The Fish Incarnation Of Vishnu And Comparative Studies

Matsya Avatara Sculptor, SriRangam

I will share with you the story of Matsya Avatara. This is how it all began. Once upon a time, there was a sage named Satyavrata. One day, when he was taking bath in a river, he found a fish in his hand. That fish told the sage to not let the fish get into the water again, otherwise the fish would be eaten by its predators. So, Satyavrata decided to take the fish along with him. He put the fish in his kamandala (holy vessel) and went back home. After Satyavrata reached home, he got a surprise. The fish became bigger that it could not fit into the kamandala. Then, Satyavrata took the fish and put it in a larger pot. But, the fish became more bigger than the pot. Satyavrata put the fish into a pond. The fish grew more larger than the pond. Satyavrata was puzzled. He decided to put the fish into the ocean. As soon as he put the fish into the ocean, the fish hooted and said, "Oh Sage, why are you doing this injustice to me by putting me back in the ocean. There are more dangerous predators in the ocean that can easily eat me up". Satyavrata said, "Oh great fish, you must be Sriman Narayana incarnate, are you here to teach me a lesson?"

Listening so, the fish told, "I am Sriman Narayana, I came here to tell you about the great flood, Pralaya that is soon going to happen. During the pralaya, I shall help you." Saying so, the fish incarnate of Lord Vishnu disappeared. After few days, the pralaya (great flood) began. Satyavrata built a ship, collected the seeds of all kinds of plants, gathered the four Vedas and started to sail accompanied by Sapta Rishis (seven sages) and animals. Lord Vishnu as per his promise, incarnated as Matsya, the fish and helped Satyavrata sail through until the pralaya was over. I tried to sketch a drawing of Mastya Avatara of Lord Vishnu, few days back.

Sketch by Hari

The boat was tied to the Matsya with the help of Vasuki, the King of Serpents. 

Image Credit - www.bhagavatham.blogspot.com

Take a look at the illustratrions below that I sketched in 2011 when I was 6 and half years old. 

Sketch by Hari

Sketch by Hari

The pralaya ended. As the water subsided, Satyavrata's ark came to rest on a hillside and that place was named as 'Manali' after him.

Image Created at www.scribblemaps.com

Satayavrata was chosen to be the 'Manu', the first Manav (first human being) after the great flood. There is a temple in Manali, Manu's Alaya (First man's home) became Manualaya. 'Manali' is the distortion of name 'Manualaya'.

Image Credit - www.shivalikmanali.com

Satyavrata is the Vaivasvata Manu ruling the seventh Manvantra. Take a look at some information related to Manu and Manvantra in the information card that I created using MS Paint.

A sculptor of Matsya Avatara helping Vaivasvata Manu displayed at British Museum. 

COMPARATIVE STUDIES

Dagon is a fish God. The Babylonians believed that Dagon emerged from the Erythraean sea who was part man and part fish. Dagon God is similar to Matsya Avatara of Vishnu Purana.

Image Credit - www.kemetway.com

Ra is the ancient Egyptian God of the sun. 'Ra' is the first creator and ruler of creation. This picture of Ra carrying seven people and another man in the boat looks similar to Matsya Avatara story from Vishnu Purana.

Image Credit - www.reflectionsintheword.org

My Amma read this Bible story of Noah's Ark. And this story is so similar to Matsya Avatara story from the Vishnu Purana.

Image Credit - www.wikipedia.org

I am now very surprised to read more stories related to flood which is very similar to Manu and Matsya Avatara story from Vishnu Purana. My Amma read this Greek story of Deucalion and Pyrrha which is about manavs (human beings) being saved during the Pralaya (Great Flood).

Image credit- www.simerg.com

My Amma read this story, the Quran version of Noah Story. To my surprise, this story is also the SAME as the other great flood stories from other culture. In this story, it is said that the ark rested in Mount. Judy.

There are lots of such stories related to Great Flood (Pralaya) that are there in the www (World Wide Web, I mean the internet). I am surprised. May the fish God bless all of Humanity.

I used two new words - 'puzzled' and 'hooted' in this blog post. I came to know about those words from my English Comprehension and Composition book. 

Happy New Year 2015.