Avatara

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Avatars of Vishnu.
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Avatars of Vishnu.
Avatars of Madhvacharya. From top: Hanuman, Bhima and Shri Madhvacharya
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Avatars of Madhvacharya. From top: Hanuman, Bhima and Shri Madhvacharya

Avatara is a word of Hinduism. This means a god coming to the earth in the form of a human being or in any other form. Rama was an avatar of Vishnu, a god of the Hindus. Similarly, Gautama Buddha was also an avatar. Sometimes, gods may take avatar in other forms, for example, a fish or a boar.

According to Hindu mythology, the avataras of god Vishnu are named below:

  • Matsya
  • Varaha
  • Narasimha
  • Vamana
  • Parashurama
  • Rama
  • Balarama
  • Krishna
  • Buddha

Several Hindu scriptures have details and stories about Vishnu's avatars. These texts also tell that Vishnu will take avatar as Kalki.

Matsya avatara is the first avatara of Vishnu, one of the three main gods of the Hindus. In Matsya avatara, Vishnu took the form of a big fish. Sometimes, it is said that he took the form of a half-man and half-fish. There is a story about this in Hindu scriptures.. The story tells about a demon (an asura). That asura was very wicked. He snatched the Vedas, the holy books of the Hindus, and went deep inside the sea. At this point, Vishnu changed his form. He became a matsya, that is, a fish. He entered the sea and brought back the Vedas. He gave the Vedas to Manu. The Hindu scriptures say that Manu was the first man in the world. He may be compared with Noah.

The second avatara of Vishnu is called Kurma avatara. In this avatara, Vishnu took the form of a kurma. Kurma is a word of Sanskrit language, and a kurma means a tortoise. As a kurma, Vishnu is the symbol of strength and stability.

Image:Varaha-boar.jpg
Vishnu as Varaha, a boar

Varaha avatara was the third avatara of Vishnu. In this avatara, Vishnu took the form of a black varaha. Varaha is a word of Sanskrit language. A varaha means a boar. The Hindu scriptures tell a story about this avatara. There was a daitya (a demon) named hiranyaksha. He threw the earth (called prithivi by the Hindus) into the waters of the ocean. The earth was about to sink in the ocean. At this point, Vishnu took the form of a black boar. He entered the water and carried the earth on its body. Thus, Vishnu as a varaha saved the earth from destruction.

Narashimha avatara was the fourth avatara of Vishnu. In this form, Vishnu had the body of a man, but he had a head of a lion. This avatara of Vishnu is also a symbol of great strength. The hindu scriptures tell this story about narashimha avatara. There was a daitya (a demon) named Hiranyakashipu. He was against all gods. But, his son named Prahlada used to worship the gods. Hiranyakashipu was not happy at his son and wanted to burn him to death.

All other avatars of Vishnu after Narsshimha avatar were in the form of human beings.

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