Matsya avathar
God’s first incarnation was Matsya meaning Fish. When a demon called Hayagriva with the face of a horse stole all the Vedas and sasthras from Brahma, the creator when there was the deluge.He took all those and hid them deep in the sea. When Vishnu learn about this he took the Matsya avathar – incarnation as a fish which in time grew in size killed Hayagriva and recovers the Vedas from demons.
Koorma avathar
God’s second incarnation was Koorma means turtle. Many years ago there was a war between the devas and demons, mountain Mandara was used as a churning rod and great sake Vasuki as therope for churning. The devas grasped Vasuki’s tail and the daity as grasped Vasuki’s head. But as the churning began, the mountain Mandara which had no base, started to get immersed in the ocean. Lord Vishnu came to the rescue. He adopted the form of a turtle and the peak was balanced on the turtle’s back.
The goddess Lakshmi or Shri came out next and was united with Vishnu. Finally, Dhanvantari emerged with a pot of amrita (the life giving drink) in his hands. Dhanvantari was the originator of medicine(ayurveda). The devas obtained the amrita and the demons did not. Thus, they defeated the demons and regained heaven.
Varaha Avathar
Vishnu’s next incarnation was in the form of a boar. It is called Varaha Avatharam. Asura’s king Hiranyaksha went out to fight with the devas, defeated them and conquered heaven. He also defeated Varuna, the god of the ocean. He hurled the earth into the depths of the ocean. The devas went to Vishnu and prayed to restore the heaven and the earth. Vishnu adopted the form of a boar and entered the ocean. He brings the earth back from the bottom of the ocean where it was dragged down by a demon.
Narasimha Avathar
The Lords fourth incarnation was Nara-simhamThis incarnation was demi-human- Half human and Half animal. Nara means human simham means lion. Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasibu are brothers.
Hiranya-kasibu had ordered all his subjects and all around him to pray to himself and not to any god. Hence was much annoyed by the devotion of his son (prahalada) to lord Narayana whom to God Narayana whom he considered as his enemy. Prahalada was ill-treated and tortured to forget god Narayana but could not get him to forget the Lord. When Hiranya- kasibu asked prahalatha to show the God. Prahalada said He is everywhere and anywhere even in this pillar. Immediately the rakshasa took his huge sward and hit the pillar. The pillar broke in to two pieces and from it appeared Narasimha neither a human nor an animal (half man and half lion) and took the Rakshasa on his lap and killed him with his claws. Thus came to end the evil called Hiranya-kasibu. Read more about Prahaladha…
Vamana Avathar
Vamana was his fifth incarnation. Vamana means a Dwarf. Emperor Mahaballi ruled over the Pathala-loka. Instead of being confined to his-loka he captured the other lokas and was ruling over them. The devas Implored to God to put Mahabali in his place. Once Mahabali was performing a big “yaga” at the end Whoever went to the palace on that day could ask whatever they wished. God seized this opportunity and came to Mahabali’s palace as a dwarf-mendicant. He asked the King for just 3 foot-measure of land for himself and the king agreed and asked the dwarf the measure the land with his feet. God assumed gigantic proportions his headreaching up to the sky – the highest world above and his feet down at Pathala-loka the lowest of the worlds below the earth.God took one step and that covered all the worlds above the second step covered all the worlds below and there was no place left for his third foot measure. God asked king ” Mahabali , Ihave taken two steps and have covered all the lokas tell me where to keep my foot for the third foot-measure.”
Mahabali realized that the dwarf was no other than God himself Bowed and said ” Please my lord you may keep your foot over my head as the third measure.” Accordingly God put His foot on Mahabali’s head and pressed hard to push the King to ‘Pathala’loka’ and told him “O king! this is where you belong andyou should confine your self to this loka only.” Mahabali ruled long over Pathala-loka.
Parasurama Avathar
Parasurama was the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a brahman priest in this world. He was brought in this world to avenge all kshatriyas who had become arrogant and were suppressing the brahmans in the world. He was born with unusual physical power, and became better fighter than any Kshatriya. He was born to Jamadagni and Renuka. Kartavirya a powerful king, once went to Jamadagni’s home when he was out, and after a meal, stole the Kamadhenu cow, which was supposed to give endless quantity of milk. Jamadgni was enraged and he went and killed the king and brought Kamadhenu back. On hearing this the son of the king came back and killed Jamdagni. Parasurama was enraged at this and went and avenged the death of his father by killing all kshatriyas in 21 battles. His life is story of the supremacy of brahmans over the kshatriyas.
Sri Rama Avathar
It is the most important Avatar of Vishnu. Rama represents the peak of the historic incarnations, and by him it is defined the ideal character of Indian people. He is Vishnu descended upon earth to conquer all the Indian peninsula, included Sri Lanka, under the Bharata rule. Lord Rama is one of the most adored gods in India. He is always holding a bow and arrow indicating his readiness to destroy evils. His story forms the epic Ramayana. Commonly he is pictured in a family style, with his wife Sita, and brother Lakshman.
Balarama
According to some school of thoughts the elder brother of Lord Krishna is regarded as an Avathar of Lord Vishnu but for others He is the avathar of Adhishesha.
Sri Krishna Avathar
In KRISHNA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as KRISHNA , the central character in the epic MAHABHARATA. In this biggest epic of Indian mythology a myriad of topics are covered, including war, love, brotherhood, politics etc. It is essentially the story of two warring groups of cousin brothers, the PANDAVAs and the KAURAVAs. As a part of the Mahabahrata, during the war KRISHNA, gives a long discourse to his disciple ARJUNA, collectively termed as Bhagvad-Gita. Krishna, during his child-hood was responsible for the killing of Kansa.
Kalki Avathar
It is believed as the next Avatar of Vishnu.
It is believed that He will appear, riding his white horse and drawing a flaming sword, at the end of the Kali Yuga, the dark age through which we are now passing. His task will be to exterminate the evil and restore the Dharma. Thus will begin a new cycle, starting with the new Satya Yuga.
Read sri-dasavatara-stotra with meaning…