Page 187 - Eye of the beholder

Hayagriva succeeded in stealing the four Vedas from Brahmaloka and therefore, to free the Vedas from his clutches, Vishnu appeared in the form of a fish. Brahma knew that the people on earth will not be able to make use of the Vedas until they were purified. He knew that social values had degenerated, and hence, the need for reestablishing humanity had risen. Therefore, he sought help from Shiva to destroy humanity and once again produce favourable conditions for the revival of the human race. Vishnu was aware about Shiva's plan of causing massive floods, and accordingly incarnated in the form of Matsya or the fish. It was equally important to also save Manu and his wife Shatarupa, the couple that would be instrumental in conceiving humans once again. Hence, after killing Hayagriva and retrieving the Vedas, the Matsya avatar of Vishnu saved Manu, Shatarupa, and the Saptarishis (who represented knowledge). In the end, he handed over the Vedas to Manu so that he could use them for the welfare of humankind.
Compositionally the painting has the representation of the turbulent river that occupies two thirds of the space and the background has hills with blossoming flowers from the trees and a very high horizon that just has a streak of blue to represent the sky. The swirling waters of the turbulent river depicted as decorative swirls forms the meeting ground, wherein the conflict between Vishnu in its Matsya Avatar takes place with the demon Hayagriva. The latter has been shown as a hybrid creature with a demonic face that is symbolic of absolute evil.
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