||Srimad Bhagavatha Mahapuran||

|| Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter –4 - The glorious Twenty Two incarnations of Lord Vishnu

Sutha Pauranika was highly pleased to listen to the queries of Shaunakadhis, he began to speak  after offering obeisance to his preceptor Shukabhrama Rishi “ Listen to me carefully, there is nothing other than self-less devotion to the supreme Lord is beneficiary, this is the path of the righteousness which could bring all the auspiciousness, the highest of the essence of knowledge is the Bhramam/supreme spirit, which is the source of all the living beings, it is all-pervading  and worshiped by intellectuals and scholars, it resides as soul in all living beings, known as Paramathma, it witnesses all the Karma of living beings and provides the fruits of the Karma.  He is worshiped by Yogis and contemplates upon him.  The supreme spirit assumes numerous incarnations and descends on the Earth.  The purpose of the incarnation of supreme spirit as Lord Krishna is to purify the souls, therefore supreme Lord assumed the form of a human, performed various pastimes, and his virtues would remove the impurities in the souls.  The recitation and listening to his marvelous passionate sport would sanctify the intellect of the souls, thereby it removes the darkness of ignorance, worldly bondage and multiplies the piousness of the souls, ultimately attains union with the Lord.  Therefore the Supreme Lord has assumed various incarnations to shower his grace upon the souls.  The great scripture Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran describes the various pastimes of Lord Krishna, that will be discussed in the coming days.  The Supreme Lord manifested in twenty-six forms, and the most significant among them is twenty-four.  His first incarnation as the four Sanakadhis (1),  the next incarnation was Varaha/wild boar who have protected the Earth from the demon Hiranyaksha (2), the next incarnation was Maharishi Narada who roam around the three worlds praising the glories of supreme Lord (3),  the next incarnation was Nara Narayana who underwent Tapasya in the Badarikashrama, and enlightened the souls with the knowledge of Bhramam (4). The next incarnation was Maharishi Kapila as the son of Kardhama Prajapathi and Devahoothi, who revealed the Sankhya system of philosophy (5).  The next incarnation was Lord Dhaththathreya who was known as the son of Sage Athri and Anasooya, he lived a life of an Avadhooth and guided the souls to adopt the disciplined life of a mendicant, he was the representation of trinities (6).  The next incarnation was Yagya, who was the son of Ruchi and Ahoothi, taught the method of fire sacrifices to invoke deities and please them(7).  The next incarnation was Lord Rishabha Deva who lived a life of a mendicant, worshiped as first Theerthankar of Jainism (8). The next incarnation was Prithu Maharaj, who made the Earth more inhabitable,(9).  The next incarnation was Mathsya/giant fish which protected the Vedas from the ocean,(10).  There were three incarnations took place while churning the ocean, one as Kurma/giant tortoise which appeared as base for resting the Mount Mandhara while churning the ocean for nectar of immortality by deities and demons (11), he assumed the form of Lord Dhanvanthari/Lord of medicines with the pot of nectar of immortality (12), he assumed the form of beautiful young maiden Mohini who distributed the nectar (13).  The next incarnation was half lion-half man to protect his ardent devotee Prahlada and killed the demon Hiranyakashipu(14).  The next incarnation was Dwarf/Vamana who measured the entire Universe in three strides and crushed the pride of Mahabali(15).  The next incarnation was Parashurama who annihilated the wicked Kshatriyas on the Earth (16). The next incarnation was Maharishi Vedavyasa who composed eighteen Purans, Upa Puranas, categorized Veda into Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, and wrote great epic Srimad Ramayan and Mahabharath, and Bhagavath (17).  The next incarnation was Lord Rama who was virtue personified,  the jewel of the clan of Raghuvamsha(18).  The next incarnation was Balarama who is the elder brother of Lord Krishna (19).  The next incarnation was Krishna who performed various passionate sports on the Earth and revealed he can be enslaved by pure love (20).  The next incarnation was Buddha an enlightened soul,(21) and before the end of the Kali era his impending incarnation as Kalki to eradicate the wicked people, and initiate the Sathyayuga/era of righteousness(22).  The answer for the final question is after the return of Lord Krishna into his celestial abode, the Dharma took shelter in the supreme scripture ‘Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran’ which is capable to remove the darkness of ignorance in the Kali era.”  The Shaunakadhis and the Rishis and Sages assembled were extremely obliged to receive the knowledge and prostrated before Sutha Pauranika.