In Puranic lore, Vishnu is the preserver of the universe and the cosmic order. The Dasha Avatar is the Puranic story of the ten incarnations of Vishnu who descends to the terrestrial world to establish stability and order, time and again. The avatars occur in a sequence – the first was matsya or fish representing life in water, followed by kurma or turtle signifying life in water and on land, then varaha or boar alluding to terrestrial life and so on. The sequence of the avatars could be taken to symbolise various stages in the evolution of life culminating in the advent of the perfect being.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation is supposed to be responsible for the sustenance, protection and maintenance of the Universe. To establish righteousness and destroy injustice in the world, he has incarnated in different life forms in various ages. Each incarnation has an interesting story associated with it which describes the feats of Vishnu. Such personifications are popularly believed to be ten in all though there is no upper limit to them. Children are inquisitive by nature and have often wondered why God incarnated himself time and again. In this book, each incarnation of Lord Vishnu has been presented in a manner that will be enlightening, educational and fun for children as well as grown-ups.

Did you know that each avatar of Vishnu arrived with a specific purpose? Time and again, Vishnu has manifested in different forms to fulfil his role as a ‘protector’ of the world. Among the long list of 24 avatars, ten avatars have captured our imagination for centuries together—matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parshuram, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki. But how exactly did these avatars impact the society? And how do they link to the Charles Darwin theory of evolution? While each avatar has its own set of legends that extoll their characteristics and deeds, the stories behind them are just as interesting and informative. Presented in a contemporary and unbiased perspective, these stories of the ten avatars of Vishnu are an attempt to make mythology more believable and relevant to the world that we live in today.

The scripture of the Bhagavad Gita was given by God's incarnation Sri Krishna to humanity more than 5,000 years ago. The profound teachings of the Holy book are as relevant in today’s world as it was in the hoary past. The teaching of the Song of God, in the form of the Bhagavad Gita, has been acknowledged all over the world as a lofty scripture. The Holy book has been translated into all major languages of the world, for the benefit of humanity. For thousands of years, the Bhagavad Gita has inspired millions of readers.

Most of the poems in this collection are taken from several volumes published during the 1930s. The translator, Aurobindo Bose, has divided them into 'Poems of Hope and Defiance' and 'Poem of Wonder'. These poems dispel forever the false idea that Tagore was a poet of the 'Ivory Tower'.