
1) Matsya(The Fish):This was the first incarnation when the universe was deluged.Vishnu in the form of a fish protected Manu and his family,the Vedas and the Rishis(Saints) for re-emergence of the cyclic order. The fish legend first appears in the Brahmanas.
2) Kurma(The Tortoise):Many divine treasures were lost in the flood including Amrit(Ambrosia). Vishnu incarnated in the form of a great tortoise and on his back ocean was churned with a big mountain to recover the lost things.
3) Varaha(The Boar):A demon Hiranyaksha cast the earth into the depth of the cosmic ocean;Vishnu too the form of an enormous boar,killed the demon and raised the earth on his tusk.
4) Narasimha(The Man-Lion): Another demon Hiranyakashyapu,a tryrant,who altogether denied the existence of God in any form and harassed his theist son,Prahlad,was killed by Vishnu in the form of Narasimha.
5) Vamana(The Dwarf):A demon called Bali gained control over the world and became very proud of it;Vishnu appeared in front of him as a dwarf and asked for a boon of three strides of land;when the boon was granted he became a giant of astronomical proportion and in two strides covered the earth, heaven and the mid air and there was nothing left for the third stride;Bali’s pride was broken and he offered his body for the last stride,but the God refrained from taking the third stride and left the inferal regions to the demon.
6) Parshuram(Brahmin with the Axe):Vishnu took the human form in the Son of a Brahmin-Jamdagni and exterminated the wicked Kshatriya Kings from this earth with his axe including the wicked King Kartavirya who had earlier robbed-Jamdagni,His Father.
7) Ram(Sri Rama):Vishnu incarnated in form of a Kshatriya prince to fight the evil forces for protecting the saintly men and to idealize the institution of family and soceity.
Krishna(The Cosmos): This was the most important incarnation of Vishnu in the Vrishni clan of the Yadava tribe from father Vasudev and mother Devaki at Mathura for the establishment of righteousness(Dharma) and the destruction of impiety( Adharma). He was stated to have played the most dynamic role in the great war of Mahabharata.
9) Buddha(The Yogi): This incarnation was needed to remove the anomalies crept into the old Vedic beleifs and practices.
10) Kalki: It is yet to come when Vishu will appear in the form of a man mounted on a white horse with a flaming sword in his hand to re-establish righteousness(Dharma).
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