Reading Notes: Ten Incarnations of Vishnu, Part B


  • 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 depicting Vamana kicking King Bali down into the Pathala Loka. Source. 

Bibliography: Dasha Avatar: The Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu, an Amar Chitra Katha publication

Comments

  1. Laura GibbsDecember 7, 2017 at 9:47 AM

    Hi Vinay! Thanks for your email and congrats on being done with the class! And you found another marvelous image here: what a great depiction of Vamana! I'll reply to your email properly later today or tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know I did get it, and THANK YOU for all your good work this semester! :-)

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