A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.195

c5.195

The above are the usually recognised Avatāras, but the number is sometimes extended, and the Bhāgavata Purāna, which is the most fervid of all the Purānas in its glorification of Vishnu, enumerates twenty-two incarnations:—(1.) Purusha, the male, the progenitor; (2.) Varāha, the boar; (3.) Nārada, the great sage; (4.) Nara and Nārāyana (q.v.); (5.) Kapila, the great sage; (6.) Dattātreya, a sage; (7.) Yajna, sacrifice; (8.) Rishabha, a righteous king, father of Bharata; (9.) Prithu, a king; (10.) Matsya, the fish; (11.) Kūrma, the tortoise; (12 and 13.) Dhanwantari, the physician of the gods; (14.) Nara-sinha, the man-lion; (15.) Vāmana, the dwarf; (16.) Parasu-rāma; (17.) Veda-Vyāsa; (18.) Rāma; (19.) Bala-rāma; (20.) Krishna; (21.) Buddha; (22.) Kalkī. But after this it adds—“The incarnations of Vishnu are innumerable, like the rivulets flowing from an inexhaustible lake. Rishis, Manus, gods, sons of Manus, Prajāpatis, are all portions of him.”