He keeps His word

While the Dasavataras of Vishnu are celebrated by the Azhvars in their verses, the avataras are not listed in order under one section by any of them, except Thirumangai Azhvar. In two places in his Peria Thrumozhi, he gives Vishnu’s avataras. In one section of his Peria Thirumozhi, he devotes one verse to each of the first nine avataras. In the last verse, he sums up all the nine briefly, and finally adds the Kalki avatara too, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. In another instance, he talks about the ten avataras of Vishnu, but here he omits the Balarama avatara and includes instead the Hamsa avatara. Parasara Bhatta, in his commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama, shows how the names of the Lord can be taken to indicate His avataras.

Each avatara has its own uniqueness. In the Vamana avatara, we see how the Lord helps those who seek His aid, and yet at the same time, He ensures that He keeps His word to others involved in the matter. When He killed Hiranyakasipu during His Narasimha avatara, He gave a promise to Prahlada that He would not kill any descendant of his. Mahabali was Prahlada’s grandson, through his (Prahlada’s) son Virochana. While Mahabali was banished to the netherworld, the Lord did not kill him. First of all, Bali was not wicked, and so, did not deserve to die. But more importantly, he was the grandson of Prahlada, which meant that the Lord would not kill him, for He had already given His word to Prahlada.

The Vamana avatara shows how he retrieved Indra’s rajya from Mahabali, and at the same time spared Mahabali’s life. And the Lord’s promise to Prahlada continued in the Krishna avatara too. Krishna spared the life of Banasura though He was wicked. The reason was that Banasura was also a grandson of Prahlada.

Source: Read Full Article