Matsya Avatar

In Hindu mythology there are four Yuga (Epochs), the Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Each Yuga is equal to a single day for Lord Brahma, and 4,320 million years for humans.

The power of Lord Brahma’s creation comes from the Vedas. After the end of each yuga Lord Brahma sleeps. When Lord Brahma sleeps there is no creation and the universe comes to an end.

Lord Vishnu is the God of Preservation. When the Earth is in danger and evil threatens to overpower good, Lord Vishnu descends from heaven to incarnate on Earth. There are ten incarnations (or Dasavatar) of Lord Vishnu. (Das means "ten" and avatar means "incarnation".) The ﬁnal Avatar, Kalki is yet to come.

The ﬁrst Avatar of Lord Vishnu is Matsya.1 This is his story...

After a full day of creation, Lord Brahma was tired. He wanted to sleep and was soon snoring loudly. This meant the Satya Yuga was about to end in a great ﬂood that would destroy all life on Earth, and a new Yuga would begin.

While Lord Brahma slept, the Asura Hayagriva emerged from Brahma’s nose. Seeing Lord Brahma sleeping, Hayagriva realized this was the perfect time to take in all the knowledge of the Vedas. Hayagriva concentrated carefully, absorbed all the knowledge, and then hid deep within the ocean where he thought no one could ﬁnd him.

Lord Vishnu saw, and he worried that if the Vedas were stolen by the Asura, then the knowledge of the Vedas could not be passed on to the next Yuga. As a Preserver, it was his duty to ensure that this knowledge survived to be passed on to the next Yuga.

In the Satya Yuga there was a King named Manu who was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. His greatest desire was to see Lord Vishnu with his own eyes. For this he performed severe penances for thousands of years.

One morning, Manu went to the river to pray, just as he did every morning. He took the water in his hands and held it high above his head in an oﬀering to Lord Vishnu. He was

1Matsya in Sanskrit means "ﬁsh".

1 MATSYA AVATAR about to pour the water back when he heard a tiny voice, “O great king! Please do not put me back in the river. . . ”

Surprised, Manu stared into his hands where he saw a tiny fish. The fish looked up at Manu, pleading, “Please do not put me back in the water. There are so many bigger fish in the water. They will eat me. Please, O great King. . . ”

Manu looked at the tiny ﬁsh with pity. As a King, it was his duty to protect all who came to him for help. The King put the ﬁsh inside his kamandalam. 2

Manu finished his penance and went home for the night. He had left the fish inside the kamandalam, thinking it would be safe. He woke up next morning hearing a strong voice, “O king. . . Help me. . . Your kamandalam is stifling me. I cannot breath in here. . . ”

Surprised Manu looked at his kamandalam, only to find a big fish staring back at him. The fish was pushing against the sides of the jug as it was now far too small.

Overcoming his surprise, Manu ran to get a bigger vessel. The ﬁsh gulped few breaths and said softly, “Thank you, kind king.”

Manu smiled and was about to walk out to begin morning prayers when he heard an even more powerful voice say, “King, this vessel is too small for me. Please get me another one.”

Manu blankly stared as the fish staring back at him from the vessel . The fish was again struggling to breath. Manu brought the biggest vessel in his house and threw the fish into it, and the fish thanked him. After checking that the vessel was indeed big enough for the fish, he was about to leave his house, when he heard a strong voice, “I am sorry, bu this vessel is also not sufficient for me, king”

Manu stared in disbelief as he saw the huge fish stare out of the big vessel. However, realizing that this was not the time for questions, he carried the fish to the river an threw him in. The fish gulped a few breaths inside water and said, “Thank you. . . king. You have protected me. But please don’t leave me here. I am afraid the bigger fish may eat me. . . ”

Manu became suspicious. But he was a king. He could not simply stop protecting someone who had come to him for help. He stared at the fish for a long time, and before his eyes the fish grew larger and larger until it filled the river.

2Kamandalam is a small jug used by sages long ago to carry water.

2 MATSYA AVATAR

Manu carried the fish from one river to another river, but it kept growing larger. Finally he dropped the fish into the ocean, only to find that the fish grew to full one side of the ocean. Looking at the gigantic fish, a sudden flash came to Manu, and he bowed before it, “Narayana, you are Narayana..my Lord.” The fish smiled, “You wanted to see me and here I am.” As Manu stared with tears in his eyes, a huge horn grew from the head of the fish.

“My Lord, you have granted me my only desire. I want nothing more. What do you want me to do now?” Manu said, prostrating himself before the ﬁsh.

“Manu, the Yuga will end in seven days. There will be a great ﬂood and all living things on Earth will perish. I want you to build a big ship. Take the seeds of all plants, the male and female of every animal, and the seven sages along with their families. Take them all on the ship.” Manu nodded.

The ﬁsh continued, “Don’t forget to bring Vasuki, the snake God.”

Manu nodded again as he watched the ﬁsh swim through the ocean to the other side. With half of its work complete, the ﬁsh went to the other side to complete the other reason for its incarnation.

On the other side of the ocean, the ﬁsh saw Hayagriva guarding the Vedas.

Seeing the huge ﬁsh, Hayagriva in terror thought, “What a huge ﬁsh!”

No sooner than he had thought this, than the ﬁsh attacked him. It was so huge that a single thrust sent the Asura reeling. The dazed Hayagriva tried defending against the ﬁsh, but it was too huge and powerful. After a brief and futile struggle, the Asura died, and the Vedas returned to Lord Brahma, who slept on.

On the other side of the ocean Manu was building his great ship. He had also brought the seven sages with their families. Soon torrential rains washed everything away. The water rose and became a mighty ﬂood. The ship wobbled and many times was about to capsize, but Manu and the others were steadfast in their belief that Lord Vishnu would protect them.

Soon the fish came as promised and spoke. “Manu, use Vasuki as a rope to tie my horn to the ship.” As the fish guided the ship safely through the stormy seas, it taught the Vedas to Manu and the others. As the storm abated, they saw that the world had been washed away. Eventually, the fish deposited the ship on Mount Himavan, and it was there that the people began the new Yuga.