"Let me ask you a question first." The Dev asked Samir.
"Okay."
"Tell me what is the role of Bhagwan Vishnu?"
"Isn't he the protector?" Samir said a bit hesitantly.
"Yes, absolutely correct. He is the protector. Now tell me then who should be the most proactive among the Tridev?"
Samir took a few seconds to think this through and answered in a bit of hesitation.
"Is it Bhagwan Vishnu?"
"Yes, he is. It's because of his role. Bhagwan Brahma has to create the universe and his work is done while on the other hand Bhanwan Shiv is the destroyer and hence his work is to destroy the universe when the time comes. At last, Bhagwan Vishnu is the protector so he does everything to protect the universe and sometimes he has to even take avatars on Earth to save it."
"What does it mean to take avatars?"
"It means that he incarnates on the Earth in a mortal body with all his powers intact or you can think of it as divine descent."
"Then how many avatars has he taken?"
"He has taken many avatars but his most prominent ones are only 10."
"I am getting curios now. So, what is the story behind these avatars?"
"Before telling you that let me tell you another thing, which is how time is distributed."
"But I already know that."
The man started laughing hysterically.
"Hahahaha... Sorry, sorry."
"Umm... why are you laughing?"
The man slowly stopped laughing and started smiling at Samir once again.
"Look, little one the time distribution that I am talking about is totally different from what you are aware of."
Samir had an understanding and embarrassing look in his eyes.
"First of all, you must understand that we all are in a cycle of creation and destruction. So, the time is divided in four different time periods which are Satyug, Tretayug, Dwaparyug and Kaliyug. It is divided based on the corruption in human nature. A Satyug is 1.8 million years long, a Tretayug is 1.3 million years long, a Dwaparyug is 864,000 years long and a Kaliyug is measly 432,000 years long. This cycle of yugs are repeated continuously with the same stories and same people. And as you might have guessed already, the current yug is Kaliyug."
"Damn! So is cycle never ending?"
"No, you see these yugs form one 'Mahayug' and after every 71 mahayugs there is a time period called 'Sandhi Kaal' which is one Satyug long. These 71 mahayugs form one 'Manvantar' and during the start of a manvantar life is created and it is destryed at the end of it and this sandhi kaal is the time period in which new life is created and it is given also so that the Earth can be rejuvenated again. Okay, now listen Bhagwan Brahma's total lifespan is 100 years which is also the lifespan of our universe and the days of Brahma are called Kalp and every Kalp is 14 manvantars and 15 sandhi kaals long. Brahma creates lifeforms in the day only and nothing is created at night. For your information we are currently in the first day of 51st year and we are in the 28th mahayug of 7th manvantar."
Samir's mouth was open and seeing this the man in white chuckled once again, "So, do you still think that you know about it?!"
"*Sigh*... Okay, I understand just don't make fun of me. But do I need to remember all this?"
"Nope.''
Samir took a long sigh of relief, " Well I wasn't really a good listener. Wait... He can hear me da...!''
Samir was just reminded of this thought in the middle of his thought but the man in front of him with a cheeky smile interrupted his thoughts and started speaking again.
Now let's begin the story of these avatars. The first avatar that Bhagwan Vishnu took was "Matsya Avatar" where matsya means fish. This avatar was literally a fish. So the story goes like this, it was the time of Satyug which was the golden age because each and every human was pure and far from the evil desires that have contaminated them today. There was a Rishi known as 'Manu'."
"What is a Rishi?"
"A rishi is a person who is devoted to Bhagwan and live a simple life. They do meditation for the peace of mind and to connect to Bhagwan. They also impart knowledge to others in their 'Gurukuls' which was like today's hostel and among them the most knowledgable and respected ones were 7 individuals called 'Saptrishi'. Now then, let's continue. So, Manu was bathing in a river one day and he accidentally took out a fish when he was doing 'Suryanamaskar' and before you ask, it is a ritual one did during that time to show their respect to the Sun. Okay, so when Manu was just going to free the free into the vast river once again the fish spoke out and it said, "Oh great Rishi please don't free me into the river once again the other fishes are much bigger than me and they will eat me." Hearing this Manu told the fish that it could come with him into his 'Kamandal'(Water holder) and took the fish with him to his house. When he reached home and saw inside the kamandal, the fish had grown much bigger than before and the kamandal was suffocating for the fish now."Oh great Rishi please put me in a bigger place because I am suffocating in here." pleaded the fish. Hearing this Manu put it in a bigger container filled with water but the fish grew larger once again and pleaded to him to free him into the river. Manu was astonished seeing all this and knew that the fish was not an ordinary one."
"But how did the fish speak?"
"Well, it was the golden age, when the whole world was rich in spiritual and divine. So even the animals were a lot smarter than the current ones."
"Were humans much smarter too?"
"Yes, they were."
"Oho... Wait was the fish the Matsya avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu?"
"You caught on quickly. Yes, the fish is the Matsya avatar."
"What happened afterwards?"
"After releasing the fish into the river the fish started growing in size once again and became the size of a big ship and his upper body transformed into that of a human. Seeing this, Manu instantly recognised him and clasped his hands and sat on his knees saying, "Hey lord, please forgive this little servant of yours for not recognising you earlier. But why are you here my lord?"
Hearing this Bhagwan Matsya said, "It is not your mistake. It is I who should be apologizing. As for why am I here? It was to test you whether your heart is pure or not."
Manu was startled hearing Bhagwan Matsya apologizing, "Please don't apologise to this measly servant of yours my lord. You are saying that you were testing me but why my lord?""