Forty-Four Avatāras of Vishṇu

An avatāra is a “descent”: a form in which Bhagavān Vishṇu comes into the world to protect dharma (the right order of life) and to help those who love him. Most people know the Daśāvatāra, the list of ten avatāras of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, a Sanskrit retelling of the life of Śrī Rāma, gives a much longer list of forty-four avatāras. It also names the tithi (day of the lunar calendar) on which each of the ten best-known avatāras appeared, and these days are still observed every year.

This list places the Rāma avatāra within the larger picture of Vishṇu appearing again and again in the universe to preserve dharma.

The Forty-Four Avatāras

The ten avatāras of the Daśāvatāra are Matsya (the fish), Kūrma (the tortoise), Varāha (the boar), Narasiṃha (the man-lion), Vāmana (the dwarf), Paraśurāma, Rāma, Kṛshṇa, Buddha and Kalki. Some scriptures give longer lists. The Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, for example, counts twenty-two or twenty-four. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa goes further still and counts forty-four. Its list includes:

• The vyūha forms, through which Vishṇu takes part in the working of the universe, and avatāras connected with the elements of nature
• Haṃsa, the swan avatāra, who taught Nārada Ṛshi in the Satya Yuga (the first and purest of the four ages)
• Hayagrīva, the horse-headed avatāra, who won back the Vedas from the asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha (asuras are beings who oppose the devas and dharma)
• Dattātreya, the avadhūta (a sage who lives completely free of worldly rules) praised in the Purāṇas
• Kapila, the ṛshi who taught the Sāṃkhya school of philosophy
• Nara-Nārāyaṇa, the twin ṛshis of Badarī in the Himālaya
• Pṛthu, the first king to be formally consecrated
• A form in which Vishṇu appeared in connection with Dhruva
• Ṛshabha, honoured by the Jaina tradition as its first Tīrthaṅkara, and accepted in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as an avatāra of Vishṇu
• Mohinī, the enchanting feminine form who outwitted the asuras during the Samudra-manthana, when the devas and asuras churned the ocean of milk
• All ten avatāras of the Daśāvatāra
• Further avatāras found only in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa’s longer list

The message of this longer list is that Vishṇu does not appear only ten times. He is present again and again, in many forms, to protect dharma and to free his bhaktas (devotees) from the cycle of birth and death.

The Days on Which the Avatāras Appeared

Festivals in the pañcāṅga follow the lunar calendar. Each lunar month has two halves: the śukla paksha (bright fortnight), when the moon grows, and the kṛshṇa paksha (dark fortnight), when it wanes. Each day of a fortnight is called a tithi. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa names the tithi on which each of the ten main avatāras appeared, and so these are the right days to honour them each year.

These are the traditional dates found throughout the Purāṇas. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa brings them together in one place and confirms them.

Why This List Matters

The list of forty-four avatāras comes in the story of the nine brāhmaṇas, told in the third chapter of the Manohara Kāṇḍa. In that story Śrī Rāma appears at the same moment in nine separate forms, one for each of nine devoted brāhmaṇas. These nine forms are known as the Nava-Rāma (“nine Rāmas”).

The list shows that this is not something strange or unusual. It is Vishṇu’s very nature to show himself in endless forms. One who has come into the world as forty-four different avatāras across the ages can easily appear in nine forms at once for nine sincere seekers.

Sources

• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Manohara Kāṇḍa (Book 8), Chapter 3