The Dashavatara: Ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu

What an avatar is, Shri Krishna's promise in the Gita "yada yada hi dharmasya", the list of ten avatars and Krishna's special place among them.

The word avatara comes from the Sanskrit root meaning "to descend". An avatar is a descent of the Supreme Lord into this world. An ordinary being is born because of the bondage of karma, but the Lord appears by his own will and out of compassion, taking a form suited to the need of the time.

In the Bhagavad Gita (4.7–4.8) Shri Krishna himself explains the purpose of his coming to Arjuna: "yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamy aham" — whenever dharma declines and adharma rises, O Bharata, I manifest myself. "paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam, dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge" — to protect the good, to destroy the wicked and to establish dharma again, I appear age after age.

The scriptures speak of countless avatars of Lord Vishnu, but ten are especially remembered as the Dashavatara: Matsya the fish, Kurma the tortoise, Varaha the boar, Narasimha the man-lion, Vamana the dwarf, Parashurama, Shri Rama, Shri Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki, who is yet to come at the end of Kali Yuga. Devotees see in this sequence a beautiful journey: from the waters to the land, from animal forms to the human form, and from the warrior to the teacher.

Shri Krishna holds a special place in this list. After describing many avatars, the Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.3.28) declares: "ete chamsha-kalah pumsah krishnas tu bhagavan svayam" — all these are portions or partial manifestations of the Supreme Person, but Krishna is Bhagavan himself, the Supreme Lord in person.

For this reason the list of ten is not the same in every tradition. In many lists Balarama, Krishna's elder brother, is counted as the eighth avatar, and Krishna is regarded not as one avatar among ten but as the source of all avatars. In other lists, such as the Dashavatara hymn in Jayadeva's Gita Govinda, Buddha appears, and Krishna is praised as the Lord who himself takes all ten forms. In the order most widely followed today, Krishna is the eighth avatar and Buddha the ninth. These are differing traditions, each held with reverence; this website follows the best-known order while honouring all of them.

Whatever the list, the message is the same: the Lord never abandons the world. Whenever goodness is in danger, he comes.

Source

Bhagavad Gita 4.7–4.8; Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28; Jayadeva, Gita Govinda