were so annoyed at him that they killed him by employing the mystical power of their Tapa (penance and austerity). From his dead body they created another king named ‘Prithu’.
Prithu was crowned Emperor of the whole earth. He was a wise king and an able administrator who organised the working of the state and established a system of government.
Once there was a great famine and he sternly warned the earth to produce food (crop) from the seeds sown and not to swallow them up, or face action. The earth was terrified and appeared before him as a cow. She apologized and asked him and others to milk her and get what they wanted. So, Prithu and other sages and seers milked her, and thus were produced the agricultural crops, the body of knowledge called the Vedas, the Soma juice for doing fire sacrifices and providing refreshment, the virtues of strength and vigour, music, offerings fit for making oblations to Gods and Spirits of dead ancestors, etc. Prithu also made the earth plain and livable, created villages and towns, provided protection from fears and dangers of all kinds to the earth’s inhabitants, and established the tradition of doing fire sacrifices in order to honour the Yagya Purush who is none but Lord Vishnu.
In other words, the barren earth became productive and habitable, and Prithu did the first ground-breaking work and laid the first foundation of a complex infrastructure that would be eventually built on this earth to sustain the needs of increasing population and expansion of civilization that would eventually take place on the earth.
Hence, the earth came to be known as ‘Prithivi’ — the daughter of Emperor Prithu to commemorate his contribution to creation.
(xix) Lord Dhanvantri — He was the Medicine Man of Gods and the one who discovered the curative powers of herbs. He is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu to provide the cure in the form of herbal remedies from the innumerable diseases that the creatures would suffer from in this world. In his role as the sustainer, protector and nourisher of this creation, this role of Vishnu was very vital as otherwise the creatures would suffer and die of so many natural diseases that the agenda of the Supreme Being to make the creation self- sustained and self-propagating would be defeated.
He emerged from the ocean when it was churned at the beginning of creation in the search for Amrit (or the elixir of life) along with other wealth or assets that are necessary to sustain and develop a pleasurable and comfortable life on earth. The pot of Amrit was held by him towards the end of this churning. Since he was a fractional incarnation of Lord Vishnu, he too had four arms and a glowing complexion that was dark with the bluish tinge of the sky.
Once, severe disease swept through earth. Then Indra requested Dhanvantari to manifest himself to eliminate the suffering of the creature. Dhanvantari was thus born as Divodas, the king of Kashi (Varanasi in the present day India). He was a great botanist and a naturalist, and compiled a Materia Medica of herbs. The science of healing with plants and shrubs is called Aurveda, and is given a status of a minor Veda. The etymology of the word ‘Ayurveda’ means ‘the knowledge (Veda) that makes life enjoyable, disease free and enhances its span and utility (Ayu)’.
(xx) Mohini — This is the most charming, bewitching, voluptuous and beautiful incarnation of Vishnu as a lustful enchantress. It so happened that the demons had snatched the pitcher of Amrit produced by the churning of the ocean, depriving the Gods of this ambrosia. So Vishnu had assumed the form of a beautiful and most voluptuous enchantress to deceive the demons and distribute the Amrit amongst the Gods.
This Avtaar or incarnation is meant to convey the spiritual message that one should not fall prey to worldly temptations of passions and lust as well as the charms of the sense organs and their objects in this material world because then Mukti (liberation and deliverance or freedom from the entanglements of the web-like world) would be impossible inspite of the fact that it was almost ready at hand. The demons had already got the pitcher of Amrit, and had they not fallen prey to the tempting overtures of this Mohini they would have drunk it.
(xxi) Lord Hayagriva — the horse-headed incarnation — The word ‘Hayagriva’ has two parts — ‘Haya’ means a horse, and ‘Griva’ means a neck. Hence, the Lord with the neck, and therefore the head of a horse is known as Hayagriva.
There are two main interpretations of this incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to one, when sage Yagyavalkya was deprived of the knowledge of the Yajur Veda due to the curse of his Guru Vaishampaayana, he went and did severe Tapa (austerity and penance) to please the Sun God. Pleased, the Sun God taught him another version of the same Veda by assuming the form of a deity with the head of a horse. Since the Sun is a visible manifestation of the Viraat Purush, one of the more subtle forms of Lord Vishnu, it was actually Lord Vishnu himself who had taught the sage this Veda. Hence, Lord Hayagriva is regarded as the Lord of knowledge and learning, and is given the same respect as shown to Goddess Saraswati, the patron goddess of learning and wisdom.
According to another story, there was a demon with the head of a horse, and he was therefore called Hayagriva — the horse-headed one. He was the son of Diti, the mother of demons. He did severe Tapa (austerity and penance) on the banks of the river Saraswati and offered his worship to Goddess Jagdambika (Parvati, the divine consort of Lord Shiva and the cosmic Mother). The Goddess was extremely pleased by his severe Tapa and asked for a boon, upon which Hayagriva requested immortality. The Goddess told him that all who are born must die, so this grant was practically not feasible. She asked him to ask something else. The demon was cunning, so he re-phrased his request and asked that he be killed by someone who was exactly like him. He thought that since no two living beings are alike, he would indirectly get immortality. The Goddess granted him his desired boon. Thus armed, he let loose terror in the world, thinking that no one would now be able to kill him.
To get rid of him, the Gods designed a strategy whereby Lord Vishnu lost his original head and was grafted with the head of a horse by the medicine men of the Gods named Ashvini Kumars. They are the twin sons of the Sun God. Thus, Vishnu also became a ‘Hayagriva’. It was in this form that the Lord slayed the demon. This story appears in Devibhagwat, 1/5.
(xxii) Sri Hari — The word ‘Hari’ means one who steals. In the context of Lord Vishnu it means the Lord who eliminates all the sorrows, worries and torments as well as the evil effects of sins and other misdemeanours of his devotees. It was in this form which is munificent and benevolent that he had revealed himself before his child devotee known as Dhruv.
The legend of Dhruv is as follows — He was the elder son of king Uttaanpaad from his first wife Suniti. The king was so charmed by his second wife named Suruchi that he completely neglected Suniti and Dhruv. Once it so happened that the child Dhruv was snubbed by his step-mother for attempting to draw affection of his father. The child was very upset and despondent. He approached his mother for solace. She advised him to accept Lord Vishnu as his eternal and loving Father and protector. For this, Dhruv had to do severe Tapa (austerity and penance). The overwhelmed child was so determined that he immediately proceeded to the forest to do Tapa. He met the celestial sage Narad on the way who instructed him on ways to meditate upon the Lord. The Lord was extremely pleased by Dhruv’s sincerity and devotion and appeared before him. He blessed the child and gave him two boons — one was the restoration of his honour and kinghood of the kingdom, and the other was a permanent place in the heavens, a position so exalted, steady and unwavering that even the God could not match it. So, in due course of time, Dhruv assumed a personified form of a divine God and took up his heavenly abode in the Dhruv Loka. The story related to him is narrated in detail in the Vishnu Puran, section 1, cantos 11–12.
The Dhruv Loka or Dhruv Mandal is represented by the North Star and its immediate environs in the celestial map. The North Star is a personified form of Dhruv. The North Star has a great symbolic importance and value here. This star remains static and unchanging in its position in the sky — it is a metaphor for stability, uniformity, unchanging nature, steadfastness and durability.
(xxiii) The Yagya or the sacred Fire sacrifice as a manifestation of Lord Vishnu — The legendary story associated with this incarnation is briefly as follows. The daughter of Swayambhuva Manu and his wife Shatrupa was named Aakuti. She was married to Prajapti Ruchi. Lord Vishnu was born as her son who was named ‘Yagya’. He was very holy and divine from childhood, and is regarded as the forefather who initiated and established the system of doing fire sacrifices as a means of empowerment and harnessing the dynamic energy and power of Nature. This helped to energise and empower the Gods who represented the various forces of Nature needed for the sustenance, nourishment, development and growth of this creation.
He had also fought the demons who were tormenting his father and mother while they did Tapa, and had vanquished them. His wife was named Dakshina (literally meaning the donation that is given during fire sacrifices), and he had twelve sons from her. The Gods were very obliged with Lord Yagya and anointed him to the throne of Indra, their king in heaven.
(xxiv) Hans, the divine Swan — Lord Vishnu had once appeared as a divine Swan to preach the four celestial sages Sankaadi who were the mental sons of the creator Brahma.
Once it so happened that Sankaadi approached Brahma and wanted to know how can someone, who wished to have Moksha (final liberation and deliverance from this material world; freedom from attachment to the sense objects of this world; emancipation and salvation), effectively control his mind and sub-conscious and divert them away from the material charms of the world and its sense objects, and towards the inner self where the Atma, the pure consciousness, resides?
Brahma was confused and did not have the answer. So they meditated upon Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Being, from whom Brahma was born. Thus Vishnu appeared as a divine Swan. The sages could not recognize the Lord in that form and asked who he was. Then Vishnu, in his form as a Swan, preached the great tenets of metaphysics and Vedanta to Sankaadi. Thus, this revelation of Vishnu as a Swan was an embodiment of the greatest and the most refined form of spiritual knowledge, erudition, wisdom and enlightenment. Henceforth, Swan came to be known as a synonym for these eclectic and divine virtues. This story appears in Srimad Bhagwat, 11/13.
