24 Avatars of Lord Vishnu

In the Hindu scriptures, it is mentioned that whenever evil triumphs over good, or whenever darkness takes over the light (truth), or unjust rules over justice, then Lord Vishnu will take birth on earth in order to restore Dharma (righteousness). These forms of Lord Vishnu have been originally mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita, and on a total, Lord Vishnu took 24 incarnations on earth, to fight over the evil, and guide people on the right path.

Here are the list of Vishnu Avatars and how he took different forms to fight against the evil ,from time to time.

1. Adi Purush

Adi Purush is the first and the primary avatar of Lord Vishnu. Also known as Lord Narayana, he is depicted laying on the curls of a serpent. He is the source of all creation in the universe. The all-powerful; it is from his navel that the lotus sprouts, where Brahma resides. According to Hindu mythology, he is depicted in yellow garments, has four hands and in one hand he has Sudarshan chakra. He sleeps on the curls of a serpent, Sheshnag. Vishnu is also considered as the main source for the creation of this universe because the Lord Bramha, creator of the universe, came into existence through his naval.

2. Four Kumars

Four Kumars were the first four conscious beings created by Lord Brahma. Named Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat Kumara, they appeared like infants and their purpose was to assist Brahma in the creation of life.

3. Narada

Narada is the son of Lord Bramha and is a big devotee of Lord Vishnu. He is depicted in the form of a sage who has a khartal and tambura in his hands. According to Hindu Mythology. Narada has this special ability to travel between realms in moments. A storyteller and musician, often he is considered as the messenger of the gods and the first journalist.

4. Nara Narayana

Nara and Narayana are the two twin sage avatars of Lord Vishnu. They were born to ensure truth, justice, righteousness, and other elements of Dharma on Earth. The brothers were so mighty that they were able to overpower Pashupathastra, a destructive weapon of Shiva, through their meditation.

5. Kapila

According to Hindu mythology, Kapila is described as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was born on earth to restore the balance of Dharma through his teachings.He is said to have founded the Samkhya School of Philosophy. Samkhya is the formula for gaining knowledge, which includes perception, inference, and testimony of the sources.

6. Dattatreya

Once Goddess Lakshmi Parvati and Saraswati became extremely proud of their ancestors. God created Leela to destroy their ego. According to him, one day Naradji reached Devlok while wandering around and told the three ladies in turn that your saintliness was nothing in front of Anusiya, the wife of sage Atri. The three goddesses told this thing to their husbands and asked them to test the rituals of Anusia. Then Lord Shankar, Vishnu and Brahma came to the ashram of Atri Muni dressed as a monk. Maharishi Atri was not in the ashram at that time. The three asked for alms to the goddess Anusiya, but also said that you have to give alms to us without getting naked. At first Anusiya was shocked to hear this, but then fearing that the sadhus should not be insulted, she remembered her husband and said that if my religion is true, then these three sadhus should become children of six months. As soon as he said this, Tridev started crying as an infant. Then Anusuiya became a mother and breastfed them with her arms and started swinging in the cradle. When the three gods did not return to their places, the ladies were distraught. Then Narada came there and told the whole thing. The three goddesses came to Anusalya and apologized. Then the goddess Anusuiya made Trideva in her former form. Pleased, Tridev gave him a boon that all three of us would be born as sons from your womb. Then Moon was born from the part of Brahma, Durvasa from the part of Shankara and Dattatreya from the part of Vishnu

7. Yajna

Also known as Yajneshwara, he is the personification of Yajna, a ritual where the fire is lighted and sacrifice is made to make wishes to the deities. In few texts, Indra, the king of gods, has also been referred to as Yajna. Yagya was born in Sawayambhuva Manvantara to protect it, As per the story,Akuti was borb from the womb of Shatrupa, the wife of Swayambhuva Manu.

8. Rishabha

Rishabha was a preacher and a spiritual leader. He is considered as the founder of Jainism. It was believed that he had escaped the cycle of birth and death and used to guide people to the path of salvation.Maharaja Naveli had no children. For this reason he performed a yajna with his wife Merudevi, wishing for a son. Pleased with the sacrifice, Lord Vishnu himself appeared and gave a boon to Maharaj Nabhi that I will be born here as a son. After some time, Lord Vishnu Maharaj was born as a boon in the form of a son. Seeing the son’s exceedingly well-structured body, fame, oil, strength, opulence, fame, might and valor, etc., Maharaj Nabhi named him Rishabh (superior).

9. Prithu

Prithu was the first sacred king. He is the one responsible for all the greenery, and the cultivation of all the crops, on the face of the earth. He dedicated his life to the service of God and taught people the ways of religion. Prajapati named Anga was married to Sunitha. He had a son named Wayne. He refused to believe in God and asked to worship himself. Then the Maharishi slaughtered him with the mantra pot. Then the Maharishi churned the arms of the sonless King Ven, from whom a son named Prithu was born. Seeing the lotus sign in the circle and feet in the right hand of Prithu, the sages told that the fraction of Shrihari himself has descended in the guise of Prithu.

10. Dhanvantaria

Dhanavantari is the god who emerged, holding a pot of Amrit (nectar of immortality) in his hand, after the gods and the demons finished churning the ocean. He is also known as the god of Ayurveda and is worshipped for gaining sound health. Dhanvantri. He is also considered as the master of medicines. As per story, when the gods and the demons together churned the ocean, the first poisonous poison came out of it which was consumed by Lord Shiva. After this, uchhashrava horse, Goddess Lakshmi, Airavat elephant, Kalpa tree, Apsaras and many other gems came out of the ocean churning. At the end, Lord Dhanvantari appeared with the nectarurn.

11. Mohini

Mohini is a female avatar of Vishnu. She tricked the demons into handing her the Amrit, which they forcefully took from the gods after the churning of the ocean. She, then, distributed it among the gods. Vishnu as Mohini was also responsible to cut off the head of Rahu with Sudarshan chakra which is today famous as the 2 planets in Jyotish Shastra as Rahu and Ketu.during samundra manthan, asuras and devas started fighting for amrit (nectar). Then Lord Vishnu incarnated Mohini to fascinate everyone. Mohini said, I will make devas and demons drink the nectar. Both agreed. The gods sat on one side and the demons on the other side. Then Lord Vishnu, who was in the form of Mohini, started singing and distributing nectar to the gods and demons. In reality, amrit was drinking only devas, while the demons were thinking that they were also drinking nectar.

12. Hayagreeva

Hayagreeva is worshipped as the god of wisdom and knowledge . He has a fair man’s body, with the head of a horse. He restored to light and wisdom, and defeated darkness, by retrieving the Vedas that had been stolen by demons known as Madhu and Kaitaba.

13. Vyasa

Also known as Veda Vyasa, he is an immortal sage who is considered responsible for the compilation and composition of many Vedas. He authored Mahabharata, and also introduced himself as a character in it, the father of Pandu and Dhritarashtra.

14. Matsya Avatar

King Satyavrat was giving Jalanjali a bath in the river one day. Suddenly a small fish came to his Anjali. When he thought to put it back in the ocean, but that fish said – you don’t put me in the ocean, otherwise big fish will eat me. Then King Satyavrat kept the fish in his kamandal. When the fish became bigger, the king kept it in his lake, and then on seeing it, the fish became bigger. The king understood that this is not an ordinary creature. The king pleaded with the fish to come in real form. Hearing the king’s prayer, the lord Vishnu appeared, and said that this is my mermaid. God told Satyavrat – listen King Satyavrat! There will be a catastrophe seven days from today. Then a huge boat will come to you with my inspiration. Take the subtle body of sapta sages, medicines, seeds and creatures and sit in it, when your boat starts to waver, then I will come to you as a fish. At that time you tie that boat with my horn by Vasuki Nag. At that time, I will answer you by asking questions, so that my glory which is known by the name of Parabrahma will be revealed in your heart. Then, when the time came the fishery god Vishnu preached philosophy to King Satyavrat, who is famous by the name Matsyapuran.

15. Kurma Avatar

Once Maharishi Durvasa cursed Indra, the king of the gods, to dehumanize him. When Indra went to Lord Vishnu, he asked him to churn the ocean. Then Indra agreed to churn the ocean together with the demons and gods. To churn the sea, the Mandarachal Mountain was made a churner and Nagraj Vasuki was netted. The gods and demons, forgetting their differences, uprooted Mandarachal and took him towards the sea, but they could not take him far. Then Lord Vishnu placed Mandarachal on the beach. The gods and demons made Mandarachal into the sea and made Nagaraja Vasuki a leader. But due to no base below Mandarachal, he started drowning in the sea. Seeing this, Lord Vishnu took the form of a giant kurma (turtle) and became the basis of Mandarachal in the sea. Mandarachal starte moving fast on the huge back of Lord Kurma and thus the sea churning was completed.

16. Varaha Avatar

Varaha is the half man and half boar avatar of Vishnu. In Hindu dharma, he slays the demon Hiranyaksha to save Bhudevi, the personification of earth, and restores her back to the surface from a sinking state using his tusks.

17. Narsimha

Narsimha is the half lion and a half-human avatar of Vishnu. He was born to end the reign of the demonic king Hiranya Kashyap and establish peace, order, righteousness, and other elements of dharma on earth. Lord Vishnu took his fifteenth incarnation as Narisimha, having upper body in the form of lion and the lower resembling of a man. In this incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Narasimha protected Prahlada from his father Hiranyakashipu, the demon. He killed Hiranyakashipu by tearing his body apart by his nails. Lord Vishnu had to attain this form because Lord Brahma had blessed Hiranyakashipu, that a Human being could not kill him.

18. Vamana

Vamana was a bramin. This avatar of lord Vishnu comes and checks the growing power of the king Mahabali by tricking him during a sacrificing ceremony when Bali the king of demons had captured the entire three worlds. To help the deities regain control over the heaven, Lord Vishnu disguised as a dwarf went to Bali when he was busy performing a ‘Yagya’ and demanded earth measured by his three steps. When ‘Bali’ agreed, he transformed his form from a small dwarf to a giant. Consequently he covered all three worlds with his two steps. Ultimately he regained heaven for the deities.

19. Parshuram

Parshuram is a Brahmin Kshatriya. He is depicted as a sage with an axe in his hand. He was born to end the tyranny of the evil Kshatriyas, who misused their powers and made others’ lives miserable and bring them to justice.

20. Rama

Lord Rama is one of the most significant and powerful deities of Hindu dharma and the lead character of the epic Ramayana. He kills the evil king Ravana to end his terrorizing rule, and to free his wife Sita, whom Ravana had kidnapped.

21. Balarama

Balarama appears in Mahabharata as the elder brother of Krishna.He is known for his strength, for carrying a plow and was Duryodhana and Bhima’s guru in teaching the ‘Gada’ (the weapon). He shares many adventures with Krishna, which includes bringing a tyrannical ruler Kansa to justice.

22. Krishna

Lord Krishna is yet another major form of Vishnu. He is known to end the reign of his tyrannical maternal uncle Kansa, and for his role as the advisor or the Pandavas and the charioteer and guide of Arjuna in Mahabharata.

23. Buddha

Buddha was Born in Lumbini as Siddhartha Gautam, He is later known as Gautam Buddha who left his family and all material possession in search of enlightenment. He founded Buddhism and taught people ways to end all kinds of suffering through Noble Eightfold Paths.

24. Kalki

Kalki is the only avatar of Vishnu that is yet to be born. It is said that he will end all evil by defeating the demon Kali and start a new elements personified into one. Kalki is depicted as a warrior riding a Satyayuga or Kalkiyuga. Kali is all the negative emotions and white horse and holding a shining sword. Despite the difference in form, or time, all his incarnations had one common goal, i.e. to end all evil and to re-establish Dharma, the path to salvation. It is for this reason that Lord Vishnu is known as the protector and preserver of the universe.