Avatar

===Longer alternatives===
The Bhagavata Purana also goes on to give an alternate list, wherein it numerically lists out 23 Vishnu avatars in chapter 1.3.<ref>{{cite web |title=CHAPTER THREE |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/3/ |website=vedabase.io |access-date=3 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

# [[Four Kumaras]] (Catuḥsana): the four sons of [[Brahma]] who exemplify the path of devotion.
# [[Varaha]]: The boar avatar. He rescues Bhumi, the goddess of the earth, when the asura Hiranyaksha abducts her, restoring her rightful place in the universe.<ref name=":7" />
# [[Narada]]: the divine-sage who travels the worlds as a devotee of Vishnu.
# [[Nara-Narayana]]: the twin-sages.
# [[Kapila]]: a renowned sage spoken of in the [[Mahabharata]], son of [[Kardama]] and [[Devahuti]]. He is sometimes identified with the founder of the [[Samkhya]] school of philosophy.
# [[Dattatreya]]: the combined avatar of the Hindu [[Trimurti|trinity]] of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. 
# [[Yajna (avatar)|Yajna]]: the embodiment of sacrifices.
# [[Rishabha (Hinduism)|Rishabha]]: the father of emperor [[Bharata Chakravartin|Bharata]].
# [[Prithu]]: the sovereign-king who milked the earth as a cow to obtain the world's grain and vegetation.
# [[Matsya]]: The fish avatar. He saves Manu and the seven sages from the cosmic flood, and in some traditions, saves the Vedas from an asura called Hayagriva.<ref name=":0" />
# [[Kurma]]: The tortoise/turtle avatar. He supports the mountain named Mandara while the devas and the asuras churn the ocean of milk to produce the nectar of immortality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=Kurma+churning+of+the+ocean&pg=PT709 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2014-04-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-277-9 |pages=709 |language=en}}</ref>
# [[Dhanvantari]]: the father of [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic]] medicine and a physician to the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]].
# [[Mohini]]: the enchantress who beguiles the asuras into offering her the elixir of eternal life.
# [[Narasimha]]: The lion avatar. He saves his devotee Prahlada and frees the three worlds from the tyranny of an asura named Hiranyakashipu.<ref name=":1" />
# [[Vamana]]: The dwarf avatar. He vanquishes the asura king Mahabali to the netherworld after taking three strides upon the universe, restoring the rule of Indra.<ref name=":2" />
# [[Parashurama]]: The warrior-sage avatar. He destroys the oppressive kings of the military class and creates a new social order.<ref name=":3" />
# [[Rama]]: The prince avatar. He rescues his wife Sita when she is abducted by the rakshasa king Ravana, restoring just rule to the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&dq=Parashurama+encyclopedia&pg=PA324 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |date=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |pages=353–354 |language=en}}</ref>
# [[Vyasa]]: the compiler of the [[Vedas]] and writer of the scriptures ([[Puranas]]) and the epic ''[[Mahabharata]].''
#  [[Krishna]]: The eighth avatar of Vishnu who incarnates to re-establish righteousness in the world. He slays Kamsa, the tyrant of Mathura and his uncle, and participates in the Kurukshetra War as the charioteer of Arjuna.<ref name=":4" />
#[[Gautama Buddha]]: The historical Buddha, who incarnates to delude the asuras from the path of the Vedas, ensuring the victory of the devas. In some traditions, he is referred to as an avatar of Vishnu.<ref name=":5" />
# [[Kalki]]: The prophesied tenth avatar of Vishnu. He incarnates to bring an end to the present age of corruption called the Kali Yuga, re-establishing the four classes and law to the world.<ref name=":6" />

Avatars like [[Hayagriva]], Hamsa ,and [[Garuda]] are also mentioned in the [[Pancharatra]] ,making a total of forty-six avatars.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schrader|first=Friedrich Otto |title=Introduction to the Pāñcarātra and the Ahirbudhnya saṃhitā|publisher=Adyar Library|year=1916|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280365/page/n54 42]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280365}}</ref> However, despite these lists, the commonly accepted number of ten avatars for Vishnu was fixed well before the 10th century CE.<ref name="Mishra" /> [[Madhvacharya]] also regards [[Gautama Buddha in Hinduism|Gautama Buddha]] as an avatar of Vishnu.<ref name="glasenapp-1-2">[[Helmuth von Glasenapp]]: Madhva's Philosophie des Vishnu-Glaubens, Geistesströmungen des Ostens vol. 2, Bonn 1923, ch. Einleitung (p. *1-2).</ref>

'''''Manava Purana'''''

{{Section citations needed|date=August 2023}}

Manava Purana is one of Upapuranas. It lists 42 avatars of Vishnu.

# [[Mahavishnu|Adipurusha]] 
# [[Four Kumaras]] (Catuḥsana)
# [[Narada]] 
# [[Dattatreya]] 
# [[Kapila]] 
# [[Nara-Narayana|Nara- Narayana]] 
# [[Yajna (avatar)|Yajna]] 
# Vibhu
# Satyasena
# Hari
# Vaikunta
# Ajita
# Sharvabhouma
# Vrishbha
# Visvaksena
# Dharmasetu
# Sudhama
# Yogeshwara
# Brihadbhanu
# [[Shaligram]] 
# [[Hayagriva]] 
# [[Hamsa (bird)|Hamsa]] 
# [[Vyasa]] 
# [[Matsya]] 
# [[Kurma]] 
# [[Dhanvantari|Dhanvantri]] 
# [[Mohini]]
# [[Prithu]] 
# [[Rishabhanatha|Vrishbha deva]]
# [[Varaha]] 
# [[Narasimha]] 
# [[Vamana]] 
# [[Parashurama]] 
# [[Rama]] 
# [[Krishna]]
# [[Gautama Buddha in Hinduism|Buddha]] 
# Vikhanasa
# [[Venkateswara]]
# [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]] 
# [[Dnyaneshwar|Dhyaneshwar]] 
# [[Kalki]]