The Matsya Avatar or the Fish Incarnation is the first of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The Matsya avatar never made it into independent status for worship. It has no temples and no significant independent representations in art and literature.
Yet it remains significant for many reasons. It is the very first incarnation and establishes a prototype for all the various incarnations of god that follow. Secondly, it shares with the rest of the world a generic belief that at one time the planet was threatened with a great flood and a savior in a boat preserved all life forms. Thirdly it establishes the concept of Manus for each Great Age as defined in Hindu Mythology. The Manu is a proto-Adam, responsible for overseeing the first hesitant stages of all life forms in the new cycle of creation and he lives for the entire cycle as some sort of cosmic warden. The Manu and his wife become the First Parents for each cycle. In the Fish Incarnation Vishnu chose a great and pious king named Satyavrata to become the next Manu. And finally the task of this avatar was the most important of all, nothing less than the recovery of the lost Vedas. Taken all together then, the Matsya Avatar is not as inconspicuous an event as is mistakenly presumed.
One Cycle of Creation, equivalent to one day for Brahma, was about to be completed and Brahma himself about to fall asleep. When he does so all creation is dissolved except the Vedas, which are eternal, and outside the cycle of creation and dissolution. They lodge safely inside Brahma's body while he slumbers and are given back to the universe in the next cycle of creation. Unfortunately, Brahma yawned and the Vedas flowed out of his lips. He was too sleepy to notice this catastrophe, but a cunning demon named Hayagriva had been hanging around, determined to become eternal by any means necessary. This was his main chance and he gulped the Vedas down. Without the scriptures Creation would be impossible. But, Vishnu was watching this as well and decided to act.
As Vishnu was wondering what was to be done, he noticed Satyavrata, who was making the ritual offering of water to God. Vishnu immediately assumed the form of a Fish. As Satyavrata scooped water from the flowing river, he spied a tiny fish in the water he had scooped. When he tried to put it back into the river, the Fish entreated the king not to do so as it would be eaten up by the big fish in the river. Satyavrata took the Fish into his water urn and went back to his hermitage. Overnight, the Fish grew too big to be in the urn.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Harsh Nevatia's Indian Mythology topic, please visit the Discussions page.