Information Collection - 2 | Dasavatar

Phase One


"yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham"


Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth.
For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil,
and for the establishment of righteousness,
I come into being age after age. (Gita:4.7–8)


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Dashavatara (Daśāvatāra) refers to the ten principal Avatars. In Vaishnava philosophy, an Avatar (Sanskrit: अवतार, avatāra), most commonly refers to the 'descent' and daśa refers to 'ten' in number. The ten most famous incarnations of Vishnu are collectively known as the Dashavatara. This list is included in the Garuda Purana (1.86.10-11) and denotes those avatars most prominent in terms of their influence on human society.

The Ten Avatars 

Matsya

The Matsya Avatar of Vishnu is believed to have appeared initially as a Shaphari (a small carp) to King Manu (whose original name was Satyavrata), the then King of Dravidadesa, while he washed his hands in a river. This river was supposed to have been flowing down the Malaya Mountains in his land of Dravida. The little Fish asked the king to save Him, and out of compassion, he put it in a water jar. It kept growing bigger and bigger until King Manu first put Him in a bigger pitcher, and then deposited Him in a well. When the well also proved insufficient for the ever-growing Fish the King placed Him in a tank. As it grew further King Manu had to put the fish in a river, and when even the river proved insufficient he placed it in the ocean, after which it nearly filled the vast expanse of the great ocean. It was then that He (Lord Matsya) informed the King of a deluge which would be coming very soon. The King built a huge boat which housed his family, 9 types of seeds, and animals to repopulate the earth, after the deluge would end and the oceans and seas would recede. At the time of deluge, Vishnu appeared as a horned fish and his Sheshanag appeared as a rope, with which Vaivasvata Manu fastened the boat to horn of the fish. The gigantic golden fish then dragged the boat through the deluge and then enabled Brahma to start the act of creation all over again.

After the great deluge the new civilization is set in order by the pious man. The core concept of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) is that there is no beginning or end. There is only transformation. When man abandons Dharma and ventures into the territory of Adharma, Nature starts its destructive transformation. We humans term this as apocalypse or total annihilation. Lord Vishnu incarnated as Matsya to save all that was good in the world before its destruction. He also sets the new civilization in order. 

Illustration by Poonam Mistry

Kurma

The Devas lost their strength and powers due to a curse by the sage Durvasa because Indra, the king of the Devas, had insulted the sage’s gift, a garland by giving it to his elephant “Airavata”, which trampled upon it. Thus, after losing their immortality and kingdom, they approached Lord Vishnu for help.

Vishnu suggested that they needed to drink the nectar of immortality to regain their lost glory. However, they needed to strive hard to acquire the nectar since it was hidden in the ocean of milk. After declaring a truce with their foes (Asuras), Indra and his Devas together with the Asuras, use the serpent Vasuki as a churning rope and the mount Mandara as the churning staff.
When they began churning, the mount began sinking into the ocean. Taking the form of a turtle (Kurma), Vishnu bears the entire weight of the mountain and the churning continues and various objects are thrown out . “Fourteen precious things” come out of the ocean, culminating with Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, appearing with the nectar of immortality.


The Kurma incarnation also represents the stage in the development of life, when the ability to breathe air and walk out of the water developed. The turtle is also the symbol of perseverance.

Varaha

A demon Hiranyaksha, had prayed for Lord Brahma and got awarded a boon that no beast nor man nor god could kill him. But somehow from the list of beasts the name of boar was missing. This proved to be his lacunae. He then started a campaign of plunder across the worlds. He pushed the world to the Pataal loka, he stole the Vedas, the holy scriptures from the Lord Brahma, while he was asleep and performed huge atrocities. To retrieve the Vedas and to save the world the Lord Vishnu assumed the role of a boar and brought out the earth from the under of the ocean, using its two tusks. It then killed Hiranyaksha and retrieved the Vedas from the asura and brought it back to the safe custody of the Lord Brahma.

The avatar symbolizes the resurrection of the Earth from a pralaya (deluge) and the establishment of a new kalpa (cosmic cycle).

Illustration by Poonam Mistry

Narsimha

In his previous avatara of Varaha, Vishnu killed a rakshasa known as Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha's brother Hiranyakashipu, greatly angered by this, started to abhor Vishnu and his followers.

Hiranakashipu as a result of intense austerities (Tapas) got a boon from Brahma that he will not be killed either by a man or a beast, neither will he be killed indoors or outdoors and nor during day or night. Armed with such a powerful boon, Hiranakashipu asked the people to worship him and not Vishnu. He over powered the Devas and people started worshipping him except for his son Prahlad.

Child Prahlad displayed exemplary courage and worshipped Vishnu before Hiranakashipu. Hiranyakashipu tried several methods to change his son’s mind. When the attempts failed, he tried to eliminate the boy but each time he was saved by Vishnu.

Finally, the prayers of young Prahlad were answered and Lord Vishnu appeared to get rid of Hiranakashipu. He appeared as Narasimha – neither man nor lion – dragged the helpless Hiranakashipu to the threshold of his palace door and killed him at twilight.

Illustration by Poonam Mistry

Vaman

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 netherworld in the second stride. Then he asked Bali where can he put his third step . Bali realized that Vamana was Vishnu incarnate and he was going to take the Earth in his third stride. He offered Vamana to put his third step on his head. Vamana did so and thus blessed Bali marking him as one of the few immortals blessed by Vishnu. Then out of respect to Bali's kindness and his grandfather Prahlad's great virtues, he made him the ruler of pathala, the subterranean region.

Illustration by Poonam Mistry

Parashuram

Parashu means axe and this incarnation of Vishnu is named after his favorite weapon. He was born as the son of Rishi Jamadagni.

Kamadhenu, the divine cow that could confer all desires, was stolen from Rishi Jamadagni’s ashram by Kartavirya Arjuna. This finally resulted in the death of

Rishi Jamadagni.

In a rage, Parashurama vowed to exterminate the world's Kshatriyas 21 times. He killed the entire clan of Kartavirya and then conquered the entire earth to restore justice. He distributed the wealth amassed by the rulers to the people. Thus we get the earliest information of social equality achieved through armed revolution.

Symbolically, this shows that when the ruling or political class starts to steal from its subjects adharma breeds – corruption and nepotism grows. To restore Dharma, Lord Vishnu incarnates.

In Ramayana, Parashuram appears when Lord Ram breaks Lord Shiva’s bow to win the hands of Mata Sita.

In the Mahabharat, Bhishma, Drona and Karna learn warfare from Parashurama. Thus he is Guru to the great warriors in Mahabharat.

Illustration source wikipedia

Ram

Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga. Rama is one of the most commonly adored gods in Hinduism and is known as an ideal man and hero of the epic Ramayana. Rama defeated and killed the king of Sri Lanka, Ravana for capturing and imprisoning his wife Sita in the Ashoka Garden in Sri Lanka.

Rama's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. He is pictured as the ideal man and the perfect human. For the sake of his father's honour, Rama abandons his claim to Kosala's throne to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest. His wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, unable to live without Rama, decide to join him, and all three spend the fourteen years in exile together. While in exile, Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, the Rakshasa (Asura) monarch of Lanka. After a long and arduous search that tests his personal strength and virtue, Rama fights a colossal war against Ravana's armies. In a war of powerful and magical beings, greatly destructive weaponry and battles, Rama slays Ravana in battle and liberates his wife. Having completed his exile, Rama returns to be crowned king in Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) and eventually becomes emperor, rules with happiness, peace, prosperity and justice—a period known as Rama Rajya.

Illustration source wikipedia

Krishna

Krishna appeared in the Dwapara Yuga. Krishna is one of the most commonly worshipped deities in the Hindu faith and is also counted as an avatar of Vishnu by the majority of Vaishnava movements. As per the North Indian belief, Krishna is the eighth avatar, while as per south Indian belief, Balarama is considered as the eight avatar and Krishna as the ninth. He is also a significant character in the epic of Mahabharata. Krishna delivered Bhagwad Gita on the battlefield of the Battle of Kurukshetra to Arjuna. He, like Rama, is also known for his bravery in destroying evil powers throughout his life. He is usually depicted as playing the flute (murali), indicating spread of the melody of love to people.

Buddha

Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. 

The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions. Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

The adoption of Buddha as one of the Avatars of Vishnu under Bhagavatism is believed to be a catalyzing factor in assimilation of relationships during the Gupta period 330-550 C.E. Thus Mahayana Buddhism is sometimes called Buddha-Bhagavatism. It is by this period that it is commonly accepted among academics that the concept of avatars of Vishnu was fully developed.

Illustration source http://www.buddhistelibrary.org

Kalki

("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently live. 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. Kalki will move with a ‘great speed’, on a ‘Big’ ‘White’ ‘horse’ with a ‘sword’ in his hand. 

The Kali-yuga will end with the apparition of Kalki-avatara, who will defeat the wicked, liberate the virtuous, and initiate a new Satya or Kritha Yuga.

Illustration source wikipedia