Matsya Avatar: The Divine Fish

At the time of the great deluge the Lord became a fish to protect King Satyavrata, the seven sages and the Vedas.

Matsya, the divine fish, is the first avatar of Lord Vishnu. According to the Shrimad Bhagavatam, at the close of a great age the pious King Satyavrata was offering water to the ancestors in a river when a tiny fish came into his cupped hands and begged for protection. The king placed it in a pot, then in a pond, then in a lake, but the fish kept growing until even the ocean seemed too small for it. Satyavrata understood that this was no ordinary creature, and he bowed to the Lord.

The Lord told him that in seven days the three worlds would be flooded by the waters of dissolution. A great boat would come to him, and he was to board it with the seven sages, all kinds of plants and seeds, and living beings. When the waters rose, the Lord appeared as a huge golden fish with a single horn. Using the serpent Vasuki as a rope, the boat was tied to that horn, and through the long night of the deluge the Lord taught the king the highest spiritual truths. Lord Matsya also slew the demon Hayagriva, who had stolen the Vedas, and returned them to Brahma. Satyavrata later became Vaivasvata Manu.

The lesson of Matsya is that the Lord protects sacred knowledge, and protects those who protect the helpless. A small act of kindness toward a little fish became the king's doorway to divine grace.

Number

1

Yuga

Satya Yuga

Form

Fish

Source

Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 8, ch. 24