Dashavatar: 10 Avatars of Lord Vishnu
Avatars Of Lord Vishnu: The word dashavatar means “ten avatars”. Dashavatars are also referred to as dashavatara, dashavaratha, dasharatha, or dasharathara. Dashavatara, meaning “descent in ten forms”, refers to the fact that there are ten avatars and that they have “descended” to the earth. Dashavataram, meaning “dashavatars”, is also sometimes used as an alternative for dashavatar.Dashavatara refers to the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. These include Rama, the warrior; Lord Krishna, the shepherd boy; Buddha, the teacher; and nine others.
Yugas
According to Hinduism, time is cyclic and composed of repeating ages called Yugas. The cycle of the yugas is as follows: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. The length of each Yuga is as follows:
- Satya Yuga: 4000 years
- Treta Yuga: 3000 years
- Dvapara Yuga: 2000 years
- Kali Yuga: 1000 years
This cycle is repeated for a time period of twelve thousand years.
10 Avatars Of Lord Vishnu
1. Matsya (Fish — Satya Yuga)
The story of Matsya is the most popular one out of the list of the ten avatars. Matsya is the one who appears as the fish with the face of a man. Matsya was created as the avatar of Lord Vishnu to defeat the demon Hiranyaksha, the king of a demon kingdom in the Himalayan region. Hiranyaksha was a big fish-eater and was terrorizing the world by swallowing all the creatures he caught.
2. Kurma (Tortoise — Satya Yuga)
The story of Kurma, the tortoise, is the second one out of the list of the ten avatars. Kurma was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and was serving the Lord for a long time. Once, while he was sitting in his home, he saw Lord Vishnu standing on the banks of the Ganges river. The Lord asked him to carry Him to the other world.
3. Varaha (Boar — Satya Yuga)
The story of Varaha, the boar, is the third one out of the list of the ten avatars. Varaha was a huge devotee of Lord Vishnu. Varaha was created as the avatar of Vishnu to carry the Lord to the ocean. The Lord used Varaha to carry Him in his tusks, on his back, and in his mouth so that He could cross the ocean and save the earth from the flood.[1] The Lord taught people about how to live with the truth and how to live a life without lust, greed, anger and hatred.
