Lord in Fish form
In our previous episode, we saw the stories of the creation of Brahma, the birth of Rudra, etc.
In today's episode, let us hear the story of Lord Vishnu, Matsya Avatar. Why did he take the form of a fish? What happened to the world? In his Matsyavatara, he first appeared to whom? We will see all these in today's episode.
As we all know, the creator is Brahma. He is always awake and engaged in the work of creation. But, he also needs rest. He also has a particular time for sleep. One day of Brahma is called “one Kalpa”.
According to Puranas, one day of Lord Brahma is 4.32 billion years. Similarly, one night is also 4.32 billion years.
That is, one day and one night of Lord Brahma is a period of 8.64 billion years. The total lifespan of our world is considered a “Mahakalpa”. That is the duration of one breath of Lord Maha Vishnu. That makes a total of 811.04 trillion years.
One day Brahma fell asleep. When he goes to sleep, no living thing in the world survives. Because, as soon as he goes to sleep, the waters of the ocean will rise and flood all three worlds.
This time it was the same. Brahma fell asleep. The deluge has begun. At the same time, the demon Hayagriva, who was waiting, stole the four Vedas that came out of Brahma's mouth and hid them inside a conch at the bottom of the sea. Knowing this, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a golden fish, plunged into the ocean, killed Hayagriva, and returned the Vedas to Lord Brahma. Some stories say that the Vedas were in the form of boys.
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It was a manvantara named Chakshusha. At that time a king named Satyavrata was ruling the land. Once Satyavrata, after bathing in the river Kritmala and offering arghyam, a small fish entered his joined palms. No matter how many times he put him (fish) in the water, he kept coming back into his palm.
Finally, the fish spoke. "Maharaj, don't let me go into the water. The huge aquatic creatures here will kill me. Please keep me in your palace and give me shelter." said.
Feeling sorry for this little fish, the king put the fish in his vessel and took him to the palace, kept him in a pot of water there, and fell asleep.
When he woke up the next day, the fish had grown as big as the pot. The fish begged the king to show him another place.
The king picked up the fish and put him in the well. But within five minutes the fish had grown so large that his head could be seen sticking out of the well. The fish called out to the king again. The king got annoyed, joined the soldiers, and threw the fish into the sea.
In moments the fish grew as big as the sea, and called out to the king, asking him to be transported elsewhere.
Now the king knew for sure who this fish was. "Matsya Raj, you are no ordinary fish. I suspect you must be Maha Vishnu himself. Please tell me who you are immediately." The king said to the fish.
The fish began to speak.
"Son, Satyavrata, your guess is right. I am Lord Vishnu in the form of a fish. I have come to warn you of the deluge that will take place in seven more days. On the seventh day, a huge ship will appear in the sea. You pray to Vasuki and tell that ship to be roped. I will come and sail that ship until the deluge is over. I will drag it." Telling that, Lord Vishnu, who was in the form of a fish, disappeared from there.
A flood began in the world. As if the sky was torn apart, the clouds parted and the rain began to pour. Lightning flashed everywhere. One could see stranded people around the world. Every creature of God's creation was moving in different directions. One by one they were destroyed. Thus six days passed and the seventh day came.
King Satyavrata, as commanded by the Lord, gathered Saptarshis, precious herbs, cattle, other animals and birds, and ordinary people, in the sea bed.
After some time, a huge ship appeared in the sea. Then when the king prayed to Vasuki, he appeared and wrapped his tail around the ship. The king took them all on board, and at last, he got on board. But Maha Vishnu, in the form of a fish, was nowhere to be seen.
The king, now with a pure mind, began to pray to the Lord for help. A giant fish, almost a mile long, swam towards the ship and told to wrap his tail around Vasuki. Then slowly started pulling the boat.
Lord Vishnu in the form of a huge fish
The fish was going around the world. While traveling like this, they encountered rain, lightning, storms, etc. Everywhere they looked, they could see only water. How long did this go on? No one knew that.
Finally, Lord Brahma woke up after 4.32 billion years. The Great Deluge was beginning to recede as they watched.
Thus, as promised, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a huge fish to save the world. This avatar of Lord Vishnu is called "Matsya Avatar". It is the first of the Dasavataras of the Lord. This incident took place in Manvantar called "Chakshusha". King Satyavrata was the Manu of that Manvantara.
Now we are, in Vaivasvata Manvantara. In this Manvantara, King Satyavrata was born as Swayambhu Manu.
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