About Vishnu and his incarnations - the chief God of early Hinduism

One of the chief God of early Hinduism is Vishnu (the preserver). The two other chief gods are Brahma (the creator) and Shiva (the destroyer).

The Universe - as we know it - is said to have been formed from the body of Brahma. According to the caste system of Hinduism the various castes are the Brahmins (the learned or priestly caste), the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste), the Vaishyas (the merchant caste) and the Shudras (the menial workers). All these castes were formed from various different parts of the body of Brahma (the creator).

In this article I will be focusing on the chief God of early Hinduism Vishnu (the preserver).

Vishnu is worshipped in many forms in India, The main focus of religion is the worship of God and Hinduism has accepted that God can be worshipped in any form. In fact – as we will see later – Vishnu himself is said to have descended to the Earth at various times to uphold and protect the good from the evil and the wicked. In fact Vishnu at various times has taken the form of a fish, a boar, a tortoise (and more) according to the needs of the situation.

The chief god of early Hinduism Vishnu is said to pervade all. He is said to have an inconceivably large form. In one of the scripture He says”All the world I have placed within my own self, And my own self have I placed within all the worlds…All the vital airs have I placed within my own self, And my own self have I placed within all the vital airs.”

In others Vishnu pervades the universe and is to be found in all its forms.

This is similar to the philosophy of Taoism in which it is clearly mentioned that all is a manifestation of the Tao (or God).

Vishnu is the one who enters the body of every living being. As long as the Lord exists in a body in this form the body has life, and with the departure of this form, the body perishes.

He is the one who unites the devotees with himself. This is the compassion of the Lord towards his devotees. Ultimately they achieve moksha due to his grace and are given a permanent existence within his sacred being. This sets them free from the pain of birth and death. These are some of the qualities of the chief God of early Hinduism - Vishnu.

As I said earlier the chief god of early Hinduism Vishnu is said to have descended to this earth in the form of incarnations or avatars. There are to be ten such incarnations of which nine have already come and gone and the tenth, Kalki, will set foot on earth at the end of this Kalyug (or the age of Kali where evil is predominant on this Earth).

These ten incarnations are

i) The incarnation of the Fish – this is a story similar to that of Noah’s ark in Christian theology.

ii) Incarnation of the tortoise – Vishnu assumed this form to help the devas (gods) to obtain the nectar of immortality that was hidden below the Ocean of Milk.

iii) Incarnation of the Boar - The asura Hiranyaksha used to torture all living beings and also - according to a boon granted by Brahma – he could not be killed by any living being. However the boar had been left out from this list. Hence Vishnu assumed the form of a boar to kill the asura Hiranyaksha.

iv) Incarnation of the man-lion (Narasimha) – This is the half lion and half human form in which Vishnu – the chief god of early Hinduism – manifested himself to kill the demon king Hiranyakashipu.

v) Incarnation of the dwarf – Vishnu assumed this form to consign the great demon king Bali to the nether world.

vi) Incarnation of the warrior–man (Parasurama) – This was a human form of a warrior with an axe. Parashurama killed 21 generations of kshatriyas (the warrior caste) to avenge the death of his father. He fulfilled his vow to restore power to the priestly caste and then took to meditation.

vii) Incarnation of Rama – Rama is one of the two most worshipped incarnations of Vishnu in the modern days in India (the other being Krishna). Rama vanquished the demon king Ravana in his lifetime.

The Hindus consider Rama to be the ideal son and king. The Hindi word Ram–rajya denotes the state of a kingdom being governed in an ideal manner.

So this is another incarnation of the chief God of early Hinduism - Vishnu.

viii) The incarnation of Krishna – Krishna is perhaps the avatar most worshipped and venerated by the Hindus. He killed his evil uncle Kansa, played an active role in the great epic, the Mahabharata and also expounded the Path of Karma yoga to the great warrior Arjuna. Karma yoga (on the path of selfless, detached action) is one of the ways to attain God according to the Hindu faith.

Please refer these 3 articles on the Bhagavad Gita to learn more about Karma Yoga:

Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita-II
Bhagavad Gita-III

Krishna’s evil uncle – Kansa – had been warned by a divine voice that he would be killed by the eighth child of his sister. So Kansa proceeded to imprison his sister and her husband and killed each of their children as they were born. When Krishna was born however, the prison doors opened miraculously, his father was freed from his chains and this enabled the father to carry his child across the river Yamuna and leave him (the child) in cowherd settlement. The story is told about Krishna being attacked by many demons sent by Kansa until he become a youth and was able to kill his uncle Kansa.

This is just one of the many adventures in the colorful and long life of Krishna, He later become a king himself and played an active role in the Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is his teaching – as I said earlier – and is a book on moral instruction for the Hindus. It answers many questions that arise in a man’s life about what is righteous behavior.

Krishna is probably the most important avataar of the chief God of early Hinduism - Vishnu. This inacrnation is probably most holy for the Hindus.

ix) Incarnation of the Buddha – The Buddha – the founder of Buddhism – is accepted by some of the accounts as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu.

This site contains many articles on Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition contains many skillful means (upayas) to attain enlightenment. Buddhism is a living seed and has spread to many countries without the force of arms (including China, Japan and the rest of East Asia.)

So this is another incarnation of Vishnu - the chief God of early Hinduism.

X) Incarnation of Kalki – This is the tenth incarnation of Vishnu and is the only one yet to come. According to the Hindus the Kali-age (kalyug) is only in its first quarter at present and Kalki will set foot on this Earth at the end of this age.

Vishnu – the chief god of early Hinduism – will assume this incarnation to uphold virtue and righteousness (dharma) and vanquish the evil doers during this Kalyug, where evil and wickedness flourish.

So these are some details about Vishnu – the chief god in early Hinduism. There are many other myths and legends concerning Vishnu which tell the story of his adventures.Vishnu’s wife – Lakshmi – is also worshipped as his wife. She is given equal status with him and there are many stories about her as well. Lakshmi represents all that is female and Vishnu all that is male.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful to you.

Stay tuned for more in this continuing series.

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