Who is He, and why did he come to exist?


Answer






Matsya Avtar


Vishnu s first avatar to save the primordial man (Manu) and the vedas from the Pralaya (deluge/flood). Manu builds the boat, and ties it to the horn of a big fish (vishnu), with a snake (vasuki). And he is guided to safety. 

The story of Noah's ark is familiar to us. There is a mention in the epic of Gilgamesh too. Almost every religion has a flood myth. 


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_myth


Some folk postulate that it could be the result of people around the world experiencing a geographic cataclysmic event, like the melting after the ice age, that led to wide spread flooding around the world. 


Interestingly, the Shatapata Brahmana credits the deed to Brahma. More recently, I came across another interesting Flood story, when I was visiting the Mahamaham tank at Kumbakonam, where Shiva saves the day.

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