T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .

c om

In my prev ious article, w e discussed about ev olution in lord V ishnu av atars

and also w ent through details on first three av atars of lord V ishnu. If y ou
hav e missed this article, then please G o through the below link
Evolution in vishnu avatars
I n this artic le, we will be dis c us s ing in details fourth, fifth and
s ixth avatars of lord V is hnu.
Narasimha A vatar
N aras imha A vatar is the H alf- M an H alf- L ion I nc arnation of
H indu G od Sri H ari V is hnu. T he s tory of N aras imha A vatar is
as s oc iated with V is hnu’s inc arnation as the boar or V araha. A s
des c ribed in my previous artic le, V araha (V is hnu) had killed the
demon H iranyaks ha. Hiranyaksha's brother Hiranyakashipu,
greatly angered by this, started to hate Vishnu and all his
f ollowers. H e dec ides a plan to kill V is hnu by gaining mys tic al
powers , whic h he believe brahma, the c hief among the devas , will
award him if he undergoes many years of great aus terity and
penanc e. H iranyakas hipu performed intens e aus terities and was
able to pleas e L ord Brahma. When Brahma appeared before him
he as ked for immortality. But Brahma s aid he c ould not grant him
the boon of immortality. So Hiranyakashipu played a trick on
Brahma and asked a series of boons all of which indirectly tried
to avoid death.
H e will not die in any type of res idenc e or outs ide.
H e will not die during day or night.
H e will not die on earth or s ky
H e will not be killed by any weapon
H e will not be killed by D emi- gods , human being, animal or any
other c reation c reated by you
H e s hould be the s ole lords hip over all living entities and
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

pres iding deities , and s hould be granted all the glories

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

H iranyakas hipu A s king for immortality

Brahma said, "Tatha asthu" (be it so) and v anished. H irany akashipu w as
happy thinking that he had w on ov er death. A fter ear ning the boons,
H ir anyakashipu defeated demigods and r uler s on ear th and
announced that he was God and all pr ayer s should be dir ected to
him and not to Sr i H ar i V ishnu.

M eanw hile, H irany akashipu’s w ife Kay adhu gav e birth to P rahlad w ho grew
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

up and became a keen dev otee of V ishnu under the guidance of div ine sage
narada. T he entir e kingdom followed H ir anyakashipu commands
of wor shipping him but not his young son, P r ahlad. The little boy
P rahlad continued w orshipping Lord V ishnu. H irany akashipu tried all means to
make the boy w orship H im. But all this efforts failed.
O ne day , H irany akashipu ordered his serv ants to kill P rahlad, if he refused to
accept the primacy of his father. Each time he attempted to kill the
boy, P r ahlada was pr otected by V ishnu's mystical power . H e w as
ev en being drow ned, poisoned, and burnt and throw n from the mountain.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

H iranyakas hipu trying to kill prahlada

Hiranyakashipu also ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahlada by

sitting with him on the f ire but eventually she died burning in
f ire and the tradition of burning holika(Frist day of holi) -is still
f ollowed in India. (Sec ond day of holi- Fes tival of c olors , is
as s oc iated with another lord V is hnu avatar- lord kris hna)

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Fes tival of C olors , H oli in india

Tired of failure, H irany akashipu asked for an explanation then P r ahlada
r efuses to acknowledge his father as the supr eme lor d of the
univer se and claims that V ishnu is all-per vading and
omnipr esent. F ed up w ith his son’s explanation of V ishnu w orship,
H irany akashipu demanded him to show his V ishnu w ho is present
ev ery w here:
"O most unfortunate P rahlada, y ou hav e alw ay s described a supreme being
other than me, a supreme being w ho is abov e ev ery thing, w ho is the
controller of ev ery one, and w ho is all-perv ading. But w here is H e? If H e is
ev ery w here, then w hy is H e not present before me in this pillar?
In a fit of anger pointing to a pillar, H irany akashipu asked w hether V ishnu is
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

present in that pillar. P rahlada then answ ers, H e w as, H e is and H e w ill be.
In an alternate v ersion of the story , P rahlada answ ers, H e is in pillars, and he
is in the smallest tw ig.
H irany akashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar w ith his mace,
and follow ing a tumultuous thundering sound, V ishnu in the for m of half
man-half lion( Nar asimha) appear s fr om it and moves to attack
his father in defence of P r ahlada.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

H alf man- half lion(N aras imha)

H e had large mous tac hes on the fac e and terrible teeth in the
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

mouth and his paws had terrible nails . In order to kill

Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by brahma, the
f orm of Narasimha is chosen. H iranyakas hipu c annot be killed by
human, deva or animal. N aras imha is neither one of thes e as he
is a form of V is hnu inc arnate as a part- human, part- animal. H e
c omes upon H iranyakas hipu at twilight (when it is neither day
nor night) on the thres hold of a c ourtyard (neither indoors nor
out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor s pac e).
U s ing his s harp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as
weapons , he dis embowels and kills the demon.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

N aras imha killing H iranyakas hipu

The Bhagav ata P urana further narrates: ev en after killing H irany akashipu,
none of the present demigods are able to calm N arasimha's fury (S ince he
took form of a beast), not ev en lord shiv a. S o all the gods and goddesses call
his consort, Lakshmi, but she is also unable to do so.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

N aras imha anger out of c ontrol

T hen, at the r equest of Br ahma, P r ahlada pr ays to Nar asimha,
and finally he is calmed by the pr ayer s of his devotee. Before
leav ing, N arasimha rew ards the w ise P rahlada by crow ning him as the king.
The abov e story of lord narasimha av atar can also be seen in below v ideo
link
N aras imha kills H iranyakas hipu
<http://www.malls tuffs .c om/V ideos /V iewV ideo.as px?
V ideoI d=1 0 7 4 1 &V ideoT ype=Spiritual>

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

N aras imha bles s ing prahlada

.
T oday in kaliyug (I ron A ge) we als o have bec ome s ome s ort of
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T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

hiranyakas hapu. With thes e modern c omforts , pros perity, lethal

weapons , advanc ed medic al s ys tems we have s tarted feeling
that whatever we do we are s afe. U nfortunately, M ankind has
s tarted proving that he is more intelligent and c an do anything
on this earth.

V aman A vatar
BA LI, the grandson of P rahlada(one described abov e) w as a v ery v alorous
and mighty asura (Demon). By his penance and might, he conquered the
w hole w orld. Indra and other gods fearing that he and asuras(Demons) w ould
conquer all the three w orlds abandoned heav en. . This upset Indra's mother,
A diti. S he, along w ith Rishi Kashy ap, her husband, pray ed to Lord V ishnu to
restore the glory of the Dev as (Deities).A s Usual, lor d inter vened and
was then bor n as a dwar f V amana in the household of a
br ahmana( pr iest) .

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

V amana born in a brahman family

In the guise of a short Brahman, carry ing a w ooden umbrella, H e then w ent
to Bali requested as much land (To liv e) as he could cov er w ith his three
steps.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

V amana, L ord V is hnu fifth avatar

Bali, being an ardent dev otee, w as delighted to offer him any thing he
requested, ev en though his chief priest sukrachary a, w arned him that it w as

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Lord V ishnu.
Bali was pr obably, r elaxed, thinking of the small amount of land
that the little foot-size of the V amana could cover and
delightfully committed to gr anting thr ee steps of land, The
S upreme G od enlarged himself to such dimensions as to stride ov er the three
w orlds. H e had grow n so huge that w ith one-step he astrode the w hole earth
and in the second he, encompassed the heav ens. King M ahabali, then
recognized the Transcendental Being of V ishnu, disguised as V amana. There
w as no place left w here V amana can put his third step. The pious and truthful
M ahabali, kept his promise. H e bowed down befor e the O mnipotent
P ower and offer ed his head, for putting the thir d step.
The abov e story of lord V amana av atar can also be seen in below v ideo link
V amana avatar
<http://www.malls tuffs .c om/V ideos /V iewV ideo.as px?
V ideoI d=1 0 7 4 2 &V ideoT ype=Spiritual>

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

V amana growing to the s ize of the univers e

V ishnu was immensely pleased with the goodness of M ahabali
and gr anted him life. H e educated Bali about the demerits of pride and
arrogance, w hich forbids man from optimum progress. M ahaV ishnu further
blessed M ahabali, that he w ould be the ruler of the earth in the follow ing age
or Yuga

P ar ashur ama avatar

Parasurama (Axe-wielding Rama), belongs to the Treta yuga, was the Great Grandson of Bhrugu
Rishi, after whom the "Bhruguvansh" has been named. Parashu means axe, hence his name
literally means Rama-with-the-axe. Bhrugu's Son, Rucheek, married King Gadhi's daughter,
Satyavati. The son of Satyavati & Jamadagni was Parashurama.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Statue of P aras hurama

The purpose of the sixth incarnation or Sixth Avatara of Vishnu was
to relieve the earth's burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

and irreligious monarchs that pillaged goddess earth resources, and

neglected their duties as kings. At the same time, He wanted to c onvey
the world, the importanc e of parents and how muc h one s hould
res pec t their parent’s words .
O riginally, P aras huram name was Raman. Pleased with his
severe tapas (Penance), Lord Shiva gave him a weapon called
Parasu (A xe). Raman thus came to be known as Parasuraman.
He also learned the methods of warfare and other skills from lord Shiva.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Parashurama Meditation and penance

He is a Chiranjeevi (Immortal till end of kaliyuga), who fought the aggressing
ocean to recede, thus saving land of Konkan and Malabar. Bhagwan
Parashuram is also known as Lord of Yajnya, Lord who grants prosperity, and
Lord of knowledge. According to ancient Himalayan tradition of knowledge,
Parshuram was the first to introduce inter- planetary weapons on
this planet in ancient days.
Parashurama has been mentioned in several scriptures - Ramayana,
the Mahabharata, and Bhagavata and Kalki Puranas. He is famous for killing
the Haihaya- Kshatriyas on the earth 21 times for their Ahankara

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

(pride/arrogance). He wanted to spread & preserve the Vedic culture on Earth.

He was born a Brahmin but is Kshatriya by Karma, or deeds.
Parashurama killed his own mother:
Parasurama's mother had deep respect and devotion for her husband and
worshipped him as her Lord. So pure was her devotion that each day she
would go to the river bed and pick up a handful of sand and this
would form into a pot. She would be able to fill water in this unfired pot
and take it to her husband for his daily pooja. One such day, as she took up
a handful of river sand, she saw the reflection of a handsome gandharva
(Demi-God) in the water and she looked up in admiration. This was a step
down in her sincerity and she lost the ability to create a pot of the
river sand. Sage Jamadagni realis ed through his G nana D ris hti
(Sixth s ens e) of the happenings and ordered his s ons to kill their
mother. H is other s ons refus ed to do s o, c laiming their mother
were even greater than G od to them.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Parasurama immediately chopped off his mother's head to do his duty to his
father.
Rishi Jamadagni was overjoyed by his obedienc e and was willing to
grant him any boon. Parasuraman asked f or the lif e of his
mother and brothers and also that they have no memory of the
happenings. Jamadagni ris hi granted him his wis hes . I n this way,
P ars huram proved his devotion to his parents .
Parashurama killed all Kshatriyas on the earth 21 times
Once King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna) and his army visited Jamadagni(Parashuram
father), who fed his guest and the whole army with his divine cow Surabhi; the king demanded
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

the magical cow and Jamadagni refused because he needed the cow for his religious
ceremonies. King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna) sent his soldiers to take the cow and then,
parashurama killed the entire army and the king with his axe. Kartavirya’s s ons were
lus ting for revenge. O ne day, when s age J amadakni was alone in
the as hram with his wife, they c hopped off Jamadagni head.
When Parashurama returned home he f ound his mother cry ing hy sterically .
He asked why she was cry ing, she beat her chest 21 times. In a rage,
Parashurama vowed to exterminate the world's Kshatriyas (Warrior
clan) 21 times. He killed the entire clan of Kartav iry a Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna),
thus conquering the entire earth.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Parashurama killing all Kshatriyas

He offered his dead father's soul tarpana with the blood of the kings and warriors he
slew. He then conducted the Ashwamedha sacrifice, done only by sovereign kings, and
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

gave the entire land he owned to the priests who performed at the yagya. M oolagan
was one of the kings who es c aped P aras urama's wrath and
D as haratha, father of L ord Rama was his des c endant.

Parashurama in the Ramayana

In the Swayambar of the princess Sita, Lord Rama broke the bow of lord
shiva given to King Janaka(Father of sita) by Parashurama.. On breaking the
bow, it produced a tremendous noise that reached the ears of Parashurama.
After hearing the sound of breaking bow, parashurama decided to kill
Rama. But Seeing that, lord rama was lord Vishnu avatar, he calmed
down and blessed Sita "Saubhagyawati bhavah" .

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Lord rama breaking lord shiva bow

The abov e story of lord P arshurama av atar can also be seen in below v ideo
link
P aras hurama avatar
<http://www.malls tuffs .c om/V ideos /V iewV ideo.as px?
V ideoI d=1 0 7 4 3 &V ideoT ype=Spiritual>
Parashurama in the Mahabharata
It is mentioned in the Mahabharata that Parashurama was the teacher of the
warrior Karna. When Karna came to Parashurama after being rejected from
the school of dronacharya, Parashurama agreed to teach Karna, believing him
not be of Kshatriya birth and gave him the knowledge of many weapons
including extremely powerful Brahmastra weapon.

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

when Bhishma refused to marry Amba, Granfather of Pandavas, Parashurama

decided to slay Bhishma and fought with him for twenty three days, At the end
when Bhishma was about to use the most deadly weapon namely
"Pashwapastra", all Gods rushed to Bhishma and requested him not to use this
weapon against Parshurama. Bhishma stopped and.in the end, all Gods and
Parshuram himself showered praise on Bhishma and acknowledged that
Bhishma is truly invincible.

Remaining avatars will be dis c us s ed in my next artic le with

minute details s inc e I have written many blogs on thes e avatars
and many are already aware of Rama, Kris hna and Buddha.

Before I end, a s mall poem to s ummarize and c onc lude

M any attempts were made to kill prahlad

L ord V is hnu devotion s aved him every time
T his made H iranyakas hipu furious and mad
I n anger and revenge, c ontinued his c rime

P ointing to the pillar he as k angrily

I f your s upreme lord is there ins ide
N odding head, prahlad s aid furious ly
Keep fals e pride and arroganc e as ide

Enraged Hiranshipu hit pillar with his mace

Lord Vishnu showed his narasimha face
Killed cruel H iranyakas hipu on his thigh
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om
T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om

Bles s ed prahlad, honouring brahma thereby

I ndra and other deities abandoned heaven

L ord V is hnu inc arnated as a dwarf Brahman
A s ked bali three s teps of land for s helter
I gnoring guru advic e, yes did he ans wer

Supreme lord enlarged to huge s ize

I n two s teps c overed whole univers e
O ffering his head, demon bali c has tis e
I mmens ely pleas ed, lord granted life

T o kill all s inful,irreligious monarc h

paras hurama des c ended on mother earth
L ord s hiva gave deadly paras hu weapon
Killed all ks hatriyas in c ruel fas hion

When lord rama broke lord s hiva bow

I ntens e anger and pride pars huram s how
Seeing vis hnu in rama reduc ed his ego
Smilingly rama as ked pars hurama to go

I n various form lord s hows his illus ions

Sometimes plays with devotees emotions
Sinful irreligious are killed in his ac tion
O nly s inc ere devotees attain s alvation

T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om