Matsya
A tiny fish asks a king for protection — and grows until no pond, lake or river can hold it. Matsya, the first avatar, carries Manu, the seven sages and the seeds of all life through the flood that ends an age.
A fish in the king's palms
[Traditional account]
King Satyavrata (later Vaivasvata Manu) was offering water to the ancestors in the river Kritamala when a tiny fish appeared in his cupped hands and begged not to be thrown back among the big fish. He kept it in a pot; it outgrew the pot, then a pond, then a lake, then the river, then the ocean.
The warning
Understanding that this was no ordinary fish, the king bowed. Vishnu revealed himself: in seven days the worlds would be drowned. A great boat would come; the king must board it with the seven sages, every kind of seed and plant…
The journey continues for members
- The voyage and the teaching
- Oldest written version
- Temples
- What it teaches
Sources
- Shatapatha Brahmana — 1.8.1
- Bhagavata Purana — 8.24
- Matsya Purana — chapters 1–2