Fish Avatar

The first of Vishnu’s ten full avatars or
“incarnations” on earth. Each avatar
appears when the cosmos is in crisis,
usually because of a demon (asura) who
has grown disproportionately strong,
and whose power is throwing the universe out of its natural balance.
According to the doctrine of the avatars,
Vishnu takes material form when the
earth has fallen out of equilibrium, to
destroy the source of evil and restore the
cosmic balance.
The tale of the fish avatar begins
in the distant past, when the righteous
king Manu discovers a small fish in the
water he holds between his cupped
hands as he performs the tarpana or
water-offering rite for his ancestors. The
compassionate king puts the tiny fish
into a pot of water, but the fish soon outgrows it. As the fish keeps growing,
Manu transfers it to larger and larger
vessels, and finally puts the fish into the
Ganges. When the fish grows too large
for the Ganges and has to be put into the
ocean, Manu realizes that the fish is
228
Feticide
Depiction of the god Vishnu’s Fish avatar.
Vishnu takes this form to protect living
creatures from floods that engulf the earth.
Vishnu himself, and begins to sing
Vishnu’s praises.
The fish then informs Manu
that the destruction of the world is
imminent—first through blazing fire
that will scorch all life, then through
floods that will turn the entire earth
into a single cosmic sea. Vishnu informs
Manu that the gods have built a boat
from the Vedas, and directs Manu to
collect all the creatures of the earth
and put them on the boat for safekeeping. He promises Manu that all the
creatures on this boat will survive the
coming destruction, and when the
world returns to normal with the
advent of the Krta Age, Manu will be
the ruler of the earth.
Manu does as he has been directed,
and when the destruction of the world is
imminent, Vishnu appears in the form
of a great horned fish. Manu ties the
boat to the fish’s horn and, protected by
Vishnu’s power, all the beings on the
boat survive to repopulate the earth.