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Dasavatara, ten incarnations of lord Vishnu hold a special place in the heart of most of the Indian population. The first descent of lord Vishnu was manifested in the form of fish followed by the tortoise, the boar, the man-lion, the dwarf, the hunter sage, the ideal king Lord Rama and the leader, Krishna.
The avatars of the lord Vishnu call up images of evolution and time. The purpose of all the Dasavataras of Vishnu is to hold and restore the faith in the right order and the destruction of wrong. With time the order upturned in many ways. When kings became dictatorial the lord came as man-lion Narasimha. Rama came to reinstitute the epitome of kingship and right conduct while Krishna taught mankind the purpose of obedience and life and about the equality of all humans in the eyes of god.
The first four avatars Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Narsimha are in Satya yuga while the avatars of Rama and Krishna are in Dwapara yuga.
The Matsya avatar of Vishnu was taken to save humanity and the holy text, Vedas.
Matsya avatar is generally regarded as a four-armed figure with the upper part of a man and the lower as a fish holding a conch shell and a wheel and other two hands in protection.
According to Bhagavad Purana, there was a demon Hayagriva who stole the Vedas from Brahma. Hayagriva used his yogic powers, which would cause not only the world to be devoid of this knowledge but also he was going to put the wrong use. Lord Vishnu took the avatar of the fish and attacked him to recover Veda.
The sage Durvasa when returning from Vaikuntha, was wearing a garland of flowers on the way Durvasa met Indra with his elephant Airavata. As a gesture of respect, Durvasa gifted a garland that he was wearing while returning from the celestial abode of lord Vishnu but Indra in his pride threw the garland onto the head of the elephant and the animal playfully tore it and walked over it. Perceiving this Durvasa cursed that Indra as well as the three worlds ruled by him would soon be divested.
As established the three worlds lost their glory and in addition, a great battle arose between Devas and the Asuras observing this scenario Indra went to the court of Brahma, seeing Devas emptied with strength and Asuras full of it, Brahma meditated on the lord Vishnu.
The Lord said, the efforts and importance of Amrit, drinking of which will make one immortal using Mount Mandara as a staff of churning it and the divine serpent Vasuki can be used as the cord, where asuras will get only fruitless parts.
As instructed by Vishnu along with a mutual understanding Devas and Asura put forth their energies and using strength, they uprooted Mount Mandara but it fell. At this point, Lord Vishnu appeared on his vehicle Garuda. Placing the mountain on his shoulder to the seashore and locating it on the sand he summoned Vasuki and twined the serpent around the mountain as cord and initiated churning the water by holding the head and tail of a serpent.
But as the churning continued the massive mountain began to sink and witnessing the sinking of the mountain devas and asuras could see their efforts come to an end.
It was at that moment, that Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a Tortoise (Kurma) on the back of whom a huge mountain twisted and turned. Following this ocean began to yield its treasures- the chaturanga Ratna ( the fourteen jewels) and amrit .
The Narasimha avatar of the lord Vishnu was believed to be incarnated in the form of a lion and half-part of man to kill Hiranyakashipu to put an end to religious maltreatment and restore Dharma and humanity.
Narasimha is generally worshiped in the form of the human torso with Leonie’s face and claws. Hiranyakashipu was the brother of Hiranyaksha who had been killed by Vishnu as Varaha.
Hiranyakashipu was blessed by Brahma due to which he can not be killed at any time of the day or night, anywhere inside or outside the house not even in the sky not even on land not in Swarg not in Patal not by any human, deities, demons or animal.
Favored with the boon, he began to create chaos and make life difficult for all the Vishnu devotees including his son Prahalada.
Vishnu creatively assumed a hybrid form and killed Hiranyakashipu at the junction of day and night at the threshold of his palace.
Narasimha is one of the major deities in Vaishnavism.
The Bhagavata Purana, mentions this particular avatar of Vishnu.
Rama Avatara was the elder son of the great king Dasratha who married Sita. When Dasaratha was getting old and desired to crown Rama Yuvraj. Kaikeyi, one of Dasarath’s three queens, demands the present coronation ceremony be conducted for Bharata, her son and Rama to be sent to the forest for 14 years.
Rama along with his wife Sita and Lakshman set out to leave the fort and begin their exile. Where kidnapping of his wife Sita by the demon king Ravana and his determined efforts to set his wife free and kill the demon put an end to all the evils and odds set by Ravana.
It is believed that the kalki avatar of lord will be incarnated as we reach the end of kali yuga to end the cycle.
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