Matsya - Saviour of Manu from the Deluge

Matsya, (Sanskrit: “Fish”) one of the 10 avatars (incarnations) of the Hindu god Vishnu. In this appearance Vishnu saved the world from a great flood. Matsya may be depicted either in animal form or in a combined human-animal form, with the man as the upper half and the fish as the lower half. Matsya is generally represented with four hands—one holding the conch shell, one holding the discus (chakra), one in the pose of conferring a boon (varada mudra), and one in the protection-affording pose (abhaya mudra). He is believed to symbolise the aquatic life as the first beings on earth.

A little fish comes to Manu and asks for his protection, promising to save him from a deluge in the future. The legend moves in the same vein as the Vedic version. Manu places him in the jar. Once it outgrows the jar, the fish asks to be put into a tank which Manu helps with. Then the fish outgrows the tank, and with Manu's help reaches the Ganges River (Ganga), finally to the ocean. Manu is asked by the fish, as in the Shatapatha Brahmana version, to build a ship and additionally, to be in it with Saptarishi (seven sages) and all sorts of seeds, on the day of the expected deluge. Manu accepts the fish's advice. The deluge begins. The fish arrives to Manu's aid. He ties the ship with a rope to the horn of the fish, who then steers the ship to the Himalayas, carrying Manu through a turbulent storm. The danger passes.

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