Lord Vishnu and His Incarnations

Lord Vishnu is the supreme god of the Vaishnava Sampradaya.

Lord Vishnu Family: The wife of Lord Vishnu is Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is believed that the Goddess Lakshmi resides in the heart of Lord Vishnu and devotees who worship Lord Vishnu are also blessed with the wealth and prosperity. As per South Indian traditions, Shridevi and Bhoomadevi are the two consorts of Lord Vishnu. Hence, in few images, Lord Vishnu is flanked by two consorts.

Lord Vishnu resides in Kshir Sagar, the milky ocean. Lord Vishnu rests on the couch made of the serpent Sheshnag. The lotus, the beloved flower of Goddess Lakshmi, originates from the navel of Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma mounts on the same flower. Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi have 18 sons, named Devasakha, Chiklita, Ananda, Kardama, Shriprada, Jataveda, Anuraga, Samvada, Vijaya, Vallabha, Mada, Harsha, Bala, Teja, Damaka, Salila, Guggula, Kuruntaka.

Lord Vishnu Festivals and Vrats

Ekadashi

Anant Chaturdashi

Lord Vishnu Mantra

One of His most important Mool Mantra-

Om Namoh Narayanaya। Om Namoh Bhagavate Vasudevaya॥

Lord Vishnu Incarnations and Swaroop:

Actually, Incarnations are divided in to 3 types. They are Amsha Avathaar for example: Vyasa. 2. Paripurna Avathaar for example: Lord Krishna. 3. Archana Avathaar for example: Lord Srinivasa.

There are 10 popular incarnations of Lord Vishnu which are popularly known as Dashavatara are Purna Avathaaras. 

1.Matsya

2. Kurma

3. Varaha

4. Lord Narasimha

5. Vamana

6. Parashurama

7. Lord Rama

8. Buddha (Balarama)

9. Lord Krishna

10. Kalki

Out of these ten - four namely 1.Matsya 2. Kurma 3. Varaha 4. Lord Narasimha belongs to Krutha Yuga (Satya Yuga), the other  5. Vamana 6. Parashurama 7. Lord Rama  belongs to Thretha Yuga, Remining ... 8. Lord Krihsna 9. Balarama (Buddha) belongs to Dwapara Yuga. The last one Kalki yet to be incarnated would belongs to Kali Yuga.

Dashavatara is the most popular list of incarnations of Lord Vishnu. However, another list which gives 24 incarnations of Lord Vishnu is also popular among devotees of Lord Vishnu.

1.   Adi Purush Avatar - pre-eminent man

2.   Sanat Kumar – Brahma Manasa Putra

3.   Varaha Avatar - boar incarnation

4.   Narada Avatar

5.   Nara Narayana Avatar

6.   Kapila Avatar

7.   Dattatreya Avatar - Datta incarnation

8.   Yajna (यज्ञ) Avatar – Yajna born to Prajapati and Akuti

9.   Rishabha Avatar – Rishabhadeva Avatar

10.                     Prithu Avatar

11.                     Matsya Avatar – fish incarnation

12.                     Kurma Avatar or Kachchhap Avatar – tortoise incarnation

13.                     Dhanvantari Avatar – the Lord of medicine

14.                     Mohini Avatar – incarnation as a most enchanting woman

15.                     Narasimha Avatar – incarnation in the form of half-man and half-lion

16.                     Hayagriva Avatar – incarnation with horse face

17.                     Vamana Avatar – incarnation as a dwarf

18.                     Parashurama Avatar

19.                     Vyasa Avatar – Veda Vyasa incarnation

20.                     Shri Rama Avatar

21.                     Balarama Avatar

22.                     Shri Krishna Avatar

23.                     Buddha Avatar

24.                     Kalki Avatar – Lord Vishnu will be incarnated as Kalki at the end of the Kaliyuga

Lord Vishnu Temples

Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam

Jagannath Temple, Puri

Badrinath Temple, Badrinath

Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh

Important Dashavatara - Lord Vishnu 10 Incarnations:

1. Matsya was the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu during Satya Yuga.

2. Kurma was the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu during Satya Yuga. 

3.Varaha was the third incarnation of Lord Vishnu during Satya Yuga. 

4.Lord Narasimha: 

He was the 4^th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. On Narasimha Jayanti day Lord Vishnu appeared in the form of Narasimha, a half lion and half man, to kill Demon Hiranyakashipu.

As per the Bhagwat Purana, Vamana was the fifth Avatar out of Dashavatara of Lord Vishnu and His first incarnation in the Treta Yuga. After the first four Avatars in the animal form, namely, Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar) and Narasimha (lion), Vamana was the first Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the human form. Vamana was born in Treta Yuga to Goddess Aditi and Rishi Kashyapa on the Dwadashi Tithi of Bhadrapada Shukla Paksha during Abhijit Muhurat when the Shravana Nakshatra was prevailing.

5. Vamana:

   As per the Bhagwat Purana, Vamana was the fifth Avatar out of Dashavatara of Lord Vishnu and His first incarnation in the Treta Yuga. After the first four Avatars in the animal form, namely, Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar) and Narasimha (lion), Vamana was the first Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the human form. Vamana was born in Treta Yuga to Goddess Aditi and Rishi Kashyapa on the Dwadashi Tithi of Bhadrapada Shukla Paksha during Abhijit Muhurat when the Shravana Nakshatra was prevailing. Vamana Avatar Legends. Lord Vishnu incarnated as Vamana to restore the reign of God Indra on Swarga Loka. King Bali, a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, overthrew Indra and established himself as the king of Swarga Loka. Despite being the Vishnu devotee and a munificent king, Bali was cruel and proud. He wielded his powers to threaten the Gods and Brahmins. By abusing his powers on Gods and Humans alike, the invincible king Bali expanded his kingdom and became the king of Swarga Loka, Bhu Loka and Patala Loka.

Indra, after being dethroned from his own kingdom, along with other Deva approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu assured Indra by saying that He would take birth as the son of Aditi and Kashyapa, in the form of dwarf Brahmin to save the three Loka from the cruelties of Bali. Lord Vishnu, to fulfil His promise, incarnated as Vamana or a dwarf monk, approached King Bali where the later was performing Ashvamedha Yagya. Vamana asked 3 steps of land as Bhiksha from Bali, to which Bali readily agreed. Vamana immediately transformed into a gigantic form and measured the whole earth in one stride. In the second stride, He measured the heaven. When Vamana Dev was about to take the third step, Bali realized that the dwarf monk was no other than Lord Vishnu Himself and for the third stride, offered his head. To honor the benevolence of His devotee, instead of killing Bali, Lord Vishnu pushed him to the Patala Loka or netherworld. Lord Vishnu also granted a boon to Bali, which allowed him to visit his subjects on Earth once a year. The annual homecoming of king Bali is celebrated in Kerala on Onam and in rest of the country on Bali Pratipada.

6. Parashurama Avathaar:

Parashurama Jayanti is celebrated as birth anniversary of sixthincarnation of Lord Vishnu. It falls during Shukla PakshaTritiya in the month of Vaishakha. It is believed that Parashurama was born during Pradosh Kala and hence the day when Tritiya prevails during Pradosh Kala is considered for Parashurama Jayanti celebrations. The purpose of the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is to relieve the Earth's burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive and irreligious monarchs that pillaged its resources and neglected their duties as kings.

According to Hindu belief unlike all other avatars Parashurama still lives on the Earth. Therefore, unlike Rama and Krishna, Parashurama is not worshipped. In South India, at the holy place Pajaka near Udupi, one major temple exists which commemorates Parashurama. There are many temples at the western coast of India which are dedicated to Lord Parashurama.

The Kalki Purana states that Parashurama will be the martial guru of Shri Kalki, the 10^th and final Avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is not the first time that 6^th Avatar of Lord Vishnu will meet another Avatar. According to Ramayana, Parashurama came to the betrothal ceremony of Sita and Lord Rama and met the 7^th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. 

7. Lord Rama is one of the most respected Gods in Hinduism. He is believed to be the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Rama was born during Treta Yuga out of four cyclic Yugas described in religious books.

Lord Rama was the eldest son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya. Dasharatha had three wives namely, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Dasharatha performed two Yagya(s), Ashwamedha and Putrakameshti, with the help of sage Rishyasringa (ऋष्यशृंग). During Yagya, Agni sprang out from the Yagya-Kunda and handed out Dasharatha a pot of the Kheer. Agni advised Dasharatha to distribute it among his queens to get blessed with sons. Kaushalya ate half of the Kheer, Sumitra ate a quarter of it and Kaikeyi ate some of it and passed it back to Sumitra who consumed the Kheer a second time. Thus, Kaushalya gave birth to Lord Rama, Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata and Sumitra gave birth to the twin Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Lord Rama was the eldest and Bharat was the second eldest son of the king Dasharatha. It is believed that the twin Lakshmana and Shatrughna was born two days after that of Lord Rama. The birth anniversary of Lord Rama is celebrated as Rama Navami which falls during Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month as per Hindu calendar.

Lord Rama and Bharata had dark complexion while the twin Lakshmana and Shatrughna had fair complexion. Most iconography of Lord Rama depicts Him with blue skin similar to Lord Krishna. Lord Rama carries a bow and quiver full of arrows on His back. 

8.  Lord Krishna:

He is one of the most popular Gods in Hinduism. He is believed to be the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu (in some regions Lord Krishna is considered as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu). Lord Krishna was born during Dvapara Yuga out of four cyclic Yugas described in Hindu scriptures. Based on scripture details and astrological calculations the date of Krishna's birth is 19^th July 3228 BCE and date of Krishna's death, when Lord Krishna returned to His eternal abode of Vaikuntha, is 18^th February 3102 BCE. The present Yuga which is known as Kali Yuga started after the death of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in Mathura city. However, Krishna raised by his foster parents Yashoda and Nanda in Gokul a small village in Mathura district. Lord Krishna was born during midnight on Ashtami Tithi during Krishna Paksha in Hindu calendar. All Hindus commemorates this day as Janmashtami or birth anniversary of Lord Krishna.

Each incarnation of Lord Vishnu on the Earth is with a purpose and to accomplish some definite tasks. Lord Krishna came to the Earth to kill king Kansa and to relieve the people of Braj from his torture and tyranny. Later Krishna participated in the events of the Mahabharata and Lord Krishna's participation had profound effect on the Mahabharata war and its consequences.

Lord Krishna is easily recognized by His representations. Krishna is usually shown with blue skin. He is often shown with a flute, wearing a yellow silk Dhoti and peacock feather crown. Tribhangi Mudra is the most popular pose of Lord Krishna in which He stands with one leg bent in front of the other and raises a flute to His lip in a relaxed pose. Lord Krishna never married His childhood lover Radha but He is pictured with Radha in most of the paintings. It was Rukmini who was the legitimate wife of Lord Krishna.

Lord Krishna was born in Mathura and raised in Gokul. Lord Krishna spent his childhood days with Radha and other Gopis in Vrindavan which is the site of an ancient forest.

9. Buddha: 

According to North Indians Buddha is considered as Ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but South Indians believes Balarama as Ninth incarnation.

10. Kalki Jayanti is the birth annivebutrsary of Lord Vishnu in coming future. Kalki would be the tenth and the last incarnation of Lord Vishnu at the end of Kali Yuga. Special Puja is organized in Lord Vishnu temples on the occasion of Kalki Jayanti.