Praise the 10 Avatars of Vishnu

Stated to be the last incarnation of Vishnu, Kalki was predicted to appear towards the end of Kali Yuga, the current era. Vishnu will be seen over a white horse with his sword raging like a comet destroying all evil and injustice.

The forefather of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha was the preacher of non-violence. Born as a prince, Siddhartha walked away from the material world post his marriage at the age of 29. On attaining divine enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Buddha travelled far and wide preaching his learnings. His teachings led to the formulation of Buddhist philosophy that remains widely practiced even today.

The eighth son of Devaki and Vasudev, Krishna appeared in the Dwapara Yuga. The butter eating, flute playing incarnation of Vishnu was famed for killing his maternal uncle Kansa who had killed Krishnas 7 siblings at birth. The avatar also played a crucial role in the Kurukshetra war between the Pandavas and Kauravas.

The son of King Dashrath, Rama was in exile with wife Sita and brother Lakshmana for 14 years. Sita was abducted by Ravana, the demon of Lanka. Rama travelled to Lanka and killed Ravana, thereby saving Sita and happily returning to Ayodhya.

King Kartavirya Arjuna visited Parashuramas father -Jamadagni, and the saint fed him with the cow Kamadhenu. The king commanded the animal and took it away by force, destroying the ashram. Parashurama then killed the king with his axe. The sons of Kartavirya retorted by killing Jamadagni. Parashurama vowed to kill every Kshatriya twenty-one times and fill five lakes with their blood. The avatar halted at his grandfathers request and is believed to be alive even today.

A generous King Bali once defeated Lord Indra and attained power over the three worlds. Indra appealed to Vishnu for security and the latter appeared as Vamana- the dwarf. Vamana approached Bali who granted him three pieces of land as long as his stride. The dwarf transformed into a giant. After taking two steps, when Vamana was left with no place for the third, Bali offered his head thus burying him in the earth.

Hiranyakashipu was a rakshasa -evil who was granted a boon from Brahma, not allowing him to be killed by man or animal, at day or night, on earth or the stars, with either a living or non-living weapon. Vishnu appeared as Narasimha with the body of a man and head and claws of a lion. He killed the demon at dusk, at the courtyard of his house using his claws.

Varaha appeared to defeat Hiranyaksha, a demon who had taken the Earth and left it to the bottom of the cosmic ocean. The battle between the two apparently lasted for a thousand years and was won by Varaha. He then carried the Earth between his tusks and reestablished it to its original place in the universe.

Also hailing from the Satya Yug, when the devas and asuras were churning the ocean to obtain amrit, the nectar of immortality, the mount Mandara they were using to churn started to sink and Vishnu took the form of a tortoise to bear the weight of the mountain.

The foremost avatar of Lord Vishnu, Matsya took form in the Satya Yug. In this avatar, the Lord took the form of a fish, to save the first human -Manu and all animals and plants from a catastrophic flood. It was Matsya who pulled out the boat inhabited by Manu and others through the deluge.

History has it, that every time evil power struck the earth in full form, Lord Vishnu hailed to rescue in a different avatar. The dark complexioned, four armed divine God is often known as the Protector. So, as we praise Bhagwaan Vishnu, heres taking you through his 10 avatars.