Matsya the Fish, the first incarnation (avataras) of the Lord Vishnu. Matsya beheads the sea monster to save the four sacred Vedas and return them to the four-headed Brahma. After an illustration in Philippus Baldaeus’s Truthful and Exact Description of the Famous East India Coast of Malabar and Coromandel, Amsterdam, 1672. Premiere Incarnation. Copperplate engraving by David Herrliberguer after an illustration by Bernard Picard from Les Ceremonies Religieuses de Tous les Peuples du Monde, Religious Ceremonies of All the Peoples of the World, Chez David Herrliberguer, Zurich, 1746.

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