# |
Main
Avatar |
Other
Names |
Affiliation |
Description |
1 |
Matsya |
Ekasringatanu,
Meena, Mina |
|
A single-horned fish |
2 |
Kurma |
Kacchapa,
Kamathesvara |
|
A tortoise |
3 |
Varaha |
Yajna-Varaha,
Yajna-Sukara, Sukara, Shukara |
|
A boar |
4 |
Narasimha |
Narahari
|
|
A man-lion |
5 |
Vamana |
Urukrama,
Trivikrama, Upendra |
|
A dwarf |
6 |
Parasurama
|
Bhrugupati,
Bhargava Rama, Jamadagnya |
|
Warrior-with-the-axe,
defeated the Kshatriyas |
7 |
Rama |
Ram
Chandra, Dasharathi Rama, Rama Dhanurdhara |
|
A deity and perfect
king |
8 |
Krishna |
|
Satvata |
A deity of love and
vegetation |
9 |
Buddha |
|
|
The founder of Buddhism |
10
|
Kalki |
Kalkin |
|
A
man on a white horse, yet to appear |
Other Avatars |
Other
Names |
|
Description |
Ajit |
Ajita |
|
Invincible,
unsurpassed |
Ananta |
Shesha,
Shesha, Adishesha |
Balarama,
Sankarshana |
Divine
serpent |
Badava |
Badabavaktra |
Aurva,
Hayasira |
A
mare, the submarine fire |
Balarama |
Balabhadra,
Baladeva, Balabhadrarama, Haladhara |
Satvata |
Elder
brother of Krishna. Alternatively, a partial incarnation of
Ananta. |
Dattatreya/Datta |
|
|
A
rishi and son of Atri and Anusuya. |
Dhanvantari |
|
|
Founder
of Ayurveda, the scripture of medicine |
Dharma
Deva |
|
|
Personification
of right conduct |
Dhruva |
|
|
A
rishi, and the pole star personified. |
Ekarnavasayin |
|
|
Sleeping
with Lakshmi on the primeval waters |
Hamsa |
|
|
A
sacred bird, swan, or wild goose, able to separate milk from
water. |
Hari |
|
|
One
of the four sons of the god Dharma and his wife Ahimsa; he counselled
in meritorious works. |
Hayagriva |
|
Vagisvara |
A
Daitya who recovered the stolen Veda; or a form of Vishnu with
a horse's head. |
Hayasira |
|
Hayagriva,
Badava |
Horse-head
form, vomits fire and drinks up the waters |
Kalanemighna |
|
Rahujit |
Conqueror
of Kalameni |
Kantatman |
|
Dhanvantari |
A
handsome youth, incarnation of Pradyuma or Kama, and son of
Krishna. |
Kapila |
|
|
An
ancient rishi, founder and teacher of the philosophical system
of Samkhya. |
Krishna
(II) |
|
|
One
of the four sons of the god Dharma and his wife Ahimsa; he practised
austerities. |
Krodatman |
Krodhatma |
Varaha,
Yajna |
Yajna
Varaha/Yajna ukara, aspect of the Boar incarnation. |
Lokanatha |
|
Pursa,
Manu Vaivasvata |
Lord
of the worlds |
Madhusudana |
|
Krishna |
Killer
of the demon Madhu |
Makaradhvaja |
|
|
Son
of Hanuman |
Manas |
|
|
The
Mind |
Mandhata |
|
|
A
king of the Solar Dynasty |
Manu
Vaivasvata |
|
|
The
seventh Manu, survivor of the great flood, and progenitor of
the human race. |
Mohini |
|
|
Vishnu
in female form with whom Shiva fell in love. |
Nara |
|
|
One
of the four sons of the god Dharma and his wife Ahimsa; a hermit
of divine powers, he recited mantras. |
Narada |
Devarishi, Parameshthi Surarishi |
|
A
divine rishi to whom some hymns of the Rig-vida are ascribed
and the expounder of the Sattvata system. |
Narayana |
|
|
One
of the four sons of the god Dharma and his wife Ahimsa; a hermit
of penance, he was deeply absorbed in meditation. |
Nyagrodhasayin |
|
|
A
male child floating on a nyagrodha branch in whose mouth revealed
the dissolved universe. |
Padmanabha |
|
|
He
grew a lotus on his navel from which Brahman emerged. |
Parijatahara |
|
|
Krishna
who took the celestial tree from Indra |
Patalasayana |
|
|
Lord
of the cataclysmic fire |
Piyushaharana |
Amrtaharana |
|
Restorer
of immortality to the gods |
Pruthu |
Prthu,
Prithi, Prithivainya |
|
The
first consecrated king, the earth was named Prthvi after him. |
Rahujit |
|
Kalanemighna |
Conqueror
of Rahu |
Rishabha |
Rsabha |
|
A
king and great ascetic |
Saktyatman |
Shaktyatman |
|
Assumes
any form as prayed for by the devotee |
Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana, Sanatkumara |
|
|
Four
brothers who were rishis and remained children forever. |
Santatman |
|
Sanatkumara
or Sanaka; Narada |
Having
a mind full of compassion, carrying the conch and lotus in his
hands, showing the threefold path of knowledge, renunciation,
and virtuous deeds.² |
Satya |
|
|
Truth |
Sripati |
|
|
Husband
of Lakshmi |
Vaikuntha |
|
|
Carried
out the task of creation with the five elements without hindrance. |
Valmiki |
|
|
A
rishi, and traditional author of the earliest-known Ramayana. |
Vedavyasa |
|
|
A
rishi and author of the Vedas, the Vedanta Sutras, the Mahabharata,
the Bhagavatam. |
Vedavid |
|
Vedavyasa |
Conversant
with the Vedas |
Vidyadhideva |
|
|
Four-faced
Brahman, Lord of Viraj |
Vihangama |
|
Hamsa |
A
soldier of the giant Khara |
Vishvarupa |
|
|
Appeared
to Arjuna on the battlefield |
Yajna |
|
Hamsa |
Personification
of sacrifice |
 |
Notes
The main avatars are complete incarnations, whilst the others
are considered partial. Vishnu is said to have thousands
of incarnations. The better-known ones are listed here.
1. 'Shanti Parva' includes Satvata on its list of incarnations
who is either Krishna or his brother Balarama
2. This is the only description of Santatman which appears
in Sattvata Samhita, S. XII, 110.
Sources
1. R. Dalal. Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. New
Delhi: Penguin Books, 2010.
2. J. Dowson. A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology
and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature. London:
Trübner & Co., 1879.
3. G.R. Garg, gen. ed. Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World.
Volume 1, A-Aj. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company,
1992.
4. V. Mani. Puranic Encyclopaedia. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1975.
5. F.O. Schrader. Introduction to the Pancaratra and
the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. Adyar, Madras: Adyar Library
1916.
6. M.L. Varadpande. Mythology of Vishnu and His Incarnations.
New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 2009.
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