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An avatar is an incarnation. It means that God manifests himself in some animal or human form to be born on earth. Why do gods do this. The answer is given by Shri Krishna in fourth chapter of Bhagavad-Gita in following verse:

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥ ४-७॥

The purpose is to destroy evil on earth and establish righteousness whenever there is danger of evil winning over virtue.

Vishnu is regarded as the preserver of the universe and it is therefore Vishnu’s incarnations that one encounters most often. Vishnu has already had nine such incarnations and the tenth and final incarnation is due in the future, to end the Kali Yuga.

These ten avatar or incarnations of Vishnu are as follows:

• (1) Matsya avatar
• (2) Kurma avatar
• (3) Varaha avatar
• (4) Narasimha avatar
• (5) Vamana avatar
• (6) Parashurama avatar
• (7) Rama avatar
• (8) Krishna avatar
• (9) Buddha avatar
• (10) Kalki avatar – yet to occur.

Matsya Avatar

Many years ago, the whole world was destroyed. The destruction in fact extended to all the three Lokas (Worlds) of Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka and Svarloka. Bhuloka is the earth, Svarloka or svarga is heaven and Bhuvarloka is a region between the earth and heaven. All these worlds were flooded with water.

Vaivasvata Manu had spent ten (thousand) years in prayers and meditation in the hermitage Vadrika. This hermitage was on the banks of the river Kritamala.

Once Manu came to the river to perform his ablutions. He immersed his hands in the water to get some water. When he raised them, he found that there was a small fish swimming in the water in the cup of his hands.

Manu was about to throw the fish back into the water when the fish said, “Don’t throw me back. I am scared of alligators and crocodiles and big fishes. Save me.”

Manu had mercy, and kept the fish in an earthen pot. But soon the fish became too big for the pot and Manu had placed the fish in a larger vessel. But the fish became too big for this vessel as well and Manu had to transfer the fish to a lake. But the fish grew and grew and became too large for the lake. So, Manu transferred the fish to the ocean. In the ocean, the fish grew until it became gigantic.

By now, Manu’s wonder knew no bounds. He said, “Who are you? You must be the Lord Vishnu; I bow down before you. Tell me, why are you tantalizing me in the form of a fish?”

The fish replied, “I have to punish the evil and protect the good. Seven days from now, the ocean will flood the entire world and all beings will be destroyed. But since you have saved me, I will save you.” He then detailed a process to be followed by him.

He said, “When the world is flooded, a boat will arrive here. Take the Saptarishis (seven sages) with you in that boat. Don’t forget to take the seeds of all types of plants and foodgrains with you. I will arrive and you will then fasten the boat to my horn with a huge snake.”

Saying this, the fish disappeared.

Everything happened as the fish had promised it would. The ocean became turbulent and Manu climbed into the boat. He tied the boat to the huge horn that the fish had. He prayed to the fish and the fish told the Vedas and Puranas to him. Eventually, when the water receded, the boat was anchored to the topmost peak of the Himalayas. And living beings were created once again.

A Danava (demon) named Hayagriva had stolen the sacred texts of the Vedas and the knowledge of the brahman. In his form of a fish, Vishnu also killed Hayagriva and recovered the Vedas.

Kurma Avatar

The gods and the demons were always at war, and mostly the gods lost the war. They prayed to Vishnu to rescue them from the oppression of the demons.

Vishnu told Brahma and the other gods that they should have a temporary truce with the demons. The two sides should get together to churn the ocean. Vishnu would ensure that the Devas benefited more from this churning of the ocean than the Daityas did.

The truce was agreed upon and the two sides got ready to churn the ocean. The mountain Mandar was used as a churning rod and great snake Vasuki as the rope for churning. The devas grasped Vasuki’s tail and the Daityas grasped Vasuki’s head.

 But as the churning began, the mountain Mandara which had no base, started to get immersed in the ocean. What was to be done? Lord Vishnu came to the rescue. He adopted the form of a gargantuan turtle and the peak was balanced on the turtle’s back.

As the churning continued, terrible poison named Kalkuta emerged first from the depths of the ocean and was swallowed by Shiva. Shiva’s throat became blue from this poison and he is therefore known as Nilakantha, blue of throat. The goddess Varuni, the goddess of wine (sura), came out next.

She was followed by the Parijata tree, a beautiful tree that came to occupy the pride of place in Indra’s Garden. A jewel named Kaustubh emerged and was accepted by Vishnu as his adornment. Three wonderful animals came out next – the cow Kapila, the horse Uchai Shrava and the elephant Airavata.

They were followed by the apsaras, beautiful women who became the dancers of heaven. They were known as apsaras because they emerged from ap (water). The goddess Lakshmi or Shri came out next and was united with Vishnu.

Finally, Dhanvantari emerged with a pot of Amrita (the life – giving drink) in his hands. Dhanvantari was the originator of medicine (ayurveda). The Daityas departed with the pot (Kumbha) of Amrita.

But Vishnu quickly adopted the form of a beautiful woman called ‘Mohini’. So beautiful was the woman that the demons were charmed. “Pretty lady,” they said. “Take the amrita and serve it equally to us. Marry us.”

Vishnu accepted the Amrita Kumbh, but he had no intention of giving it to the demons. He served it to the gods instead. There was only one demon who was somewhat clever. His name was Rahu. He adopted the form of Chandra, the Moon-God, and succeeded in drinking some of the amrita. The Sun-God and the Moon-God noticed what was happening and reported it to Vishnu. Vishnu thereupon cut off Rahu’s head with a sword.

But Rahu had drunk the amrita, so he could not die. He prayed to Vishnu and Vishnu granted him a boon. The boon was that occasionally Rahu would be permitted to swallow up the sun and the complained about him. You can see this happening at the time of the solar and the lunar eclipses. People who give alms during such eclipses are blessed.

The gods obtained the amrita and the demons did not. Thus, the gods became more powerful than the demons. They defeated the demons and regained heaven.

Varaha Avatar

Vishnu’s next avatar or incarnation was in the form of a boar.

The sage Kashyapa and his wife Diti had a son named Hiranyaksha. He was younger brother of the king of the Asuras. Hiranyaksha’s meditation pleased Brahma and Brahma granted him the boon that he would be invincible in battle by gods and demons.

Thus armed. Hiranyaksha went out to fight with the devas. He comprehensively defeated the gods and conquered heaven. He also defeated Varuna, the god of the ocean. Thus, Hiranyaksha became the king of the heaven, the earth and the underworld.

But the Asura was not particularly fond of the earth. He himself had begun to live in Varuna’s palace under the ocean. So, he hurled the earth into the depths of the ocean.

The gods went to Vishnu and prayed that something might be done about Hiranyaksha. They wished to be restored to heaven and they wished that the earth might be brought back from the depths of the ocean. In response to these prayers, Vishnu adopted the form of a boar and entered the ocean. When he was bringing Earth back from Rasatal, he was followed and attacked by Hiranyaksha.

Hiranyaksha fought for a long time with the Varaha. But finally, Hiranyaksha was gored to death by the boar’s tusks. The boar had already raised the earth up once again.

Vishnu thus saved the gods and the principles of righteousness or dharma.

Narasimha Avatar

Hiranyakashipu was the king of demons and elder brother of Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashipu was furious to learn that his brother had been killed and the resolved to kill Vishnu. But this could not be done unless he himself became powerful land invincible. Hiranyakashipu, therefore, began to pray to Brahma through difficult meditation. Brahma was pleased at these prayers and offered to grant a boon.

“I want to be invincible,” said Hiranyakashipu. “Please grant me the boon that I may not be killed during night or day; that I may not be killed by man or beast; and that I may not be killed in the sky, the water or the earth, neither by Astra, nor by Shashtra.”

Brahma granted the desired boon. And Hiranyakashipu was happy. He thought that he had taken care of all possible eventualities. And since he had become so powerful, he conquered all the three worlds and kicked the gods out to heaven.

Gods had also been deprived of their shares in yagya by Hiranyakashipu. These shares now went only to the asura king. In desperation, they went and prayed to Vishnu and Vishnu promised them that he would find a solution.

Hiranyakashipu had a son named Prahlada. While Hiranyakashipu had stopped all prayers of Vishnu, declaring himself to be paramount force, Prahlada became devoted to Vishnu.

 Hiranyakashipu tried to persuade his son. That did not work. He tried to kill his son. That too did not work since each time, Vishnu intervened to save Prahlada.

One day, Hiranyakashipu called Prahlada to him. “How is it that you escaped each time I tried to kill you?”, he asked.

“Because Vishnu saved me,” replied Prahlada. “Vishnu is everywhere.”

“What do you mean everywhere?”, retorted Hiranyakashipu. He pointed to a crystal pillar inside the palace and asked, “Is Vishnu inside this pillar as well?”

“Yes,” replied Prahlada.

“Very well then. I am going to kick the pillar. Can it save itself?” said Hiranyakashipu.

When Hiranyakashipu kicked the pillar, it broke into two. And from inside the pillar, Vishnu emerged in his avatar of Narsimha, of half-man and half-lion.

Narsimha Avatar caught hold of Hiranyakashipu and placed the demon across his thighs. And with his claws, he tore apart the demon’s chest and so killed him. He did not use any Astra or Shastra.

Brahma’s boon had been that Hiranyakashipu would not be killed by man or beast. But then Narasimha Avatar was neither man nor beast it was half-man and half-beast.

The boon had said that the asura would not be killed in the sky, the water or the earth. But Hiranyakashipu was killed on Vishnu’s thighs, which were not the sky, the water or the earth. And finally, the boon had promised that Hiranyakashipu would not be killed by night or day. Since the incident took place in the evening, it was not night or day.

After Hiranyakashipu died, the gods were restored to their rightful places. Vishnu made Prahlada the king of the asuras.

Vamana Avatar

Prahlada’s grandson was Bali. He became very powerful. When he became the king of the asuras, he wanted to avenge the treacherous killing of his father Virochana by Indra.

There was a war between the devas and the asuras. The gods were defeated and were driven off from svarga. Thereafter, Bali following the advices of Prahlad, became a great ruler of all the three Lokas.

As always, the gods fled to Vishnu and began to pray to him to save them. Vishnu assured the gods that he would do something about Bali.

Accordingly, Vishnu was born as the son of Aditi and Kashyapa. The son was a dwarf.

King Bali had arranged for a huge Yagya and had announced that, on the occasion of the Yagya, he would not refuse anyone a boon. The dwarf arrived and began to recite the Veda’s. Bali was so pleased at this that he offered the dwarf a bon.

Bali’s guru Shukracharya thought that there was something fishy about the way the dwarf had arrived. So, he tried to restrain Bali.

“No,” said Bali to his guru, “I shall stick to my word.”

“What do you desire? I will give whatever you want,” He asked Vaman. Before a donation was actually granted, a small rite had to be performed with holy water.

Shukracharya was still trying to do his best to prevent Bali from making the donation. So, he entered the vessel in which the holy water was kept to seal the mouth of the vessel and prevent the water from being taken out.

To get at the holy water, the vessel was pierced with a straw. This straw also pierced one of Shukracharya’s eyes. Ever since that day, the preceptor of the demons has been one eyed.

“Give me as much of land as may be covered in three of my steps,” said the dwarf. “I need this as Dakshina (fee) for my guru.”

Bali agreed. But the dwarf now adopted a gigantic form. With one step he covered Bhuloka. With another step he covered Bhuvarloka. And with the last step he covered Svarloka. The three worlds were thus lost to Bali and Vishnu returned heaven to Indra.

Bali had no option but to go down to the underworld (Patala). But so pleased was Vishnu at his generosity that he granted the asura the boon that he would bear the title of Indra in the future.

Parashurama Avatar

The kshatriyas were the second of the four classes. It was their job to wear arms and protect the world, and rule. They received taxes from all for this duty.

The brahmanas were the first of the four classes. It was their job to pray, study the sacred texts and perform religious rites. They received donations. Vaisyas were all those having their own occupation. Shudra were those who served others and received salaries from them.

 But the kshatriyas became very insolent and began to oppress the world and the brahmanas. Vishnu was then born as Parashuram. Being the son of the sage Jamadagni, he was called Jamdagnya. Since this was the line of the sage Bhrigu, Parashurama was also called Bhargava. Parashurama’s mission was to protect the brahmanas and teach a lesson to the kshatriyas.

There was a king named Kartavirya who had received all sorts of boons from the sage Dattatreya. Thanks to these boons, Kartavirya had a thousand arms and conquered and ruled over the entire world.

One day, Kartavirya went on a hunt to the forest. He was very tired after the hunt and was invited by the sage Jamadagni. Jamadagni had a Kamadhenu cow. This meant that the cow produced whatever its owner desired. Jamadagni used the Kamadhenu to treat Kartavirya and all his soldiers to a sumptuous feast.

Kartavirya was so enamored of the Kamadhenu that he asked the sage to give it to him. But Jamadagni refused. Kartavirya then abducted the cow by force.

So, a war started between Kartavirya and Parashurama. In this war, Parashurama cut off Kartavirya’s head with his axe (Parasu) and brought the Kamadhenu back to the hermitage.

After some time, Parashurama was away when Kartavirya’s sons arrived at the ashrama and killed Jamadagni. On the death of his father, Parashurama’s anger was aroused. He killed all he kshatriyas in the world twenty-one times. On the plains of Kurukshetra, he built five lakes which were filled with the blood of kshatriyas. Eventually, Parashurama handed over the world to Kashyapa and went and lived on Mount Mahendra.

Ram Avatar

Ram was born in Solar dynasty, also famous as Ikshwaku dynasty. Since Rama was descended from Kakutstha and Raghu, he was also called Kaakutstha and Raghava. Since his father’s name was Dasharatha, he was also called Dasharathi.

Vishnu himself wished to destroy Ravana and the other rakshasas (demons). He therefore divided himself into four parts and was born as Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Rama was Kaushalya’s son, and Bharata Kaikeyi’s. Lakshmana and Shartrughna were the sons of Sumitra.

The sage Vishvamitra came to Dasharatha and pleaded for Rama’s help in defeating the rakshasas who were disturbing his yagya. Rama killed these demons and Vishvamitra was so pleased that he taught Rama the use of all divine weapons.

Rama broke a bow of Shiv’s that had been in the possession of the king of Mithila, Janaka. This was the task that had been appointed for marrying Sita, Janaka’s daughter. Rama married Sita, Lakshmana married Urmila, Bharata married Mandavi and Shatrughna married Shrutakirti. On the way back to Ayodhya, Rama also beat Parashurama in a duel.

Dasharatha resolved that Rama should be made Yuvaraja, that is, the heir apparent to the kingdom.

But Kaikeyi had a servant named Manthara who plotted otherwise. She reminded Kaikeyi of the two boons that had been promised to her by King Dasharatha. Years ago, the gods had been fighting with the demon Shambara and had asked Dasharatha for his help. In fighting with Shambara, Dasharatha had been injured. He had been nursed back to health by Kaikeyi. Dasharatha had promised two boons to Kaikeyi as a reward and Manthara’s suggestion was that Kaikeyi should now ask for these two boons. By the first boon Rama would be banished to the forest for fourteen years and by the second boon Bharata would become Yuvaraja.

Kaikeyi, at Manthara’s instance, asked for these two boons. Dasharatha was very angry, but Rama insisted that he would indeed go to the forest for fourteen years.

Rama, Lakshmana and Sita first went to the banks of the river Tamasa. From there they went to the kingdom of Guha, the king of the hunters (Nishad). They crossed the river Jahnavi and arrived in Prayaag, where the sage Bharadvaja had his hermitage. Their final destination was the mountain range of Chitrakuta, on the banks of the river Mandakini.

Meanwhile, back home in Ayodhya, King Dasharatha who could not bear to be parted from Rama, died. Bharata and Shatrughna had gone on a visit to their uncle’s house and were recalled. But Bharatha refused to be king. He went to the forest to try and persuade Rama to return, but Rama insisted that he would not return before the fourteen years were over. So Bharata brought back Rama’s sandals. He placed these sandals on the throne as a token of Rama’s kingship. And he began to rule the kingdom in Rama’s name from Nandigram, rather than from Ayodhya.

Rama, Lakshmana and Sita then went to the forest that is known as the Dandaka Forest. This forest was on the banks of the river Godavari and there was a beautiful grove inside the forest known as Panchavati. They built a hut there and resolved to live there.

There was a rakshasa woman named Shurpanakha. She happened to come to the place where Rama Lakshmana and Sita had built their hut. Shurpanakha liked Rama so much that she wanted to marry Rama and eat up Lakshmana and Sita. But Lakshmana cut off Shurpanakha’s nose and ears with his sword.

Shurpanakha fled to brother Khara and demanded revenge. Khara and fourteen thousand other demons (rakshasas) attacked Rama, but they were all killed by Rama. Shurpanakha then went to her other brother Ravana, the king of Lanka.

Ravana asked the rakshasa Maricha to adopt the form of a golden deer and roam around in front of Rama’s hut. Sita was so charmed by the deer that she asked Rama to capture it for her. Rama was long in returning and Lakshmana went to look for him. Taking advantage of Rama and Lakshmana’s absence, Ravana kidnapped Sita. Jatayu, the king of the birds, did try to stop Ravana, but he met his death at Ravana’s hands.

Rama and Lakshmana were greatly distressed to find Sita missing and they looked for her everywhere. Rama made friends with the monkey Sugriva. He killed Sugriva’s brother Bali and made Sugriva the king of monkeys. The monkeys were sent off in all the four directions to look for Sita.

The monkeys who had gone towards the south learnt that Sita was in Lanka, across the ocean. One of these monkeys was Hanuman. Hanuman leapt over the ocean and arrived in Lanka. He discovered the lonesome Sita in a grove of Ashoka trees, the Ashoka Vana. Hanuman introduced himself and assured Sita that he would soon be back with Rama.

Hanuman caused some general havoc in Lanka and was captured by Meghnad or Indrajit, Ravana’s son. Ravana ordered that Hanuman’s tail should be set on fire. But Hanuman used his burning tail to set fire to all the houses of Lanka. He then returned to Rama with the news that Sita had been found.

Rama, Lakshmana and the army of monkeys arrived at the shores of the ocean. There they built a bridge over the ocean so that they could cross over into Lanka. There was a terrible war in which Rama killed the giant Kumbhakarna, Ravana’s brother. Lakshmana killed Indrajit. Rama killed Ravana with a powerful divine weapon, the Brahmastra.

The fourteen years were by now over and Rama, Lakshmana and Sita returned to Ayodhya. There Rama was crowned king and he treated his subjects as his own sons. He punished the wicked and followed the path of dharma. During Rama’s rule there was no shortage of foodgrains anywhere and the people were righteous. No one died an untimely death.

Rama and Sita had two sons named Kusha and Lava.

Krishna Avatar

Yayati had two wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani had two sons, Yadu and Turvusu. And Sharmishtha had three sons, Druhya, Anu and Puru. The descendants of Yadu were known as the Yadavas.

Vasudeva was a Yadava. His wife was Devaki. Vishnu was born as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki in order to remove the wicked from the world. The seventh son of Vasudeva and Devaki was Baladeva. And the eight son was Krishna himself. Krishna was born in the month of Bhadra in the thick of the night. Scared that the wicked Kansa might kill the newly born child, Vasudeva left him with Yashoda, the wife of Nanda.

Nanda was the king of the cowherds and he brought up Baladeva and Krishna. Kansa sent a rakshasa woman named Putana to kill Krishna but Krishna killed her instead. In Vrindavana, Krishna subdued the terrible snake known as Kaliya. He killed several other rakshasas and made the country safe from the attacks of these demons. Indra tried to destroy the inhabitants of Gokula by sending down torrents of rain. But Krishna held aloft the mountain Govardhan and saved the inhabitants of Gokula.

Kansa’s capital was in Mathura, Baladeva and Krishna went there. Kansa let loose a mad elephant named Kuvalayapida on Krishna. But Krishna killed Kuvalayapida. Baladeva and Krishna also killed two strong wrestlers, Chanura and Mushtika, whom Kansa had instructed to kill Baladeva and Krishna. Finally, Krishna killed Kansa and made Ugrasena the king.

 Jarasandha became furious when he learnt of Kansa’s death. He attacked the Yadavas and laid siege to the city of Mathura. After a prolonged war, Krishna managed to defeat Jarasandha. Krishna also defeated another evil king named Poundraka. On Krishna’s instructions, the Yadavas built the beautiful city of Dvaraka. The Yadavas began to live in Dvaraka.

There was an asura named Naraka who was killed by Krishna. Amongst Krishna’s other exploits were defeating the Daitya Panchajana, killing Kalyavan, seizing the Parijat tree from Indra and bringing back to life the sage Sandipani’s dead son.

Krishna had several sons. Shamba was born of Krishna’s wife Jambavati and Pradyumna was born of Krishna’s wife Rukmini. As soon as Pradyumna was born, he was abducted by the asura Shambara. Shambara threw the baby into the sea, but a fish swallowed the baby. A fisherman caught the fish and brought it to Shambara’s house.

When the fish’s stomach was cut open, the baby came out. There was a woman named Mayavati who lived in Shambara’s house and Shambara handed over baby Pradyumna to Mayavati so that he might be brought up well. When he grew up, Pradyumna killed Shambara and married Mayavati. They returned to Dvaraka and Krishna was very happy to see his lost son.

Pradyumna and Mayavati had a son named Aniruddha. Aniruddha secretly married Usha, the daughter of King Vana, Vana himself being the son of Vali. Vana’s capital was in a city named Shonitapura. Vana had pleased Shiva through hard and difficult Tapasya, so that sometimes he was called the son of Shiva.

Vana loved to fight and he had wanted a boon from Shiva that he might get the chance to fight with someone who was his equal in battle. A flag with a peacock on it used to fly from the ramparts of Vana’s palace. Shiva told him the day this flag fell down. Vana’s desire for with an equal would be satisfied.

With the help of a friend of Usha’s, Anuruddha and Usha used to meet secretly in Vana’s palace. Vana’s guards informed him about this and there was a fierce battle between Vana and Aniruddha at the same time, the flag with the peacock on it fell down. Krishna got to know from Narada about the fight between Vana and Aniruddha and he, Baladeva and Pradyumna arrived in Vana’s capital.

 Shiva came to fight on Vana’s side, accompanied by Nandi and Skanda or Kartikeya. But after a duel that lasted for a long time, Krishna triumphed over these enemies. Krishna’s arrows also cut off the thousand arms that Vana had. But at Shiva’s request, Krishna spared Vana’s life and gave two arms with which to make do.

When the armies gathered for a war on the plains of Kurukshetra, noticing that elders and relatives like Bhishma and Dronachary were fighting on the side of the Kauravas, Arjuna was reluctant to fight. But Krishna gave Arjuna lessons which have come down to us as the Gita.

 He taught there was no reason for sorrow if Bhishma or Dronachary died, that was only a death of their physical bodies. The true identity of a person was his atman (soul) which never died, but passed from one body to another. True bliss was obtained when the atman united with the brahm (supreme soul). This was always the goal of a yogi, that is, a person who sought union with God.

Bhima and Duryodhana fought the last duel of the war with maces. Bhima broke Duryodhana’s thighs and killed him. Ashwatthama had been fuming ever since his father Dronacharya had been killed by unfair means. In the dead of the night, he entered the Pandavas’ camp.  He killed Dhrishtadyumna and the five sons of Draupadi.

Draupadi was disconsolate and demanded revenge. Arjuna and Ashwatthama let loose divine weapons at each other. Since this might destroy the world, they were asked to withdraw these weapons. Arjuna could withdraw his weapon, but Ashwatthama could not. Ashwatthama’s weapon killed the baby that was in Uttara’s womb, but when the dead baby was born, Krishna brought it back to life. This baby was Parikshita.

Many kings and soldiers died in the course of the Kurukshetra war. The only ones left alive were Krit Varma, Kripacharya and Ashwatthama on the Kauravas side and the Pandavas.

It was Krishna who had used the Pandavas as a tool to rid the world of evil kings and establish the good ones. Realizing that the Yadavas were also evil, Krishna also ensured that the Yadavas would be destroyed. He then gave up his life at the place of pilgrimage that is known as Prabhasa. After Krishna died, the city of Dwarka was swallowed up by the sea.

This was the story of the eighth avatar of Vishnu.

Buddha Avatar

Many years ago, there was a war between the devas and the asuras in which the demons managed to defeat the gods. The gods went running to Vishnu for protection and Vishnu told them that Maya Moha would be born as Buddha, the son of Shuddhodana.

Such were the illusions that Buddha created, that the asuras left the path indicated by the Vedas. They performed ceremonies that were a sure ticket to Naraka. Towards the end of the Kali era, all people will be dastardly. They will oppose the Vedas, become robbers and will be concerned only with wealth. The disbelievers will then become kings and these kings will also be cannibals.

Kalki Avatar

Much later, Kalki will be born on earth as the son of Vishnu Yasha of Sambal village. He will take up arms to destroy all the disbelievers. Kalki’s priest will be the sage Yajnavalkya. The norms of the four classes (varna) and the four stages of life (ashrama) will be established yet again. People will honor the sacred texts and become righteous. It will then be time for the dawn of a new Satya yuga, a fresh period of righteousness.

In every cycle (Kalpa) and in every era (manvantara) Vishnu is thus born in various forms. It is a sacred duty to listen to the stories of the ten Avatar. The listener attains his desires and goes to heaven.

“Stories of Purana: Part 1” contains stories of first five Avatar of Vishnu, while “Stories of Purana: Part 2” contains stories of Parashuram, Ram, and Krishna. Both the books are also in Hindi Editions.