Kalki

Kalki is one of 10 deities in the Dashavatara tradition. Reading Kalki alone gives the iconographic outline; reading the full grouping reveals what kind of cosmic principle the tradition is working with. The Dashavatara as a whole describes a coherent set of relationships — between forms of the divine, between cosmic functions, or between stages of spiritual realisation.

Ten primary descents of Vishnu to restore dharma when adharma rises. The traditional list (Bhagavata Purana 1.3.24): Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki. Some traditions (especially Gaudiya) substitute Balarama for Buddha.

In daily worship, devotees may invoke Kalki alone — through their specific mantra and iconographic form — or invoke the full Dashavatara grouping in sequence (especially during festivals like Navarātri for the Navadurgā, or daily archana for the Aṣṭalakṣmī). Both modes are traditional and authoritative; the choice depends on the family’s sampradāya and the kuldevtā tradition.