Epics of India - Vinay Kalvacherla

Vamana  Brought sense to King Bali (Balichakravarthi)  Asked Bali for three steps of land; managed to get the entire universe in that land  Dwarf Brahmin incarnation of Vishnu  Parashurama  Killed all the corrupt peoples Rather violent incarnation  Rama  Read an entire epic on him, wrote several stories on him  Krishna  Story is depicted in the Bhagavatham, but his story is sort of depicted in Mahabharatha, as well  Is one of the most worshipped incarnations  Killed Kamsa, was behind the enlightenment of Arjuna, brought dharma to the Earth  Buddha  Contested ninth avatar of Vishnu; some dispute Buddha the ninth avatar Annulled the cast stratification that was happening  Kalki  Yet to come; will be the "messiah" figure riding on a white horse and bringing about the end times  Interesting parallels to second coming of Jesus/messiah in Abrahamic religions  An image de...

Matsya - the fish form of Vishnu Kurma - the turtle form  Behind the churning of the ocean story; helped both gods and demons churn the mountain to look for the nectar of immortality  Interesting to examine Kurma's role in helping the asuras  Varaha - wrote a story about him  Saved Bhumi by defeating Hiranyaksha Was the boar-headed avatar of Vishnu Narasimha - half-man, half-lion form of Vishnu  His ardent devotee is Prahalada, son of Hiranyakashapa Hiranyakashapa does not approve of his son's devotion and tries to kill him several times to no avail  Hiranyaksha has a boon that makes him essentially immortal; Narasimha finds a loophole in that boon  An image showing Narasimha viciously killing Hiranyakashapa. Source . Bibliography :   Dasha Avatar: The Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu, an Amar Chitra Katha publication

Sati was happy with Shiva. Her road to marriage was difficult and laden with obstacles. She had fallen in love with Shiva at a young age, and had fixed her eyes on him for marriage. Her father, Prajapathi Daksha, was a strict devotee of Vishnu, and would not accept Sati's proposals. At the end, Shiva himself had come to take Sati as his bride, and Daksha had no choice but to accept. He did not confer his blessings on the marriage, but Shiva and Sati were satisfied nonetheless. And now news had just come to Sati that her father was holding a yagna , a holy sacrifice, and had invited all the gods and celestials except Sati and Shiva. Sati felt a little embittered about it, but decided she would go uninvited anyway. "A daughter can go to her own father's house uninvited," Sati replied when Shiva tried to object. "I'm sure that's why my father didn't extend an explicit invitation to us." But the reality was vastly different. Shiva stayed behi...