Learn Dasavatara Stotram

Dashavatar Stotram describes the 10 major 'lila-avatars' of Keshav or Krishna. There are 6 kinds of avatars and lila avtars are the most fascinating.

The first four are said to have appeared in the Satya Yuga (the first of the four Yugas or ages in the time cycle described within Hinduism). The next three avatars appeared in the Treta Yuga, the eighth incarnation in the Dwapara Yuga and the ninth in the Kali Yuga. The tenth is predicted to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga in some 427,000 years time. Also according to the Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana, the Kali-yuga will end with the apparition of Kalki-avatara, who will defeat the wicked, liberate the virtuous, and initiate a new Satya Yuga.

Dashavatar Stotram has been written by Jayadev Goswami. Son of a Brahman, he was born in the village of Kenduli Sasan, Orissa, near the city of Puri, and was closely associated with the temple of Jagannatha (Krishna) at Puri, where recitation of his Gita Govinda was regularly performed by the temple dancers. Furthermore, the classic Tribhangi (threefold) posture of Krishna playing the flute gained popularity due to him. Two hymns composed by Jayadeva have been incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikh religion.

Dashavatar Stotram (from Gita Govinda) by Jayadeva concludes after listing the ten avataras each with a separate stanza:

O Lord Kṛṣṇa, I offer my obeisances unto You, who appear in the forms of these ten incarnations. In the form of Matsya You rescue the Vedas, and as Kūrma You bear the Mandara Mountain on Your back. As Varāha You lift the earth with Your tusk, and in the form of Narasiṁha You tear open the chest of the daitya Hiraṇyakaśipu. In the form of Vāmana You trick the daitya king Bali by asking him for only three steps of land, and then You take away the whole universe from him by expanding Your steps. As Paraśurāma You slay all of the wicked kṣatriyas, and as Rāmacandra You conquer the rākṣasa king Rāvaṇa. In the form of Balarāma You carry a plow with which You subdue the wicked and draw toward You the River Yamunā. As Lord Buddha You show compassion toward all the living beings suffering in this world, and at the end of the Kali-yuga You appear as Kalki to bewilder the mlecchas [degraded low-class people or persons of low character or persons who yielded to the worldly sensual pleasures and lost their character].