Fish (BG and SB)

Expressions researched:
"fish" |"fishes" |"fishlike"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 5.26, Purport:

A devotee of the Lord, constantly engaged in devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, perfect in self-realization, very quickly attains liberation in the Supreme. Owing to his complete knowledge in self-realization, he always remains in trance. To cite an analogous example of this:

darśana-dhyāna-saṁsparśair

matsya-kūrma-vihaṅgamāḥ

svāny apatyāni puṣṇanti

tathāham api padma-ja

"By vision, by meditation and by touch only do the fish, the tortoise and the birds maintain their offspring. Similarly do I also, O Padmaja!"

The fish brings up its offspring simply by looking at them. The tortoise brings up its offspring simply by meditation. The eggs of the tortoise are laid on land, and the tortoise meditates on the eggs while in the water. Similarly, the devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, although far away from the Lord's abode, can elevate himself to that abode simply by thinking of Him constantly—by engagement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 9.26, Purport:

One who loves Kṛṣṇa will give Him whatever He wants, and he avoids offering anything which is undesirable or unasked. Thus meat, fish and eggs should not be offered to Kṛṣṇa. If He desired such things as offerings, He would have said so. Instead He clearly requests that a leaf, fruit, flowers and water be given to Him, and He says of this offering, "I will accept it." Therefore, we should understand that He will not accept meat, fish and eggs. Vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and water are the proper foods for human beings and are prescribed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Whatever else we eat cannot be offered to Him, since He will not accept it. Thus we cannot be acting on the level of loving devotion if we offer such foods.

BG 10.9, Purport:

It is explained there that when the complete plant takes shelter under the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, one becomes fully absorbed in love of God; then he cannot live even for a moment without being in contact with the Supreme Lord, just as a fish cannot live without water. In such a state, the devotee actually attains the transcendental qualities in contact with the Supreme Lord.

BG 10.31, Translation:

Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 16.16, Purport:

The best example of such a demoniac man was Rāvaṇa. He offered a program to the people by which he would prepare a staircase so that anyone could reach the heavenly planets without performing sacrifices, such as are prescribed in the Vedas. Similarly, in the present age such demoniac men are striving to reach the higher planetary systems by mechanical arrangements. These are examples of bewilderment. The result is that, without their knowledge, they are gliding toward hell. Here the Sanskrit word moha-jāla is very significant. Jāla means "net"; like fish caught in a net, they have no way to come out.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.3.15, Translation:

When there was a complete inundation after the period of the Cākṣuṣa Manu and the whole world was deep within water, the Lord accepted the form of a fish and protected Vaivasvata Manu, keeping him up on a boat.

SB 1.8.30, Purport:

The Lord is the all-prevailing Supersoul of all existence, and yet He appears in the form of a boar amongst the animals, in the form of a human being as Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, etc., in the form of a ṛṣi like Nārāyaṇa, and in the form of an aquatic like a fish. Yet it is said that He is unborn, and He has nothing to do. In the śruti mantra it is said that the Supreme Brahman has nothing to do.

SB 1.8.30, Purport:

He cannot be understood by the Vedic knowledge, but He can be easily understood by the pure devotees because they are intimately related with Him. The devotees therefore know that although He appears amongst the animals, He is not an animal, nor a man, nor a ṛṣi, nor a fish. He is eternally the Supreme Lord, in all circumstances.

SB 1.8.37, Purport:

The lessons of the Bhagavad-gītā and all the Purāṇas, specifically the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, are therefore inevitably connected with the history of the Pāṇḍava mahātmās. For them, separation from the Lord was just like the separation of a fish from water. Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī, therefore, felt such separation like a thunderbolt, and the whole prayer of the Queen is to try to persuade the Lord to stay with them.

SB 1.10.4, Purport:

One requires all these items to fulfill the material needs of the body. Certainly one does not require flesh and fish or iron tools and machinery. During the regime of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, all over the world there were regulated rainfalls. Rainfalls are not in the control of the human being. The heavenly King Indradeva is the controller of rains, and he is the servant of the Lord. When the Lord is obeyed by the king and the people under the king's administration, there are regulated rains from the horizon, and these rains are the causes of all varieties of production on the land.

SB 1.12.19, Purport:

Mankind is the descendant of Manu. This Vaivasvata Manu had ten sons, named Ikṣvāku, Nabhaga, Dhṛṣṭa, Śaryāti, Nariṣyanta, Nābhāga, Diṣṭa, Karūṣa, Pṛṣadhra and Vasumān. The Lord's incarnation Matsya (the gigantic fish) was advented during the beginning of Vaivasvata Manu's reign. He learned the principles of Bhagavad-gītā from his father, Vivasvān, the sun-god, and he reinstructed the same to his son Mahārāja Ikṣvāku. In the beginning of the Tretā-yuga the sun-god instructed devotional service to Manu, and Manu in his turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku for the welfare of the whole human society.

SB 1.12.21, Purport:

Mahārāja Drupada, although defeated by Arjuna on behalf of his professor Droṇācārya, decided to hand over his daughter Draupadī to his young combatant, but he was disappointed when he heard the false news of Arjuna's death in the fire of a shellac house intrigued by Duryodhana. He therefore arranged for Draupadī's personal selection of a groom who could pierce the eye of a fish hanging on the ceiling. This trick was especially made because only Arjuna could do it, and he was successful in his desire to hand over his equally worthy daughter to Arjuna.

SB 1.15.7, Translation:

Only by His merciful strength was I able to vanquish all the lusty princes assembled at the palace of King Drupada for the selection of the bridegroom. With my bow and arrow I could pierce the fish target and thereby gain the hand of Draupadī.

SB 1.15.7, Purport:

Draupadī was the most beautiful daughter of King Drupada, and when she was a young girl almost all the princes desired her hand. But Drupada Mahārāja decided to hand over his daughter to Arjuna only and therefore contrived a peculiar way. There was a fish hanging on the inner roof of the house under the protection of a wheel. The condition was that out of the princely order, one must be able to pierce the fish's eyes through the wheel of protection, and no one would be allowed to look up at the target.

SB 1.15.16, Purport:

Although he was refused in the competition, still when Arjuna was successful in piercing the fish target on the ceiling and Draupadī bestowed her garland upon Arjuna, Karṇa and the other disappointed princes offered an unusual stumbling block to Arjuna while he was leaving with Draupadī. Specifically, Karṇa fought with him very valiantly, but all of them were defeated by Arjuna.

SB 1.15.35, Translation:

The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others.

SB 1.15.35, Purport:

Factually the magician himself is neither burnt to ashes nor cut to pieces, nor is he dead or unconscious at any stage of his magical demonstration. Similarly, the Lord has His eternal forms of unlimited variety, of which the fish incarnation, as was exhibited within this universe, is also one. Because there are innumerable universes, somewhere or other the fish incarnation must be manifesting His pastimes without cessation.

SB 1.15.35, Purport:

In this verse, the particular word dhatte ("eternally accepted," and not the word dhitvā, "accepted for the occasion") is used. The idea is that the Lord does not create the fish incarnation; He eternally has such a form, and the appearance and disappearance of such an incarnation serves particular purposes. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.24-25) the Lord says, "The impersonalists think that I have no form, that I am formless, but that at present I have accepted a form to serve a purpose, and now I am manifested.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.2.31, Purport:

The impersonalists, who aspire to merge in the impersonal brahmajyoti effulgence of the Supreme Lord but have no conception of loving devotional service to Him in His personal form in the spiritual manifestation, may be compared to certain species of fish, who, being born in the rivers and rivulets, migrate to the great ocean.

SB 2.7.12, Translation:

At the end of the millennium, the would-be Vaivasvata Manu, of the name Satyavrata, would see that the Lord in the fish incarnation is the shelter of all kinds of living entities, up to those in the earthly planets. Because of my fear of the vast water at the end of the millennium, the Vedas come out of my (Brahmā's) mouth, and the Lord enjoys those vast waters and protects the Vedas.

SB 2.7.12, Purport:

There would be many other incidents also, such as the killing of the famous Śaṅkhāsura. This foretelling is by the past experience of Brahmājī, who knew that in that fearful devastating scene, the Vedas would come out of his mouth, but the Lord in His fish incarnation not only would save all living entities, namely the demigods, animals, men and great sages, but would also save the Vedas.

SB 2.7.13, Purport:

The primeval Lord, being all-powerful, can do whatever He likes, and therefore His assuming the incarnation of a tortoise or a fish for serving a particular purpose is not at all astonishing. Therefore we should not have any hesitation whatsoever in accepting the statements of the authentic scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

SB 2.9.32, Purport:

Some of them are four-handed and some of them two-handed. Some of them are like the fish, and some are like the lion. All these different transcendental bodies of the Lord, without any differential category, are disclosed to the devotees of the Lord by the mercy of the Lord, and thus the impersonalists' false arguments claiming the formlessness of the Supreme Truth do not appeal to a devotee of the Lord, even though such a devotee may not be very advanced in devotional service.

SB 2.10.42, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu incarnates Himself in different societies of living entities to reclaim them from the clutches of illusion, and such activities of the Lord are not limited only to human society. He incarnates Himself even as a fish, hog, tree and many other forms, but less intelligent persons who have no knowledge of Him deride Him even if He is in human society as a human being.

SB 2.10.42, Purport:

Even if He is visible in the material world, the exhibition is only of His internal energy, for He is above the good and bad conceptions of this material world. In the material world the fish or the hog may be considered lower than the man, but when the Lord appears as a fish or hog, He is neither of them in the material conception. It is His causeless mercy that He appears in every society or species of life, but He is never to be considered one of them.

SB 2.10.42, Purport:

The words paraṁ bhāvam, or transcendental nature, can never be compared to the material conception. We should not forget that the potencies of the Almighty Lord are always the same and do not decrease because the Lord assumes the form of a lower animal. There is no difference between Lord Śrī Rāma, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His incarnations as a fish and hog. He is all-pervading and simultaneously localized at any and every place. But the foolish person with a poor fund of knowledge, for want of that paraṁ bhāvam of the Lord, cannot understand how the Supreme Lord can take the form of a man or a fish. One compares everything to one's own standard of knowledge, as the frog in the well considers the sea to be like the well.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.2.8, Translation:

This universe with all its planets is most unfortunate. And even more unfortunate are the members of the Yadu dynasty because they could not identify Lord Hari as the Personality of Godhead, any more than the fish could identify the moon.

SB 3.2.8, Purport:

From this ocean of milk the moon was born, but the fish in the milk ocean could not recognize that the moon. was not another fish and was different from them. The fish took the moon to be one of them or maybe something illuminating, but nothing more. The unfortunate persons who do not recognize Lord Kṛṣṇa are like such fish. They take Him to be one of them, although a little extraordinary in opulence, strength, etc. The Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) confirms such foolish persons to be most unfortunate: avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam.

SB 3.2.11, Purport:

In this verse the word avitṛpta-dṛśām is most significant. The conditioned souls in the material world are all trying to satisfy their senses in various ways, but they have failed to do so because it is impossible to be satisfied by such efforts. The example of the fish on land is very appropriate. If one takes a fish from the water and puts it on the land, it cannot be made happy by any amount of offered pleasure. The spirit soul can be happy only in the association of the supreme living being, the Personality of Godhead, and nowhere else.

SB 3.5.7, Purport:

The demigods, or the living entities who live in the higher planets, are far superior to human beings. Since they have better arrangements for living conditions, they live far more luxuriously than human beings, yet they are all devotees of the Lord. The Lord incarnates in different forms, such as those of a fish, a tortoise, a hog, and a combined lion and man, just to give protection to civilized man, the cow and the demigods, who are directly responsible for the regulative life of progressive self-realization.

SB 3.9.19, Purport:

The same principle is applicable when He appears as the hog or fish incarnations. They are transcendental forms of the Lord and are manifested under certain necessities of His own pleasure and pastimes. Such manifestations of the transcendental forms of the Lord are accepted by Him mostly to enliven His devotees. All His incarnations are manifested whenever there is a need to deliver His devotees and maintain His own principles.

SB 3.18.2, Purport:

Demons cannot understand the incarnations of the Lord; they think that His incarnations as a fish or boar or tortoise are big beasts only. They misunderstand the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even in His human form, and they deride His descent. In the Caitanya-sampradāya there is sometimes a demoniac misconception about the descent of Nityānanda Prabhu. Nityānanda Prabhu's body is spiritual, but demoniac persons consider the body of the Supreme Personality to be material, just like ours.

SB 3.28.30, Translation:

The yogi then meditates upon the beautiful face of the Lord, which is adorned with curly hair and decorated by lotuslike eyes and dancing eyebrows. A lotus surrounded by swarming bees and a pair of swimming fish would be put to shame by its elegance.

SB 3.28.30, Purport:

There are two comparisons in this verse: first the Lord's face is compared to a lotus, and then His black hair is compared to humming bees swarming around the lotus, and His two eyes are compared to two fish swimming about. A lotus flower on the water is very beautiful when surrounded by humming bees and fish. The Lord's face is self-sufficient and complete. His beauty defies the natural beauty of a lotus.

SB 3.28.34, Purport:

By following this course, the yogī gradually develops pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari. In the course of his progress in devotional service, the hairs on his body stand erect through excessive joy, and he is constantly bathed in a stream of tears occasioned by intense love. Gradually, even the mind, which he used as a means to attract the Lord, as one attracts a fish to a hook, withdraws from material activity.

SB 3.29.29, Purport:

It is said here that amongst the trees there are also evolutionary processes; the different kinds of trees have touch perception. It is said that better than the trees are the fish because fish have developed the sense of taste. Better than the fish are the bees, who have developed the sense of smell, and better than them are the serpents because serpents have developed the sense of hearing. In the darkness of night a snake can find its eatables simply by hearing the frog's very pleasant cry.

SB 3.33.5, Purport:

The Lord's form as Kapila directs the fallen souls and enriches them with knowledge and devotion so that they may go back to Godhead. There are many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, like those of the boar, the fish, the tortoise and the half-man half-lion. Lord Kapiladeva is also one of the incarnations of Godhead. It is accepted herein that Lord Kapiladeva appeared on the surface of the earth to give transcendental knowledge to the misguided conditioned souls.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.16.2, Purport:

Sometimes He appears as a fish incarnation (matsya-avatāra) or a boar incarnation (varāha-avatāra). Thus the Lord is completely free and independent to appear anywhere and everywhere by His internal potency. It is stated that Ananta, an incarnation of the Lord who has unlimited mouths, cannot reach the end of His glorification of the Lord, although Ananta has been describing the Lord since time immemorial.

SB 4.18.19, Purport:

Just as fish can swim within water, the residents of Vidyādhara-loka can swim in the ocean of air. As far as the inhabitants of Siddhaloka are concerned, they are endowed with all mystic powers. The yogīs in this planet practice the eightfold yogic mysticism—namely yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. By regularly practicing the yogic processes one after another, the yogīs attain various perfections; they can become smaller than the smallest, heavier than the heaviest, etc. They can even manufacture a planet, get whatever they like and control whatever man they want.

SB 4.19.9, Purport:

It is clearly indicated in this verse that the oceans and seas are meant for producing jewels, but in Kali-yuga the oceans are mainly being utilized for fishing. Śūdras and poor men were allowed to fish, but the higher classes like the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas would gather pearls, jewels and coral. Although poor men would catch tons of fish, they would not be equal in value to one piece of coral or pearl. In this age so many factories for the manufacture of fertilizers have been opened, but when the Personality of Godhead is pleased by the performance of yajñas, the hills automatically produce fertilizing chemicals, which help produce edibles in the fields. Everything is dependent on the people's acceptance of the Vedic principles of sacrifice.

SB 4.19.22, Purport:

The sinful activities forbidden by the śāstras are illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. These so-called sannyāsīs indulge in all these activities. They eat meat and flesh, fish, eggs and just about everything. They sometimes drink with the excuse that without alcohol, fish and meat, it is impossible to remain in the cold countries near the Arctic zone. These sannyāsīs introduce all these sinful activities in the name of serving the poor, and consequently poor animals are cut to pieces and go into the bellies of these sannyāsīs.

SB 4.19.36, Purport:

Lord Śiva is also a great Vaiṣṇava and never eats nonvegetarian food, and the goddess Kālī accepts the remnants of food left by Lord Śiva. Therefore there is no possibility of her eating flesh or fish. Such offerings are accepted by the associates of goddess Kālī known as bhūtas, piśācas and Rākṣasas, and those who take the prasāda of goddess Kālī in the shape of flesh or fish are not actually taking the prasāda left by goddess Kālī, but the food left by the bhūtas and piśācas.

SB 4.22.46, Purport:

The kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras should eat only kṛṣṇa-prasāda, which is afforded them by the mercy of the brāhmaṇas. They cannot open slaughterhouses and eat meat, fish or eggs or drink liquor, or earn money for this purpose without authorization. In the present age, because society is not guided by brahminical instruction, the whole population is only absorbed in sinful activities. Consequently, everyone is deservedly being punished by the laws of nature. This is the situation in this age of Kali.

SB 4.24.29, Purport:

Let us begin tracing the evolutionary process from the point of devastation (pralaya), when the whole universe is filled with water. At that time there are many fishes and other aquatics, and from these aquatics evolve creepers, trees, etc. From these, insects and reptiles evolve, and from them birds, beasts and then human beings and finally civilized human beings. Now, the civilized human being is at a junction where he can make further evolutionary progress in spiritual life.

SB 4.25.12, Purport:

A deer may become absorbed in the musical sounds vibrated by the hunter, but the result is that it loses its life. Similarly, a fish is very expert in gratifying its tongue, but when it eats the bait offered by the fisherman, it loses its life. Even the elephant, who is so strong, is captured and loses its independence while satisfying its genitals with a female elephant. In each and every species of life, the living entity gets a body to satisfy various senses, but he cannot enjoy all his senses at one time.

SB 4.26.6, Purport:

Everyone is inclined in this age to eat meat and fish, drink liquor and indulge in sex life, but according to the Vedic injunctions, sex is allowed only in marriage, meat-eating is allowed only when the animal is killed and offered before the goddess Kālī, and intoxication is allowed only in a restricted way. In this verse the word niyamyate indicates that all these things—namely animal-killing, intoxication and sex—should be regulated.

SB 4.28.29, Purport:

It is customary among kṣatriyas for a princess to be offered under certain conditions. For instance, Draupadī was offered in marriage to one who could pierce a fish with an arrow simply by seeing the reflection of that fish. Kṛṣṇa married one of His queens after conquering seven strong bulls. The Vedic system is for a daughter of a king to be offered under certain conditions. Vaidarbhī, the daughter of Vidarbha, was offered to a great devotee and powerful king.

SB 4.31.11, Purport:

Many fish can understand by the power of sound that an enemy is coming. All these examples are described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If one's senses cannot help him attain the highest perfection of life, realization of the Supreme, they are all useless.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.2.13, Translation:

My dear friend, what do you eat to maintain your body? Because you are chewing betel, a pleasing scent is emanating from your mouth. This proves that you always eat the remnants of food offered to Viṣṇu. Indeed, you must also be an expansion of Lord Viṣṇu's body. Your face is as beautiful as a pleasing lake. Your jeweled earrings resemble two brilliant sharks with unblinking eyes like those of Viṣṇu, and your own eyes resemble two restless fish. Simultaneously, therefore, two sharks and two restless fish are swimming in the lake of your face. Besides them, the white rows of your teeth seem like rows of very beautiful swans in the water, and your scattered hair resembles swarms of bumblebees following the beauty of your face.

SB 5.2.13, Purport:

Aside from that, because of her jeweled earrings, shaped like sharks, because of her scattered hair, resembling bumblebees mad after the scent of her body, and because of the white rows of her teeth, which resembled swans, Āgnīdhra compared Pūrvacitti's face to a beautiful lake decorated with lotus flowers, fish, swans and bumblebees.

SB 5.18.25, Purport:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is pure transcendence. He is the origin of all life, bodily strength, mental power and sensory ability. Known as Matsyāvatāra, the gigantic fish incarnation, He appears first among all the incarnations. Again I offer my obeisances unto Him.

SB 5.18.25, Purport:

Soon after the cosmic creation, the entire universe was inundated with water. At that time Lord Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) incarnated as a gigantic fish to protect the Vedas. Therefore Manu addresses Lord Matsya as mukhyatama, the first incarnation to appear. Fish are generally considered a mixture of the modes of ignorance and passion, but we must understand that every incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completely transcendental.

SB 5.18.29, Purport:

The word priyatama (dearmost) is very significant in this verse. Each devotee regards a particular form of the Lord as most dear. Because of an atheistic mentality, some people think that the tortoise, boar and fish incarnations of the Lord are not very beautiful. They do not know that any form of the Lord is always the fully opulent Personality of Godhead.

SB 5.24.10, Translation:

The parks and gardens in the artificial heavens surpass in beauty those of the upper heavenly planets. The trees in those gardens, embraced by creepers, bend with a heavy burden of twigs with fruits and flowers, and therefore they appear extraordinarily beautiful. That beauty could attract anyone and make his mind fully blossom in the pleasure of sense gratification. There are many lakes and reservoirs with clear, transparent water, agitated by jumping fish and decorated with many flowers such as lilies, kuvalayas, kahlāras and blue and red lotuses. Pairs of cakravākas and many other water birds nest in the lakes and always enjoy in a happy mood, making sweet, pleasing vibrations that are very satisfying and conducive to enjoyment of the senses.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.8 Summary:

After finishing this dedication, one must offer a prayer to the eight-armed Lord Viṣṇu, who sits on the shoulders of Garuḍadeva. One also has to think of the fish incarnation, Vāmana, Kūrma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, Paraśurāma, Rāmacandra (the elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa). Nara-Nārāyaṇa, Dattātreya (an empowered incarnation), Kapila, Sanat-kumāra, Hayagrīva, Nāradadeva (the incarnation of a devotee). Dhanvantari, Ṛṣabhadeva, Yajña, Balarāma, Vyāsadeva, Buddhadeva and Keśava.

SB 6.8.13, Translation:

May the Lord, who assumes the body of a great fish, protect me in the water from the fierce animals that are associates of the demigod Varuṇa. By expanding His illusory energy, the Lord assumed the form of the dwarf Vāmana. May Vāmana protect me on the land. Since the gigantic form of the Lord, Viśvarūpa, conquers the three worlds, may He protect me in the sky.

SB 6.8.13, Purport:

This mantra seeks the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the water, land and sky in His incarnations as the fish, Vāmanadeva and the Viśvarūpa.

SB 6.9.23, Translation:

The Manu named King Satyavrata formerly saved himself by tying the small boat of the entire world to the horn of the Matsya avatāra, the fish incarnation. By the grace of the Matsya avatāra, Manu saved himself from the great danger of the flood. May that same fish incarnation save us from the great and fearful danger caused by the son of Tvaṣṭā.

SB 6.9.40, Translation:

O supremely powerful one, You have always appeared in Your forms as the various incarnations to punish the demons as soon as they become very powerful. You appear as Lord Vāmanadeva, Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa. You appear sometimes as an animal like Lord Boar, sometimes a mixed incarnation like Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and Lord Hayagrīva, and sometimes an aquatic like Lord Fish and Lord Tortoise. Assuming such various forms, You have always punished the demons and Dānavas. We therefore pray that Your Lordship appear today as another incarnation, if You so desire, to kill the great demon Vṛtrāsura.

SB 6.18.49, Translation:

Never eat leftover food, never eat prasāda offered to the goddess Kālī (Durgā), and do not eat anything contaminated by flesh or fish. Do not eat anything brought or touched by a śūdra nor anything seen by a woman in her menstrual period. Do not drink water by joining your palms.

SB 6.18.49, Purport:

Generally the goddess Kālī is offered food containing meat and fish, and therefore Kaśyapa Muni strictly forbade his wife to take the remnants of such food. Actually a Vaiṣṇava is not allowed to take any food offered to the demigods. A Vaiṣṇava is always fixed in accepting prasāda offered to Lord Viṣṇu. Through all these instructions, Kaśyapa Muni, in a negative way, instructed his wife Diti how to become a Vaiṣṇavī.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.9.15, Purport:

The water of the sea is certainly dreadful for all living entities on the land, but within the sea even the small fish is unafraid. Why? Because the small fish has taken shelter of the big ocean. It is said that although great elephants are taken away by the flooding waters of the river, the small fish swim opposite the current. Therefore although the Lord sometimes assumes a fierce appearance to kill the duṣkṛtīs, the devotees worship Him. Keśava dhṛta-nara-hari-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare. The devotee always takes pleasure in worshiping the Lord and glorifying the Lord in any form, either pleasing or fierce.

SB 7.9.37, Purport:

Whenever the Lord appears, whether as a fish, a tortoise, a hog or any other form, one should understand that He maintains His transcendental position and that His only business, as stated here, is hatvā—to kill the demons. The Lord appears in order to protect the devotees and kill the demons (paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8)). Since the demons are always ready to oppose Vedic civilization, they are sure to be killed by the transcendental form of the Lord.

SB 7.9.38, Translation:

In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.

SB 7.15.7, Translation:

A person fully aware of religious principles should never offer anything like meat, eggs or fish in the śrāddha ceremony, and even if one is a kṣatriya, he himself should not eat such things. When suitable food prepared with ghee is offered to saintly persons, the function is pleasing to the forefathers and the Supreme Lord, who are never pleased when animals are killed in the name of sacrifice.

SB 7.15.42, Purport:

Another example given in this regard is that Arjuna, as a result of piercing the ādhāra-mīna, or the fish within the cakra, achieved the valuable gain of Draupadī. Similarly, if with the arrow of chanting the holy name of the Lord one pierces Lord Viṣṇu's lotus feet, by dint of performing this heroic activity of devotional service one receives the benefit of returning home, back to Godhead.

SB Canto 8

SB 8.2.14-19, Translation:

Intoxicated bumblebees drank honey and hummed with the chirping of the birds, whose songs were very melodious. The lake was crowded with swans, kāraṇḍavas, cakrāvakas, cranes, and flocks of water chickens, dātyūhas, koyaṣṭis and other murmuring birds. Because of the agitating movements of the fish and tortoises, the water was decorated with pollen that had fallen from the lotus flowers. The lake was surrounded by kadamba flowers, vetasa flowers, nalas, nīpas, vañjulakas, kundas, kurubakas, aśokas, śirīṣas, kūṭajas, iṅgudas, kubjakas, svarṇa-yūthīs, nāgas, punnāgas, jātīs, mallikās, śatapatras, jālakās and mādhavī-latās. The banks were also abundantly adorned with varieties of trees that yielded flowers and fruits in all seasons. Thus the entire mountain stood gloriously decorated.

SB 8.7.18, Translation:

The fish, sharks, tortoises and snakes were most agitated and perturbed. The entire ocean became turbulent, and even the large aquatic animals like whales, water elephants, crocodiles and timiṅgila fish (large whales that can swallow small whales) came to the surface. While the ocean was being churned in this way, it first produced a fiercely dangerous poison called hālahala.

SB 8.20.32-33, Translation:

These associates, headed by Sunanda and other chief associates and accompanied by all the predominating deities of the various planets, offered prayers to the Lord, who wore a brilliant helmet, bracelets, and glittering earrings that resembled fish. On the Lord's bosom were the lock of hair called Śrīvatsa and the transcendental jewel named Kaustubha. He wore a yellow garment, covered by a belt, and He was decorated by a flower garland, surrounded by bees. Manifesting Himself in this way, O King, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose activities are wonderful, covered the entire surface of the earth with one footstep, the sky with His body, and all directions with His arms.

SB 8.24 Summary:

This chapter describes the Supreme Personality of Godhead's incarnation as a fish, and it also describes the saving of Mahārāja Satyavrata from an inundation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself by svāṁśa (His personal expansions) and vibhinnāṁśa (His expansions as the living entities). As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8), paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām: the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears on this planet for the protection of the sādhus, or devotees, and for the destruction of the miscreants, or nondevotees. He especially descends to give protection to the cows, the brāhmaṇas, the demigods, the devotees and the Vedic system of religion.

SB 8.24 Summary:

Thus He appears in various forms-sometimes as a fish, sometimes a boar, sometimes Nṛsiṁhadeva, sometimes Vāmanadeva and so on-but in any form or incarnation, although He comes within the atmosphere of the material modes of nature, He is unaffected. This is a sign of His supreme controlling power. Although He comes within the material atmosphere, māyā cannot touch Him. Therefore, no material qualities can be attributed to Him in any degree.

SB 8.24 Summary:

Once, at the end of the previous kalpa, a demon named Hayagrīva wanted to take the Vedic knowledge away from Lord Brahmā at the time of annihilation. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead took the incarnation of a fish at the beginning of the period of Svāyambhuva Manu and saved the Vedas. During the reign of Cākṣuṣa Manu there was a king named Satyavrata, who was a great pious ruler. To save him, the Lord appeared as the fish incarnation for a second time. King Satyavrata later became the son of the sun-god and was known as Śrāddhadeva. He was established as Manu by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 8.24 Summary:

To receive the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, King Satyavrata engaged in the austerity of subsisting only by drinking water. Once, while performing this austerity on the bank of the Kṛtamālā River and offering oblations of water with the palm of his hand, he found a small fish. The fish appealed to the King for protection, asking the King to keep Him in a safe place. Although the King did not know that the small fish was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, as a king he gave shelter to the fish and kept Him in a water jug.

SB 8.24 Summary:

The fish, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, wanted to show His potency to King Satyavrata, and thus He immediately expanded His body in such a way that He could no longer be kept in the jug of water. The King then put the fish in a big well, but the well was also too small. Then the King put the fish in a lake, but the lake was also unsuitable. Finally the King put the fish in the sea, but even the sea could not accommodate Him. Thus the King understood that the fish was no one else but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he requested the Lord to describe His incarnation as a fish.

SB 8.24 Summary:

The Personality of Godhead, being pleased with the King, informed him that within a week there would be an inundation throughout the universe and that the fish incarnation would protect the King, along with the ṛṣis, herbs, seeds and other living entities, in a boat, which would be attached to the fish's horn. After saying this, the Lord disappeared. King Satyavrata offered respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord and continued to meditate upon Him. In due course of time, annihilation took place, and the King saw a boat coming near. After getting aboard with learned brāhmaṇas and saintly persons, he offered prayers to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, and thus he taught Mahārāja Satyavrata and the saintly persons about Vedic knowledge from the core of the heart.

SB 8.24.1, Translation:

Mahārāja Parīkṣit said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is eternally situated in His transcendental position, yet He descends to this material world and manifests Himself in various incarnations. His first incarnation was that of a great fish. O most powerful Śukadeva Gosvāmī, I wish to hear from you the pastimes of that fish incarnation.

SB 8.24.1, Translation:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-powerful, yet He accepted the form of an uncommon fish. This is one of the ten original incarnations of the Lord.

SB 8.24.2-3, Translation:

What was the purpose for which the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepted the abominable form of a fish, exactly as an ordinary living being accepts different forms under the laws of karma? The form of a fish is certainly condemned and full of terrible pain. O my lord, what was the purpose of this incarnation? Kindly explain this to us, for hearing about the pastimes of the Lord is auspicious for everyone.

SB 8.24.2-3, Purport:

The Lord appears in each incarnation to save the world from irreligious principles and especially to protect His devotees (paritrāṇāya sādhūnām (BG 4.8)). Vāmanadeva, for example, appeared to save the devotee Bali Mahārāja. Similarly, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepted the abominable form of a fish, He must have done so to favor some devotee. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was eager to know about the devotee for whom the Supreme Lord accepted this form.

SB 8.24.4, Translation:

Sūta Gosvāmī said: When Parīkṣit Mahārāja thus inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, that most powerful saintly person began describing the pastimes of the Lord's incarnation as a fish.

SB 8.24.9, Translation:

Understanding the acts of the great demon Hayagrīva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, who is full of all opulences, assumed the form of a fish and saved the Vedas by killing the demon.

SB 8.24.9, Purport:

Because everything was inundated by water, to save the Vedas it was necessary for the Lord to assume the form of a fish.

SB 8.24.10, Purport:

The Lord assumed one fish incarnation to save the Vedas at the beginning of the Svāyambhuva-manvantara, and at the end of the Cākṣuṣa-manvantara the Lord again assumed the form of a fish just to favor the great king named Satyavrata. As there were two incarnations of Varāha, there were also two incarnations of fish. The Lord appeared as one fish incarnation to save the Vedas by killing Hayagrīva, and He assumed the other fish incarnation to show favor to King Satyavrata.

SB 8.24.12, Translation:

One day while King Satyavrata was performing austerities by offering water on the bank of the River Kṛtamālā, a small fish appeared in the water in his palms.

SB 8.24.13, Translation:

Satyavrata, the King of Draviḍadeśa, threw the fish into the water of the river along with the water in his palm, O King Parīkṣit, descendant of Bharata.

SB 8.24.14, Translation:

With an appealing voice, the poor small fish said to King Satyavrata, who was very merciful: My dear King, protector of the poor, why are you throwing Me in the water of the river, where there are other aquatics who can kill Me? I am very much afraid of them.

SB 8.24.14, Purport:

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead possesses unlimited potency. Nonetheless, in His pastime in the form of a fish He begged protection from King Satyavrata."

SB 8.24.15, Translation:

To please himself, King Satyavrata, not knowing that the fish was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, decided with great pleasure to give the fish protection.

SB 8.24.15, Purport:

Here is an example of giving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead even without knowledge. Such service is called ajñāta-sukṛti. King Satyavrata wanted to show his own mercy, not knowing that the fish was Lord Viṣṇu. By such unknowing devotional service, one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Service rendered to the Supreme Lord, knowingly or unknowingly, never goes in vain.

SB 8.24.16, Translation:

The merciful King, being moved by the pitiable words of the fish, placed the fish in a water jug and brought Him to his own residence.

SB 8.24.17, Translation:

But in one night that fish grew so much that He could not move His body comfortably in the water of the pot. He then spoke to the King as follows.

SB 8.24.19, Translation:

Then, taking the fish out of the waterpot, the King threw Him in a large well. But within a moment the fish developed to the length of three cubits.

SB 8.24.20, Translation:

The fish then said: My dear King, this reservoir of water is not fit for My happy residence. Please give Me a more extensive pool of water, for I have taken shelter of you.

SB 8.24.21, Translation:

O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the King took the fish from the well and threw Him in a lake, but the fish then assumed a gigantic form exceeding the extent of the water.

SB 8.24.22, Translation:

The fish then said: O King, I am a large aquatic, and this water is not at all suitable for Me. Now kindly find some way to save Me. It would be better to put Me in the water of a lake that will never reduce.

SB 8.24.23, Translation:

When thus requested, King Satyavrata took the fish to the largest reservoir of water. But when that also proved insufficient, the King at last threw the gigantic fish into the ocean.

SB 8.24.24, Translation:

While being thrown in the ocean, the fish said to King Satyavrata: O hero, in this water there are very powerful and dangerous sharks that will eat Me. Therefore you should not throw Me in this place.

SB 8.24.25, Translation:

After hearing these sweet words from the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of a fish, the King, being bewildered, asked Him: Who are You, sir? You simply bewilder us.

SB 8.24.29, Translation:

All Your pastimes and incarnations certainly appear for the welfare of all living entities. Therefore, my Lord, I wish to know the purpose for which You have assumed this form of a fish.

SB 8.24.30, Translation:

O my Lord, possessing eyes like the petals of a lotus, the worship of the demigods, who are in the bodily concept of life, is fruitless in all respects. But because You are the supreme friend and dearmost Supersoul of everyone, worship of Your lotus feet is never useless. You have therefore manifested Your form as a fish.

SB 8.24.31, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When King Satyavrata spoke in this way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who at the end of the yuga had assumed the form of a fish to benefit His devotee and enjoy His pastimes in the water of inundation, responded as follows.

SB 8.24.40, Translation:

After spreading kuśa with its tips pointing east, the saintly King, himself facing the northeast, sat down on the grass and began to meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who had assumed the form of a fish.

SB 8.24.44, Translation:

Then, while the King constantly meditated upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a large golden fish appeared in the ocean of inundation. The fish had one horn and was eight million miles long.

SB 8.24.54, Translation:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: When Satyavrata had thus prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had assumed the form of a fish, the Lord, while moving in the water of inundation, explained to him the Absolute Truth.

SB 8.24.58, Purport:

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives his verdict that Satyavrata appeared in the Cākṣuṣa-manvantara. When the Cākṣuṣa-manvantara ended, the period of Vaivasvata Manu began. By the grace of Lord Viṣṇu, Satyavrata received instructions from the second fish incarnation and was thus enlightened in all spiritual knowledge.

SB 8.24.59, Translation:

This story concerning the great King Satyavrata and the fish incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is a great transcendental narration. Anyone who hears it is delivered from the reactions of sinful life.

SB 8.24.61, Translation:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who pretended to be a gigantic fish, who restored the Vedic literature to Lord Brahmā when Lord Brahmā awakened from sleep, and who explained the essence of Vedic literature to King Satyavrata and the great saintly persons.

SB 8.24.61, Purport:

Here is a summary of Satyavrata's meeting with the fish incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Viṣṇu's purpose was to take back all the Vedic literatures from the demon Hayagrīva and restore them to Lord Brahmā. Incidentally, by His causeless mercy, the Lord spoke with Satyavrata. The word satyavratānām is significant because it indicates that those on the level of Satyavrata can take knowledge from the Vedas delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.6 Summary:

In this connection, Śukadeva Gosvāmī described the history of Saubhari Muni, who, because of sensual agitation caused by fish, fell from his yoga and wanted to marry all the daughters of Māndhātā for sexual pleasure. Later, Saubhari Muni became very regretful. Thus he accepted the order of vānaprastha, performed very severe austerities, and thus attained perfection. In this regard, Śukadeva Gosvāmī described how Saubhari Muni's wives also became perfect.

SB 9.6.39-40, Translation:

Saubhari Ṛṣi was engaged in austerity, deep in the water of the River Yamunā, when he saw a pair of fish engaged in sexual affairs. Thus he perceived the pleasure of sex life, and induced by this desire he went to King Māndhātā and begged for one of the King's daughters. In response to this request, the King said, "O brāhmaṇa, any of my daughters may accept any husband according to her personal selection."

SB 9.6.49, Translation:

Thereafter, one day while Saubhari Muni, who was expert in chanting mantras, was sitting in a secluded place, he thought to himself about the cause of his falldown, which was simply that he had associated himself with the sexual affairs of the fish.

SB 9.6.49, Purport:

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks that Saubhari Muni had fallen from his austerity because of a vaiṣṇava-aparādha. The history is that when Garuḍa wanted to eat fish, Saubhari Muni unnecessarily gave the fish shelter under his care. Because Garuḍa's plans for eating were disappointed, Saubhari Muni certainly committed a great offense to a Vaiṣṇava. Because of this vaiṣṇava-aparādha, an offense at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, Saubhari Muni fell from his exalted position of mystic tapasya. One should not, therefore, impede the activities of a Vaiṣṇava.

SB 9.6.50, Translation:

Alas! While practicing austerity, even within the depths of the water, and while observing all the rules and regulations practiced by saintly persons, I lost the results of my long austerities simply by association with the sexual affairs of fish. Everyone should observe this falldown and learn from it.

SB 9.6.51, Purport:

Although this is an ambitious proposal, this association is proving effective by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By gradually associating with the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, simply by taking prasāda and taking part in chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, ordinary persons are being considerably elevated. Saubhari Muni regrets that he had bad association even in the deepest part of the water. Because of the bad association of the sexually engaged fish, he fell down.

SB 9.6.52, Translation:

In the beginning I was alone and engaged in performing the austerities of mystic yoga, but later, because of the association of fish engaged in sex, I desired to marry. Then I became the husband of fifty wives, and in each of them I begot one hundred sons, and thus my family increased to five thousand members. By the influence of the modes of material nature, I became fallen and thought that I would be happy in material life. Thus there is no end to my material desires for enjoyment, in this life and the next.

SB 9.13.10, Translation:

I do not wish to accept a material body, for such a body is the source of all distress, lamentation and fear, everywhere in the universe, just as it is for a fish in the water, which lives always in anxiety because of fear of death.

SB 9.13.10, Purport:

The example given here is that water is a very nice place for a fish, but the fish is never free from anxiety about death, since big fish are always eager to eat the small fish. phalgūni tatra mahatām: all living entities are eaten by bigger living entities. This is the way of material nature.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.5-7, Translation:

Taking the boat of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, my grandfather Arjuna and others crossed the ocean of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, in which such commanders as Bhīṣmadeva resembled great fish that could very easily have swallowed them. By the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, my grandfathers crossed this ocean, which was very difficult to cross, as easily as one steps over the hoofprint of a calf. Because my mother surrendered unto Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, the Lord, Sudarśana-cakra in hand, entered her womb and saved my body, the body of the last remaining descendant of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, which was almost destroyed by the fiery weapon of Aśvatthāmā.

SB 10.2.40, Translation:

O supreme controller, Your Lordship previously accepted incarnations as a fish, a horse, a tortoise, Narasiṁhadeva, a boar, a swan, Lord Rāmacandra, Paraśurāma and, among the demigods, Vāmanadeva, to protect the entire world by Your mercy. Now please protect us again by Your mercy by diminishing the disturbances in this world. O Kṛṣṇa, best of the Yadus, we respectfully offer our obeisances unto You.

SB 10.3.20, Purport:

After all, sometimes we see that a duck is white, although it is in tamo-guṇa, the mode of ignorance. Illustrating the logic called bakāndha-nyāya, the duck is such a fool that it runs after the testicles of a bull, thinking them to be a hanging fish that can be taken when it drops. Thus the duck is always in darkness. Vyāsadeva, however, the compiler of the Vedic literature, is blackish, but this does not mean that he is in tamo-guṇa; rather, he is in the highest position of sattva-guṇa, beyond the material modes of nature.

SB 10.10.34-35, Translation:

Appearing in bodies like those of an ordinary fish, tortoise and hog, You exhibit activities impossible for such creatures to perform—extraordinary, incomparable, transcendental activities of unlimited power and strength. These bodies of Yours, therefore, are not made of material elements, but are incarnations of Your Supreme Personality. You are the same Supreme Personality of Godhead, who have now appeared, with full potency, for the benefit of all living entities within this material world.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.17.9, Translation:

In that very lake Garuḍa had once desired to eat a fish-fish being, after all, his normal food. Although forbidden by the sage Saubhari, who was meditating there within the water, Garuḍa took courage and, feeling hungry, seized the fish.

SB 10.17.10, Translation:

Seeing how the unfortunate fish in that lake had become most unhappy at the death of their leader, Saubhari uttered the following curse under the impression that he was mercifully acting for the benefit of the lake's residents.

SB 10.17.11, Translation:

If Garuḍa ever again enters this lake and eats the fish here, he will immediately lose his life. What I am saying is the truth.

SB 10.20.37, Translation:

The fish swimming in the increasingly shallow water did not at all understand that the water was diminishing, just as foolish family men cannot see how the time they have left to live is diminishing with every passing day.

SB 10.20.38, Translation:

Just as a miserly, poverty-stricken person overly absorbed in family life suffers because he cannot control his senses, the fish swimming in the shallow water had to suffer the heat of the autumn sun.

SB 10.49.22, Translation:

In the guise of dear dependents, strangers steal the sinfully acquired wealth of a foolish man, just as the offspring of a fish drink up the water that sustains the fish.

SB 10.50.25-28, Translation:

On the battlefield, hundreds of rivers of blood flowed from the limbs of the humans, elephants and horses who had been cut to pieces. In these rivers arms resembled snakes; human heads, turtles; dead elephants, islands; and dead horses, crocodiles. Hands and thighs appeared like fish, human hair like waterweeds, bows like waves, and various weapons like clumps of bushes. The rivers of blood teemed with all of these.

SB 10.55.4, Translation:

A powerful fish swallowed Pradyumna, and this fish, along with others, was caught in a huge net and seized by fishermen.

SB 10.55.5, Translation:

The fishermen presented that extraordinary fish to Śambara, who had his cooks bring it to the kitchen, where they began cutting it up with a butcher knife.

SB 10.55.6, Translation:

Seeing a male child in the belly of the fish, the cooks gave the infant to Māyāvatī, who was astonished. Nārada Muni then appeared and explained to her everything about the child's birth and His entering the fish's abdomen.

SB 10.55.13, Translation:

That demon, Śambara, threw You into the sea when You were not even ten days old, and a fish swallowed You. Then in this very place we recovered You from the fish's abdomen, O master.

SB 10.56.28, Translation:

You are He who impelled the ocean to give way when His sidelong glances, slightly manifesting His anger, disturbed the crocodiles and timiṅgila fish within the watery depths. You are He who built a great bridge to establish His fame, who burned down the city of Laṅkā, and whose arrows severed the heads of Rāvaṇa, which then fell to the ground.

SB 10.71.17, Translation:

The Lord's army boasted royal umbrellas, cāmara fans and huge flagpoles with waving banners. During the day the sun's rays reflected brightly from the soldiers' fine weapons, jewelry, helmets and armor. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa's army, noisy with shouts and clatter, appeared like an ocean stirring with agitated waves and timiṅgila fish.

SB 10.83.19, Translation:

Just as a fish was used as a target in your svayaṁ-vara ceremony, O Queen, to assure that you would obtain Arjuna as your husband, so a fish was also used in my ceremony. In my case, however, it was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below.

SB 10.83.24, Translation:

Then Arjuna looked at the reflection of the fish in the water and determined its position. When he carefully shot his arrow at it, however, he did not pierce the target but merely grazed it.

SB 10.83.25-26, Translation:

After all the arrogant kings had given up, their pride broken, the Supreme Personality of Godhead picked up the bow, easily strung it and then fixed His arrow upon it. As the sun stood in the constellation Abhijit, He looked at the fish in the water only once and then pierced it with the arrow, knocking it to the ground.

SB 11.1.22, Translation:

A certain fish swallowed the iron lump, and the bits of iron, carried back to the shore by the waves, implanted themselves there and grew into tall, sharp canes.

SB 11.1.23, Translation:

The fish was caught in the ocean along with other fish in a fisherman's net. The iron lump in the fish's stomach was taken by the hunter Jarā, who fixed it as an arrowhead at the end of his shaft.

SB 11.4.18, Translation:

In His appearance as a fish, the Lord protected Satyavrata Manu, the earth and her valuable herbs. He protected them from the waters of annihilation. As a boar, the Lord killed Hiraṇyākṣa, the son of Diti, while delivering the earth from the universal waters. And as a tortoise, He lifted Mandara Mountain on His back so that nectar could be churned from the ocean. The Lord saved the surrendered king of the elephants, Gajendra, who was suffering terrible distress from the grips of a crocodile.

SB 11.7.33-35, Translation:

O King, I have taken shelter of twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon and python; the sea, moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief; the deer, the fish, the prostitute Piṅgalā, the kurara bird and the child; and the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self.

SB 11.8.19, Translation:

Just as a fish, incited by the desire to enjoy his tongue, is fatally trapped on the fisherman's hook, similarly, a foolish person is bewildered by the extremely disturbing urges of the tongue and thus is ruined.

SB 12.9.16, Translation:

Tormented by hunger and thirst, attacked by monstrous makaras and timiṅgila fish and battered by the wind and waves, he moved aimlessly through the infinite darkness into which he had fallen. As he grew increasingly exhausted, he lost all sense of direction and could not tell the sky from the earth.

SB 12.10.5, Translation:

He is as calm as the waters of the ocean when the wind has ceased and the fish remain still. Therefore, my lord, since you bestow perfection on the performers of austerity, please award this sage the perfection that is obviously due him.