Mythology in Hinduism

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Sood 1 Among the Trinity Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, the sustainer of the Universe Lord Vishnu has had to come down to Earth in various incarnations several times in order to protect His devotees, annihilate evil and demonic forces, establish Dharma, and maintain social and cosmic order in the Universe. In this paper I’ll be talking about the ten primary incarnations of Lord Vishnu although there are many, many more such Avataras of Lord Vishnu, as mentioned in the Sri Bhagavata Purana and other scriptures. The term “Avatara” refers to a deliberate descent, appearance, incarnation or manifestation of the Supreme Spirit to achieve a specific purpose. The term “Avatara” is derived from the verbal root meaning “cross-over” and meaning “away or down” signifying that the Avatara is the manifestation of the Supreme Spirit away from His abode (Vaikunta) crossing over down to Earth. The Puranas and the Sri Guru Charitra give several reasons for the Avatara of Lord Vishnu. Most notably, the story goes that Lord Vishnu, in order to save His dear devotee Ambareesha from the wrathful curse of Sage Durvasa, asked to be cursed instead. As a result of this curse, which was the Lord‟s own Leela and a blessing in disguise, Lord Vishnu had to incarnate on Earth ten times. Lord Krishna (a complete manifestation of Lord Vishnu tells Arjuna, (Srimad Bhagavad Gita, IV-7,8)meaning, whenever Dharma (righteousness) begins to decay and Adharma (unrighteousness) begins to rise, then I embody myself and manifest era after era for the protection of the good, the destruction of the evil, and for the establishment of Dharma.The ten primary Avataras of Lord Vishnu are Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise), Varaha (the boar), Narasimha (the man-lion), Vamana (the dwarf Brahmin), Parashurama (the Brahmin with the axe), Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki (the knight). Some schools of
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