The stories of 24 Avatars of Bhagwan Vishnu

It is believed “Avatar” or divine descendent refers to the Supreme Divine taking a brief human form for his own purposes, which are considered to refer to the welfare of the world which is His own creation. Potentially, Jiva in every being is in the sense an Avatar, which is best expressed by the Mahavakya, Tat Tvam As.
 
Bhagwan Vishnu have already incarnated on earth 23 times, while the 24th avatar is yet to be known as 'Kalki Avatar'. Out of these 24 avatars, 10 avatars, called as Dashavatar, are considered to be the main incarnations of Vishnu. This is Matsya avatar, Kurma avatar, Varaha avatar, Narasimha avatar, Vamana avatar, Parashuram avatar, Rama avatar, Krishna avatar, Buddha avatar and Kalki avatar. Of all the Avatars, Shri Krishna alone is considered a Purna Avatar, a direct and complete representation of the Supreme Divine Himself.
 
Spiritual Significance:

1. All the four sages, the first incarnation were symbol of brahmacharya (  ब्रह्मचर्य, state of continence and chastity) and on path salvation. Brahmacharya purify conscience (i.e. manas, bhuddhi, chit, ahankar).
2. Varaha, the second incarnation is symbol of Santosh (contentment). One should remain contented in all situations.
3. Narad ji, the third incarnation is symbol of bhakti (unselfish love). After practicing Bhrahmacharya and Santosh (संतोष, contentment), bhakti sprouts.
4. Nar-Narayan, the fourth incarnation symbolizes that when bhakti flourishes, realization of almighty is done.
5. Kapil muni, the fifth incarnation was symbol of gyan (spiritual wisdom) and vairagya (detachment). Bhakti stabilizes with spiritual wisdom and vairagya.
6. Dattatreya, the sixth incarnation reflect that when five attributes viz. brahmacharya, Santosh, gyan, bhakti and vairagya, come in life, one will gunateet (गुणातीत, beyond all properties).
7. Yagya, the seventh incarnation is a ritual performed to please the gods.
8. 11th, 12th & 13th incarnations of Kurma, Dhanvantri and Mohini were for Samundra Manthan.
9. 14th incarnation of Narsingh & 17th incarnation of Sri Hari gave the message that Bhagwan protects his devotee against all odds.
10. In 16th incarnation of Hayagreeva, Bhagwan protected Vedas.
11. In 19th incarnation of Vyas ji, knowledge of Vedas was spread for well-being of man-kind.
12. In 18th incarnation of Vamana, 21st incarnation of Shri Rama and 22nd incarnation of Shri Krishna, Bhagwan re-established Dharma by winning over negative persons / Rakshasas.
13. In 23rd incarnation of Buddha, Lord Buddha preached to stop life violence.
14. Interestingly the Avatars take different forms: starting with a sequence of animal forms suggestive of an evolutionary order:

 
Matsya a Fish, Kurma a Tortoise, Varaha a Boar, through Nrsimha, a half-lion Man, making a transition to the human sequence of Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna and Kalki making the ten accepted by the Vaishnava tradition.
 
Stories of 24 Avatars are as under:

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