Thursday, October 29, 2009

Avatars of Vishnu in the Bhagavata Purana

Twenty-two avatars of Vishnu are listed numerically in the first Canto of the Bhagavata Purana as follows:[5]

  1. Catursana [SB 1.3.6] (The Four Sons of Brahma)
  2. Varaha [SB 1.3.7] (The boar)
  3. Narada [SB 1.3.8] (The Traveling Sage)
  4. Nara-Narayana [SB 1.3.9] (The Twins)
  5. Kapila [SB 1.3.10] (The Philosopher)
  6. Dattatreya [SB 1.3.11] (Combined Avatar of The Trimurti)
  7. Yajna [SB 1.3.12] (Vishnu temporarily taking the role of Indra)
  8. Rishabha [SB 1.3.13] (Father of King Bharata and Bahubali)
  9. Prithu [SB 1.3.14] (King who made earth Beautiful and Attractive)
  10. Matsya [SB 1.3.15] (The Fish)
  11. Kurma [SB 1.3.16] (The Tortoise)
  12. Dhanvantari [SB 1.3.17] (Father of Ayurveda)
  13. Mohini [SB 1.3.17] (Beautiful/Charming Woman)
  14. Narasimha [SB 1.3.18] (The Man-Lion)
  15. Vamana [SB 1.3.19] (The Dwarf)
  16. Parasurama [SB 1.3.20] (The Rama with an Axe)
  17. Vyasa [SB 1.3.21] (Compiler of the Vedas)
  18. Rama [SB 1.3.22] (The King of Ayodhya)
  19. Balarama [SB 1.3.23] (Krishna's Elder Brother)
  20. Krishna [SB 1.3.23] (The Cowherd also Svayam Bhagavan)
  21. Buddha [SB 1.3.24] (The Enlightened)
  22. Kalki [SB 1.3.25] (The Destroyer)

Besides these, another four avatars are described later on in the text as follows:

  1. Prshnigarbha [SB 10.3.41] (Born to Prshni)
  2. Hayagriva [SB 2.7.11] (The Horse)
  3. Hamsa [SB 11.13.19] (The Swan)
  4. Golden avatra [SB 11.5.32] (Avatara in Kali-yuga for propagating hari-namasankirtan)

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