Matsya Avatar (Matsya means a fish) was the first of 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu on the Earth to save humanity from great deluge (maha pralaya). The story of Matsya Avatar is somewhat similar to that of Noah in the Bible. According to Matsya Purana, Lord Vishnu incarnated as half-fish and half-human and guided the king Satyavrat (Manu) to save himself, seeds of the plants, herbs, and mobile living creatures on the earth at the time of the great flood.

The Story of Matsya Avatar:

Millions of years ago, in Krita Yuga, there was a pious and noble king Satyavrat in India. He was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. One day, he was giving arghya (offering water to a deity with collecting water by joining the palms of his both hands side by side and releasing it from the finger side slowly while chanting a mantra of the deity) in the river Kritmala (per another story, he was washing his hands in the river). When he cupped his hands to collect the water, he saw a small golden fish in his palms asking him for protection as it was afraid of other big fishes in the river. It was the duty of a king to protect everybody who asks for protection. Hence, king Satyavrat put the fish in a pot filled with water but in a very short time, the fish outgrew the pot.

So, the king put the fish in a well. But again, the fish outgrew the well. The same thing happened when he tried to put the fish in the lake and river. Hence, he put it into the sea. The fish actually was Lord Vishnu who was pleased by his kindness. At that time, Lord Vishnu appeared before him in half-fish and half-human form and told him that the great deluge will happen on the seventh day from then and ordered him to keep ready a gigantic boat with a pair of all animals, insects and also herbs, seeds of plants [also Saptarshis (the seven saints) according to some stories] on the seventh day. He said that he would return on the seventh day and would take them out of the maha pralaya.

As per the instructions of Lord Vishnu, Satyavrat kept the boat ready (It is said that demigods helped him to build the boat and collect the seeds and species of all living beings). Meanwhile, torrential rain filled the earth with water and the great deluge began. Then, Vishnu in the form of Matsya appeared before him and told him to use Vasuki (the big serpent) as a rope and tie the ship to the horn of the Matsya Avatar. Matsya then carried the boat to a safer place (Malaya Mountains). Matsya Avatar imparted the knowledge necessary to survive in the post-deluge era to Satyavrat in seven days of the deluge and disappeared.

King Satyavrat obeyed Vishnu’s orders and imparted necessary knowledge to the survivors of the deluge and restored dharma.

According to another story, king Satyavrat was the lone survivor after the Maha Pralaya. He performed a Yajna (a Hindu ritual done to please deities by offering sacrifices into the fire), after which a woman appeared from the water and the human race flourished from them (this story is similar to that of Adam and Eve in the Bible).