Matsya - 02

Matsya the great fish is Vishnu’s first incarnation. The Matsya incarnation is usually depicted as half-man, half-fish, with Vishnu’s four-armed torso emerging from the head. This painting depicts the story from the Bhagavata Purana where the demon Hayagriva, emerging here from a conch shell, steals the Vedas (the oldest sacred text of Hinduism) from Brahma’s mouth while the God is sleeping, and hides them in the ocean. Brahma turns to Vishnu for help, and the latter assumes the form of an enormous fish and plunges into the depths, ultimately killing Hayagriva and restoring the Vedas to Brahma. This striking Thanjavur reverse glass painting illustrates a moment near the end of this episode.