Lord Vishnu is known from his incarnation on the earth whenever and wherever it required to re-establish the principles of religion and moral values. According to Bhagwata Purana, there are total Twenty Two incarnations of Lord Vishnu but out of them ony Ten are considered as major and hence refereed to as Dashavatars (दशावतार). The rest twelve incarnations are refereed as minor or Anshavatars (अंशावतार). Lord Vishnu's super natural preserving, restoring, and protecting powers have been manifested in the world in this series of nine incarnations whereas one is yet to come.The first four are said to have appeared in the Satya Yuga (सतयुग) or the Era of Truth. Next three avatars appeared in the Treta Yuga (त्रेता युग) or the Era of Balance, the eighth descent in the Dwapara Yuga (द्वापर युग) and the ninth in the Kali Yuga (कलियुग) or Mechine Era. The tenth is predicted to be appear at the end of this Kali Yuga in some 4270 years from the start of Kali Yug after which there will be only 800 more years will be left on earth. This time is very very close from now and is expected within next 400 years. All the incarnations have their mission, types and characteristics according to the time and need. These Ten incarnations are as follows
1. Matsya or the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga
2. Kurma or the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga
3. Varaha or the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga
4. Narasimha or the half man and half lion appeared in the Satya Yuga
5. Vamana, the dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga
6. Parashuama or Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta Yuga
7. Rama or Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga
8. Krishna (meaning "dark coloured" or "all attractive") appeared in the Dwapara Yuga along with his brother Balarama, a descent of Sheshnaag
9. Gautama Buddha (meaning "the enlightened one") appeared in the beginning of Kali Yuga (specifically as Siddhartha Gautama)
10. Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), has to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the era in which we currently are
1. Matsya Avatar (The Fish Incarnation)
Appeared in the Satya Yug, Matsya or The Fish Incarnation is the first major incarnation of Vishnu. Lord Vishnu takes the form of a fish in order to retrieve the Vedas from the demon Hayagriva, who stole them from Lord Brahma. Without the Vedas, Creation of the Universe cannot take place. He slayed the demon Hayagriva, recovered the Vedas, and also saved the pious king Satyavrata from the deluge so that life and religion can be preserved for the next cycle of Creation. Hence the misson was protecting the seed of creation at the time of dissolution (महाप्रलय) of the universe. This is preserved at the time of every dissolution of the universe by the fish incarnation. The universe is then recreated from that seed by the next Kurma or tortoise incarnation) and slaying of the demons Hayagriv (Bhagvat Puran), Shankhasur (Skand Puran). The implied meaning of this incarnation was 'Just as a fish swims against the stream of a river, that is towards its origin so also a seeker should go to his place of origin, that is, to The Supreme God'. This is what It teaches us.
2. Kurma Avatar (The Tortoise Incarnation)
Kurma or the tortoise incarnation also appeared in the Satya Yuga. The turtle Incarnation is the second major incarnation of Lord Vishnu. When the deitys (देवताओं) and the deamons (दानवों) agreed for churning the ocean (समुद्र मंथन) in order to get the nectar of immortality, the mount Mandara they were using for the churning started to sink in the ocean. Then The Lord Vishnu took the form of a turtle to bear the weight of that mountain. The mission of this incarnation was creation and supporting of all functions. Assuming the form of a tortoise Prajapati created progeny. This was His duty or karma (कर्म). His name Kurma was later derived from the word karma. Further He was also referred to as Kashyap. Kashyap was Prajapat (प्रजापति) or the creator of progeny. Since the entire creation was derived from Kashyap He was believed to be Kurma. From this, one will realise that the mission in the tortoise form was basically that of Prajapati. After the Post-Brahma era, Lord Vishnu in his physical form came into prominence overshadowing Prajapati and all the latter’s actions were attributed to Lord Vishnu. At the time of churning of the ocean the tortoise who supported the Mandar mountain vibrating with the sweat of deities and demons on Its back was the unrealisable Adikachchapa (Kurma incarnation) and It considered the churning of the mountain on Its back as mere scratching of Its body. The implied meaning of this incarnation was 'Just as the tortoise withdraws its four limbs, head and tail into its shell so also one should control the six foes of the soul called shadripu (षड्रिपु).
3. Varaha Avatar (The Boar Incarnation)
Varaha or the boar incarnation appeared again in the Satya Yug. A demon named Hiranyaksha (हिरन्यक्ष) abducted the earth from our solar system and placed it at the place below the cosmic ocean where all the waste after the cosmic creation was found. No one was willing to go at such a dirty place to retrieve the earth. Then Lord Vishnu has assumed the form of a boar divulging (प्रकट किया) himself from the nose of Lord Brhma and retrieved the earth with its tusks (दांतों से) and installed it on the head of the serpent, Shesh temperoraly. Then he faught with the Hiranyaksha and slew him. He has taken the boar form because boar can roam around in dirty places very easily. In this incarnation Lord Vishnu also preached Spirituality to Sanatkumar and narrated the Varahopanishad to Rubhu. The implied meaning of this incarnation was, Varaha is a one tusked wild boar. The boar does not accept defeat even at the cost of its life. Similarly a seeker too should not give up spiritual practice even if on the verge of death when doing so.
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