MATSYA

[Hindu] In Hindu myth, the first incarnation of the god Vishnu. When the Deluge came, he saved the mortal Manu Vaivasvata. This mortal found a small fish, which asked his protection. The fish grew rapidly, and Manu recognized it as Vishnu incarnate. At the fish's command, Manu embarked in a ship together with the Rishis and the seeds of all existing things, and the ship, bound to the fish's great horn, was preserved during the Flood. Finally it rested on a peak of the Himalayas. Matsya later destroyed an underwater demon who had stolen the Vedas.