OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 97 



6. Parasu-Rama, Rama with the ax. In this form he was born as 

 the son of a Brahman to prevent the warrior caste {Kshatryas) from 

 oppressing the Brahmans. 



7. Rama-Chandra, the hero of the epic poem Ramayana. Under 

 this form he fought and defeated the demons {Rakshasas) of Ceylon. 



8. Krishna. In this incarnation he delivered the world from the 

 evil Kamsa. 



9. Buddha. Vishnu assumed the form of this adversary of the 

 Brahmans, that he might hasten the destruction of the wicked by 

 inciting them to despise the sacred books of the Vedas, to neglect the 

 caste duties, and deny the existence of the gods. 



10. Kalki or Kalkin, the white horse. This incarnation is still to 

 come. He will appear on a white horse for the final destruction of the 

 wicked, the revivification of all creation, and the restoration of a new 

 age of righteousness. 



21. Fish incarnation oj Vishnu {Matsya avatar). — Statuette of 

 marble, painted and gilded. Represented with the upper part of a 

 man sticking out from a fish. The upper two arms hold the usual 

 attributes of Vishnu, the club and disk; the lower right hand holds 

 up by the hair a bull-headed demon protruding from a shell; in the 

 left hand is the conch. 



According to the Hindu legends Manu, the primeval man, having 

 won the favor of the deity by his piety in an age of universal deprav- 

 ity, was warned of the deluge and commanded to build a ship and 

 go on board with the seven rishis or patriarchs, and the seeds of all 

 existing things. When the flood came Vishnu appeared as a vast 

 fish with a horn on his head, to which the ship was fastened by a cable. 

 The ship was then drawn along by the fish and secured to a high crag 

 till the flood was over. According to another tradition, the demon 

 Hayagriva carried off the Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindus, 

 while Brahma was asleep and concealed them in the depth of the sea. 

 Vishnu assumed the form of a fish, killed the demon, and brought back 

 the sacred books. Height, 13 inches. India. (Cat. No. 154894, 

 U.S.N.M.) 



22. Tortoise incarnation oj Vishnu (Kurma avatar). — Statuette of 

 marble, painted and gilded. Represented seated on a mountain 

 which rests on a tortoise. The upper hands hold the club and disk; 

 the lower right hand is in the posture of affording protection (ahhaya), 

 the left holds the conch. On the right side a god holds the tail of the 

 snake which is wound around the mountain; on the left, a demon 

 holds its head. 



In this second incarnation Vishnu became a tortoise and stationed 

 himself in the bottom of the sea of milk, that his back might serve 

 as a pivot for the mountain Mandara (Mem), around which the gods 

 and demons twisted the great serpent Vasuki, using the snake as a 



