A term used for the incarnations, primarily of Vishnu.

There are three kinds of avatars that are usually donned by Vishnu – purnaavatar, aavesha, ansh. The first has powers throughout its existence, the second has powers for onlya  short while, and the third is an incarnation of a part. Vishnu’s incarnations are innumerable. Sages, Manus, Devas, Manuputras all count among Vishnu’s ansh avatars. The Purnaavatars are ten in number. Some consider Balarama as an avatar and some others Buddha.

The Mahadevibhagavata cites Bhrigu’s curse as the reason for Vishnu’s many incarnations. Kashyapa had a son named Kashipu. He was a fierce warrior and an enemy of the devas. A huge war was fought between the devas and asuras and Kashipu was killed. Kashipu’s son Prahlad became king and he too opposed the devas. Soon Prahlad began a battle with Indra, which lasted for over a hundred years. In the end Prahlad was defeated. A disappointed Prahlad made Bali, son of Virochana, king and left for the Gandhamadana mountains to meditate. Bali continued the war with the devas, and Indra defeated him with the help of Vishnu. The asuras pleaded with their guru Shukra for help, and he agreed. The devas came to know of this. Meanwhile, Shukra took leave of the asuras to find mantras and herbs to strengthen them. He told them that he was going to Kailash to see Shiva, and that the asuras should faithfully wait for him. The asuras sent Prahlad as an emissary to the devas. Prahlad told the devas that the asuras didn’t desire war, and their plan was to meditate from then on. He assured the devas that they would have no more trouble from the asuras, and that they should not harm the asuras henceforth. The devas believed Prahlad, and the asuras stayed in a hermitage waiting for Shukra. Shukra meanwhile reached Kailash, bowed before Shiva, and after a while, asked him for something that the asuras could use against the devas, and which was unknown to Brihaspati. Shiva was flummoxed since he didn’t want to disappoint Shukra or the devas. Finally he told Shukra that if he meditated on his head for a thousand years, he would learn the thing he desired. Shiva had thought that he could dissuade Shukra by giving him this seemingly impossible task, but Shukra was not to be deterred. He started his meditation. The devas came to know of this, understood the asuras’ treachery, and immediately met to decide their next move. They decided to go to war against the asuras. The asuras were now worried since they knew they didn’t stand a chance against the devas. They approached Shukra’s mother Kavya for help. The devas pursued them, led by Vishnu, but Kavya stopped him and Indra with her powers. Vishnu managed to use the sudarshan chakra to sever Kavya’s head. Bhrigu was horrified that Vishnu had killed a woman. he called Vishnu and told him that the sages who worshiped him were fools since Vishnu was no paragon of virtue. He cursed that Vishnu would have several incarnations of earth and would be forced to suffer like mortals, as per Srimahadevibhagavata Chaturthaskanda. After cursing Vishnu, Bhrigu took some water from his kamandalu and used it to revive Kavya. As per Bhrigu’s curse Vishnu was forced to have several incarnations. His purnaavatars were Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna, Kalki.

Matsyavatar: Kashyapa and his wife Aditi had a son called Vivasvan. Vivasvan’s son Manu is called Vaivasvatamanu or Satyavratamanu. It was during his time that Vishnu incarnated as a fish. Once, when Brahma was reciting the vedas, an asura called Hayagriva stole them, and hid in the ocean. Vishnu decided to take the form of a fish to kill him and get back the vedas.Meanwhile, Vaivasvatamanu was meditating in Badri. He went to the river Kritamala to bathe. There a small fish told him that it was afraid of the bigger fishes  and asked forprotection. He took the fish with him and kept it in a small pot. In a few days, the fish grew too big for the pot and he had to transfer it to a larger pot. When that pot too became too small, he took it to a lake. When the lake became too small, he transferred it to the river Ganga, as per its request. Finally even the river couldn’t handle its size. The fish then told the king that in seven days, the world would be destroyed by a deluge – pralaya, and that he should get the saptarishis and escape in a boat. Vaivasvatamanu made a huge boat and the pralaya happened exactly as the fish had foretold. All living beings were swept away. A horn grew on the fish’s head and Vaivasvatamanu attached his boat with a rope to the horn. The fish reached the Himalayas with the boat and tied it to a peak there. The place came to be known as Naubandhanashringa. When the deluge subsided, all living creatures had been killed and only the saptarishis and a few seeds had escaped, as per Mahabharata Aaranyaparva Chapter 187, Agnipurana Chapter 2 and Bhagavata Ashtamaskanda Chapter 24. A similar tale can be found in the Bible too. (Noah)

Kurmavatar: Once when Durvasa, an ansh incarnation of Shiva was traveling in the forest, he saw Menaka, an apsara with a garland of Kalpavriksha flowers. Its scent filled the forest. Durvasa requested for the garland to be given to him, and wearing it on his head, he reached devaloka. There, he saw Indra on the Airavat along with the devas. He gifted the nectar filled garland, surrounded by bees to Indra, who kept it on top of Airavat’s head. The elephant took the garland in its trunk, smelled it, was irritated by the bees, and flung it to the ground. Durvasa thought Indra had insulted him and cursed that devaloka would lose its prosperity. The devas began to age. Vishnu told them that the amrit obtained by churning the ocean could save them. As per Vishnu’s advice, they made peace with the asuras and prepared for the samudra manthan. Together they collected the herbs, mixed them in the foamy white ocean, and started churning it using Vasuki and Meru. In a matter of time, Meru started sinking into the ocean floor. Vishnu took the form of a kurma (tortoise) and served as a base for Meru. Because of its strength, Meru began to go higher than required. Immediately, Vishnu took on another form, an eagle and sat on top of the mountain, thus stabilising it, as per Bhagavata Ashtamaskanda Chapter 7, Agnipurana Chapter 3 and Ramayana Balakanda Sarga 45.

Varaha: Jaya and Vijaya were Vishnu’s gatekeepers. Once when a few sages came to visit Vishnu, they were stopped and direspected by the two. The sages cursed that they would become asuras, but also said that the curse would be lifted if they were killed thrice by Vishnu. During that time, Kashyapa’s wife Diti tried to seduce him while he was busy with his evening prayers. Kashyapa told her that it wasn’t right on her part, but Diti continued and finally Kashyapa gave in. From that union, Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu were born, respectively the avatars of Jaya and Vijaya. (In their next births they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and Shishupala and Dantavaktra) They began tormenting people. Once Hiranyaksha stepped into the ocean and started churning it with his mace. Varuna appealed to Vishnu for help. Vishnu reached the shore in the form of a boar (varaha). Seeing this Hiranyaksha took the earth in his palms and ran to patala. Vishnu followed him there, killed him and regained the earth, as per Bhagavata Skanda 3 Chapter 18, Skanda 2 Chapter 7 and Agnipurana Chapter 4.

Narasimha: Hiranyakashipu was angered by the death of his brother and vowed to avenge him. He climbed the Mandara mountain and began praying to Brahma. Brahma gave him all the desired boons. Thus Hiranyakashipu could be killed only by Vishnu and no other. He began troubling Vishnu’s devotees. Hiranyakashipu had a son named Prahlad, who was a Vishnu devotee. Hiranyakashipu tried everything to dissuade him and even sent him to a guru. In a while, the guru became a Vishnu devotee. Hiranyakashipu was enraged and decided to kill his son. He had mad elephants charging at Prahlad. Their tusks missed Prahlad, hit the ground and broke. He used poisonous snakes whose fangs were torn away as they neared Prahlad. He dropped Prahlad into a raging fire, which refused to harm him. From the fire emerged Kritya, who tried to kill Prahlad, but had her head was severed by Vishnu’s sudarshana chakra. Hiranyakashipu was enraged and asked his son where Vishnu was. Prahlad replied that Vishnu was omnipresent. Hiranyakashipu kicked a nearby pillar and asked if Vishnu was inside. Prahlad repeated his reply and from the pillar emerged a ferocious Narasimha, as per Bhagavata Saptamaskanda Chapter 8 verses 20-22. Narasimha caught Hiranyakashipu, dragged him to the ground and used its nails to tear open his chest. It then ripped out Hiranyakashipu’s intestines and hung it around its neck. Prahlad bowed to the avatar, who then blessed him and disappeared, as per Bhagavata Saptamaskanda Chapter 8.

Vamana: Vishnu incarnated as Vamana to end the reign of Mahabali. Bali was the son of Virochana and the grandson of Prahlad, and earned the name Mahabali because of his valour. Mahabalai was the king of the asuras and their war with the devas for amrit continued. During the battle, Indra struck Mahabali with his vajra. The asuras carried his dead body to patala, where he was revived by Shukra. Bali became even stronger than before and went to devaloka, where he defeated the devas. The devas fled. Their mother Aditi was pained by their state. Her husband Kashyapa noticed it and asked her the reason. She replied that she was trying to think of a way to get the devas their stature back. Kashyapa advised that a dwadashi vrata would appease Vishnu. Aditi followed his directions. Vishnu appeared and asked her what boon she sought. She said that he should  be born as Aditi’s son and help Indra regain his glory. Vishnu was thus born as Vamana. Meanwhile, Bali had conquered all the worlds and was conducting a yajna on the banks of the Narmada. Vamana appeared there among a lot of other sages, and asked for three measures of land. Shukra opposed this but Bali agreed to give Vamana three measures of land from anywhere in his kingdom. Vamana immediately grew in size and used two steps to cover the earth,  heavens and patala. He then asked Bali for the third measure. Bali asked him to step on his head to fulfill the promise. Vamana pushed Bali down into Patala, and the devas regained their glory, as per Bhagavata Ashtamaskanda Chapter 19. As per the Bhagavata Panchamaskanda, when Vamana lifted his leg, a nail struck Brahma and split his skin, and this was how the Ganga originated. (see Ganga) When Vishwamitra, Rama and Lakshmana were in the jungles, they visited an ashram. vishwamitra told the brothers that this was where Aditi had kept her vrata. This was also the place where Vamana had pushed Bali into the ground, as per Ramayana Balakanda Sarga 29.

Parashurama: King Kartaviryarjuna prayed to Dattatreya and got himself a thousand arms. Once, while on a hunt, he reached the banks of the Narmada, where the sage Jamadagni stayed with his wife Renuka and his sons, including Parashurama. The tired king visited this ashram, and Jamadagni called Kamadhenu to provide sumptuous meals to the king and his entourage. Before he left, the king asked Jamadagni for the cow, but the sage refused. The king took it away forcibly. Parashurama was away when all of this happened. When he returned, he went to the king’s capital Mahishmati, killed Kartaviryarjuna and took back the cow. The king’s sons waited for an opportunity to avenge their father’s death. Once, when Renuka had gone to the Narmada for a bath, she saw the gandharva Chitraratha and spent some time gazing at him. jamadagni came to know this and when she returned, he asked each of his sons to sever her head. All but Parashurama were reluctant. After Parashurama had committed the act, Jamadagni asked him what he’d like as a boon. Parashurama asked for his mother to be brought back to life. Renuka was revived. Once, when Parashurama was away, Kartaviryarjuna’s sons came to the ashram, killed Jamadagni and took away his head. When he returned, Renuka told him what happened and beat her chest 21 times. Parashurama circled the world 21 times and killed all the kshatriyas. Their blood joined at a place called Syamantapanchakam. Thus Vishnu completed the avatar’s task – killing evil kshatriyas, as per Bhagavata Navamaskanda. (see Parashurama)

Rama: Vishnu incarnated as Rama to destroy Ravana. (see Rama and Ravana for details)

Balarama: (see Balarama)

Krishna: (see Krishna)

Kalki: By the end of the Kaliyug, all beings would become faithless. People will forget dharma and even become cannibalistic. The, Vishnu will incarnate as Kalki, the son of Vishnuyashas, a fierce warrior who will annihilate evil, and restore dharma, as per Agnipurana Chapter 16.

As per the Srimahadevibhagavata Skanda 1, Vishnu took 26 incarnations – Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana, Sanalkumara, Varaha, Narada, Naranarayanas, Kapila, Dattatreya, Yajna, Rishabha, Pridhu, Matsya, Mohini, Kurma, Garuda, Dhanwantari, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Vyasa, Rama, Balarama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki.