Vishnu is the preserver, who maintains balance in the universe. He took on many different forms, known as avatars, in different situations, when evil elements threatened this balance. Ten different avatars have been documented in the mythology.

Mastya
In the Mastya Avatar, Vishnu appeared in the form of a fish. A king named Manu had been performing penance, repaying for his sins for many thousand years. While he was bathing in the river, a fish swam into his hand and asked the king to save it. The king agreed, and he put the fish into a jar of water. However, as soon as the fish was in the jar, it started to grow. Soon, the jar was too small for the fish and Manu had to take the fish out and throw it into the river. The fish was soon too small for the river, and Manu threw it into the ocean.

The fish soon revealed itself to be Vishnu himself. He told the Manu that the era was ending soon, with a huge flood which would drown the world along with all the living creatures. He told the king to build a big boat, and to gather seven sages, seeds of all the plants in the world and one of every animal in the world. When the flood came, Manu should get everything on the boat and Vishnu himself would appear as a fish again, to push to boat to Mount Himavan where they may survive the flood.

The king had everything ready in seven days, and the fish steered the ship to Mount Himavan, where the whole company survived the flood. After the flood, the king started the rebirth of the new era.

Kurma
Vishnu once took the form of a tortoise, called Kurma. The Devta gods had once offended a great sage, and as punishment, the sage rendered all of the Devtas weak and powerless. The Devats approached Vishnu for a solution. Vishnu told them to recruit the help of the demons in the mixing of the ocean to produce the medicine which would cure them of their weakness. The demons, hoping to get their share of the potion, agreed to help. They used Mount Mandara to stir the ocean, using the serpent Vasuki to hold the mountain up. The Devtas tricked the demons when they requested to hold the head end of Vasuki.

The demons thought the gods wanted the head end for some advantage, insisting on having the head end for themselves. In fact, when the demons held the head end, the serpent's poison filled them and they were greatly weakened. In the process of the stirring, the mountain nearly fell completely into the ocean. Vishnu took the form of a tortoise, and held up the mountain until the stirring was complete.

The demons snatched the potion once it was made, but Vishnu then came in the guise of a beautiful woman and tricked the demons into allowing her to distribute the potion. Vishnu gave the Devtas their share of the potion, then before reaching the demons, he disappeared into thin air, leaving the demons weak and sore.

Varaha
Vishnu once took the form of a boar, named Varaha. A demon named Hiranyaksha managed to gain invulnerability from all creatures, men and gods, from Brahma the Creator. Somehow, the boar was not on the list of creatures. Hiranyaksha went all over the world committing heinous crimes with his newfound invincibility, and he stole Holy Scriptures from Brahma himself, and pushed the world into the sea. On seeing this, Vishnu turned himself into a huge boar. He used his tusks to lift the world out of the sea, then proceeded to kill Hiranyaksha and returned the Holy Scriptures back to Brahma.

Narasimha
Vishnu also once appeared in the form of a half-man half-lion. The king of the demons, Hiranyaksha, wanted immortality. He prayed to Brahma by wanting to repay for his sins. Brahma was moved, and granted him his wish, such that Hiranyaksha would not be killed by man nor animal. He could not be killed during night or day, and neither inside nor outside a building. After he had gained his wish, Hiranyaksha felt like a god, and he did not allow worship of any other god.

However, his son, Prahlada, was a worshipper of Vishnu. Hiranyaksha tried ways and means to kill his son, but was unable to. Enraged, he asked Prahlada where Vishnu was. Prahlada answered that Vishnu was everywhere. In retaliation, his father knocked down a pillar in the house and asked if Vishnu was there. On this, Vishnu emerged from the pillar, which was neither inside nor outside the house. He was in the form of Narasimha, half-man, half-lion, which was neither man nor creature. It was in the evening, which was neither day nor night. Vishnu killed Hiranyaksha, thus saving Prahlada's life.

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