Introduction

Yes, I know that you have come here to know why Lord Vishnu or Krishna comes again and again in this world, but I wouldn’t tell you here the reason, as the reason is already known by you.

Let’s say when you feel highly depressed or tense sometimes, then whom do you call?
“Mother”, “Father” and at last “God”.

So, here is the answer you were searching for. But it is not finished.

Don’t you want to know in what form, time, and place Krishna or Vishnu appears?
So, now let us see systematically.

What is an Avatar

You might have seen the Hollywood movie “Avatar” and might have thought that this name of the movie sounds like the “Avtar” which we used to listen to in our childhood, and yes, it is not different than that.

‘Avatar’ means the divine incarnation of a particular person, entity or super being which constitutes all the qualities of the original one.

In a similar context, Lord Vishnu also incarnates himself in divine forms in different yugas, or time periods.

10 Incarnations of Lord Vishnu

Let us have a short look at the divine incarnation of the Lord:

Matsya (The fish)
Kurma (The tortoise)
Varaha (The boar)
Narasimha (The man-lion)
Vamana (The dwarf)
Parashuram (The warrior)
Lord Rama (The prince)
Lord Balarama
Buddha
Kalki

Different Situations, Different Avatars

Now let’s have a look at the divine incarnation one by one:

1. Matsya

The Matsya avatar appeared in Sat-yuga when King Manu was requesting Lord Vishnu to find an escape from the problem of the Hayagriva demon, who had stolen the Vedas.

2. Kurma

“God requires hard work.”

When at the age of Sat-yuga demigods and demons were doing the Samudra Manthan, and then they required some base to behold the Mandar mountain.

3. Varaha

Goddess Earth was shattered and left lonely and alone when the Hiranyaksha demon was at his peak. To save his world, then at that moment of hopelessness, Lord Varaha appeared from the nose of Brahma.

4. Narasimha

Imagine a person coming in front of you having very large and sharp nails, a muscular body, and teeth larger than fingers. Similar was the condition of Hiranyakashipu when he saw Lord Narasimha Dev in front of him.

5. Vamana

What if I tell you that the length of the universe is only two steps? No, I am not kidding. This was the divine ability of the 5th incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Vamana Dev.

6. Parashuram

If there is any person in this world who can vanquish the Kshatriya 21 times, then he can be no different from Lord Parashuram himself. He is the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the first in Treta Yuga, because before him all the avatars belonged to Satya Yuga.

7. Lord Rama

In parallel to Lord Parashuram, one dark bluish-complexioned boy had a bow in his hand and a vow in his mind of having an exile of 14 years in the forest.

8. Balarama

No, I am not mistaken; the eighth incarnation of the lord is Balarama, not Krishna.

You might have heard from childhood that Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but actually it is not true. The eighth incarnation is Balarama. Because Krishna is the supreme personality of Godhead, and from him Vishnu comes.

Again, it is a very debatable topic, so it should be discussed in a separate blog that asks,
“Does Vishnu come from Krishna, or does Krishna come from Vishnu?”

9. Buddha

The incarnation of Lord Buddha has always been in controversy because many Buddhists do not believe that Buddha was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but it is mentioned in our scriptures that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu.

Even the very famous Vaishnava poet Jayadeva Goswami had mentioned in his 10th avatara shloka that Lord Vishnu had appeared in Kali-yuga as Lord Buddha before.

10. Kalki

When everything ends, then something remains—and that something is the last and final avatar of Lord Vishnu, that is, Kalki Avatar.

This avatar of Lord Vishnu is yet to come. Scriptures say that this avatar will appear at the end of Kali Yuga, when the corruption will be at its peak.

Then Kalki Avatar will arise and will provide liberation to all the people. Then the Kali Yuga will end and the next Chatur Yuga will start.

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu / The Hidden Avatar

All the above avatars mentioned are clearly seen in scriptures and are known by everyone. But do you know there is one more avatar mentioned secretly in the scriptures?

That is Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

He is also known as the “Channa”, or hidden avatar, because in his whole life, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu never revealed his original identity to everyone. Only his close associates knew about this secret.

There are many things to say about Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but it requires a separate blog.

So we will discuss Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in another blog.