Matysa Avatar

Lord Mahavishnu has taken several avataras for the welfare of his devotees and to protect them from dangers and troubles. The normal dwelling place of the Lord is Vaikuntha. But whenever his devotees are facing trouble, he comes down to earth, assuming many forms: sometimes as fish, boar, and humans. These forms of the Lord are called avataras. Avatara means "to descend"—to descend upon earth from Vaikuntha.

There are many, many avataras, countless, and we don’t even know or recognize many of them. But the most important among them are ten in number, called the Dashavataras. The first among the Dashavataras was as a fish, called Matsyavatara. There was a king called Satyavrata, a very kind, pious, and righteous king. He ruled well, and everyone liked him.

One day, he was praying in the river. He took water in his palms to offer to Surya Bhagavan. Suddenly, he saw a small fish in the water in his palms. It was crying for help. The fish said, "Some big fish are trying to eat me. Please help me; please take me away from here." The king put the fish in his water pot and took it home.

After reaching his palace, the king put the fish into a bigger jar. But within a few days, the fish outgrew the size of the jar, so the king put him in a pond. But the fish kept on growing and soon filled the pond. Then they put the fish into the river Ganga, and soon it became bigger than Ganga also. Since there was no other option, King Satyavrata asked his soldiers to release the fish into the ocean. By then, the king had realized that it was no ordinary fish.

Once they all reached the ocean, the king folded his hands and prayed to the fish. The fish said, "On the seventh day from today, there will be a huge deluge. All the three worlds—Swarga, Bhumi, and Pathala—will start sinking in water. As repayment for the help that you gave me, I will help you then. I will send a big boat to you. You get into that boat along with the seven great Sages, called Saptarshis, pairs of all animals and birds, and seeds of trees and grains." This was the Lord’s Matsyavatara.

As the Lord said, on the seventh day, the big deluge happened. Everything started sinking in water. Then the boat came. As told by the Lord, Satyavrata got the Rishis, birds, animals, and all the seeds into the boat. They all felt scared and started praying to Bhagavan. Bhagavan appeared in the form of a huge fish with a horn on his head. Bhagavan asked them to tie the boat to the horn on his head, and they did so.

Suddenly, there was a heavy storm. Huge waves rose in the water all around. Bhagavan pulled the boat to safety through the turbulent waters to the highest peak of the Himalayas and tied it to that peak until the water subsided. This peak in the Himalayas is called Naukabandhan. During this time, Bhagavan imparted a lot of knowledge to Satyavrata and the Saptarshis.

As water levels came down, Bhagavan asked the king to recreate the whole world from those birds, animals, and seeds that were there in the boat. He did that, and he became famous as Vaivaswata Manu, a Prajapati.

Knowledge Bank

Who is Agastya’s son?

Idhmavaha ( इध्मवाहः) also called Dridhasyu (दृढस्युः).

Why Indra has 1,000 eyes?

Indra seduced Gautama Maharshi’s wife Ahalya. Maharshi cursed him to have 1000 vaginas all over his body. Later, Durga Devi gave him some relief from the curse by turning them into eyes.