The second avatar of Lord Vishnu | Kurma avatar

by Rhea Karuturi February 19, 2021

We all know that Lord Vishnu had pledged that he would appear every time when someone threatens the existence of humanity. Kurma avatar of Lord Vishnu is usually represented in painting and sculpture. Kurma is also represented zoomorphically, as a tortoise.

Also, go for - The first avatar of Lord Vishnu

The tale of Kurma -

Ocean churning

This all started in ‘Satya yuga’ when the battle took place between Devtas and Asuras, where the Devtas grew weaker due to the curse from ‘Durvasa’. Despite fighting bravely, Devtas could not win over the asuras and thought to visit Lord Vishnu for help.

Lord Vishnu asked them to churn the ocean (Samudra Manthan) with the help of the great serpent Vasuki as a rope and use Mount Mandara as a churning stick. On the advice of Lord Vishnu, the Devtas and Asuras corporated to churn the celestial ocean together to obtain ‘amrita’.

But, during the churning Mount Mandara began to sink into the mud at the bottom of the ocean, where the Devtas and Asuras couldn’t perform the churning. Lord Vishnu decided to make his presence felt in the form of ‘Kurma’.

Lord Vishnu took the form of Kurma (big tortoise) and went deep inside the sea and carry Mount Mandara on his broad back.

As the ocean churned, the Devtas received Amritha which made them powerful and they got the win over Asuras. Moreover, Lord Vishnu knew if the Asuras get immortal, then they would overpower the Devtas and also cause massive damage to the human race.

Thus, once again Lord Vishnu helped humanity over the evil by taking the second incarnation of the Dashavatara.

|| Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

Abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskritam

Dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge ||

It’s said that Lord Vishnu has already completed 9 avatars and the last one is expected to appear in the form of “Kalki Avatar” in Kali Yuga.