Ananta Shesha:This enormous thousand-headed snake bears the earth on his head. Traditionally,it was believed that earthquakes were caused whenever the snake moved.Shesha floats on the cosmic ocean and Lord Vishnu reclines on the coil of his tail.This Naga survives even when the entire universe is destroyed.Hence,it is also called Ananta (eternal).Shesha accompanies Lord Vishnu
in every incarnation.
The First avtar of Lord Vishnu-Matsya:-‘Matsya’ in Sanskrit means ‘Fish’. Matsya avatar is the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Many millions of years ago, there was a great king called Manu. Every day, in the mornings, King Manu, walked up to the river, got waist deep in water and prayed to God. One day during his prayer, he cupped a handful of water in his hands to offer to God. He saw a small fish in the water that was in hands. He was about to let go of the fish but the small fish begged him to save his life. The fish told him that if he let him go back to the river, the big fish would eat him alive. King Manu felt sorry for the fish and so took the fish home. He put the fish in a small bowl of water and he went back to his daily routines.
Second incarnation of Vishnu : Kurma or the Turtle incarnation : at the Churning of the Ocean, Vishnu as Koorma (or Kurma) offered his back as a pivot on which to rest the Mount Mandara, used as a churning stick by gods and demons.
Varaha or the Boar incarnation of Vishnu : He killed the demon Hiranyaksha, recovered the stolen Veda's and released the Earth from the bottom of the ocean.
Lord Vishnu as Narshima Avatar Fourth avatar
In NARASIMHA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a semi-man,semi-lion in this world. The king of demons(asuras), Hiranyakasyapa, wanted to become immortal and wanted to remain young forever. To this end, he meditated for Lord Brahma and because of his severe penance, the gods were frightened and asked Brahma to pacify the king. Brahma was impressed by his austerity and granted him a wish. HiranyaKasyapa wished that he be neither killed by a man or beast, nor in daylight or at night and neither inside or outside a building. Having obtained the wish he considered himself the supreme God and frobade all worship of gods by anyone. But his son Prahlada, was an ardent devotee of Vishnu. This enraged Hiranyakasyapa very much. He ordered numerous ways to kill Prahlada including asking his sister Holika to sit with Prahlada in the fire. But everytime Prahlada escaped unhurt. Enraged, once he asked Prahlad to show him the Lord Vishnu. Prahlad said, "He is everywhere". Further enraged, Hiranyakasyapa knocked down a pillar, and asked if Lord was present there. Lord Vishnu then emerged as a half lion, half man from the pillar which was neither inside the house nor outside, and the time was evening, neither night nor day. He then killed Hiranyakasyapa thus saving the life of his devotee Prahlada.
Vamana, Vishnu Fifth Avatar - The Dwarf Brahmin The fifth avatar, Vamana, appeared in the Tretayuga in order to destroy Bali, the king of demons. The fourth lineal descendant of Hiranyakashyap, named Bali, through his devotion and penance defeated Indra, the god of firmament, humbled other gods and extended his authority over the three worlds. All the gods appealed to Lord Vishnu for protection and He became manifest in His Dwarf Avatar of Vaman for the purpose of restraining Bali. Once when this king was making a great religious offering, Lord Vishnu in the form of Vaman appeared before him in the company of other Brahmins. Bali was extremely pleased to see a holy man with such a diminutive form and promised to give him whatever he should ask. Lord Vishnu asked only for as much land as he could measure by three steps. Bali laughingly agreed to grant the boon of three steps. Lord Vishnu as dwarf stepped over heaven in first stride and earth in the second stride. Then out of respect to Bali's kindness and his grandfather Prahlad's great virtues, Lord Vishnu stopped short and left him in pathal, the subterranean region. Bali's capital was Mahabalipuram.
Parshuram-Sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu
Parasurama avatar is the sixth avatar of lord Vishnu that appear in Treta Yuga. Parsu means axe, Parsuramana avatar gives moral to the whole world that we must always respect the words of one's father. He was the last son of Jamadakni rishi and Renuka Devi and hasnamed Ramana. Lord Shiva gave him a weapon, called parasu, thus Ramana become Parasuraman.Prasurama killed the King Kartavirya, who had stolen the Holy cow Kamdhenu, which could fulfill all the desires. Parsurama had determined to eliminate
all the Kshatriyas who were sadist and torturing common men.
Balarama Seventh Avatar of lord vishnuBalrama (or Balarama) was born as the brother of Krishna. Balrama is a symbol of strenght, an obedient son, an ideal brother and husband, an ideal man and god. He is a protector from desires, the divinity of strength or the strength of the divine, symbolizing duty, honesty and simplicity.Vishnu incarnated as Balarama when Indra and the other gods came to lord Vishnu and asked for release from the demon son Kamsa, king of Mathura. Vishnu took one black and one white hair from his head and promised that these two would come to fight against the demons. This way, first Balrama (the white hair) and then Krishna (the black hair) incarnated in the womb of Devaki. To save him from Kamsa, Balrama was transferred secretly from Devakis womb to that of Rohini´s, from which he was born. Together with Krishna he grew up in a cowherd's family.







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