When Lord Varaha had killed Hiranyaksa, his mother, his wife, his brother Hiranyakasipu and the whole family were very sad. The demon king Hiranyakasipu calmed everyone by persuading them, but he himself did not calm down. The flame of revenge in the heart started blazing. As per Lord Narasimha will, he decided to do penance. So as to attain power that the kingdom of Triloki would become free from destruction and he would become immortal.
A unique Boon
After taking this decision, Hiranyakashipu went to Mandarachal valley and performed such severe penance that even the gods got heated. On the request of the Gods, Lord Brahma asked him to ask for any desired boon other than immortality. He said that I do not want any creature created by you to kill me. May I not die inside or outside, day or night, by any creature, weapon created by you, anywhere on earth or in the sky. No one can face me in battle. May I become the sole emperor of all living beings. May my glory be the same as that of Indra among all the people of the world. Give me also the same inexhaustible wealth that the elite people have.
Brahma gave him the boon he asked for. He was very happy with his cleverness that he even cheated Brahma. Despite his unwillingness, I took the blessing of immortality from my presence of mind. This is the nature of the living being, he tries to deceive even God with his cleverness. Similarly, Hiranyakashipu had also closed the door of death as per his understanding, but Lord opened it whenever he wanted.
Destruction caused by Hiranyakashipu
After receiving the boon, he took under control all the directions, the three worlds and the gods. The demons, men, Gandharvas, Garuda, snakes, Siddhas, Charanas, Vidyadhars, sages were all under his control. The lords of the ancestors, Manu, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pishachapatis, the leaders of ghosts obeyed him. He conquered the masters of all living beings and brought them under his control.
In this way, that demon, by his might, snatched away the places of all the guardians of the world. He himself started living in Indra Bhavan. He ordered the demons that nowadays the number of Brahmins and Kshatriyas has increased a lot. So he gave orders to kill all those who are doing penance, fasting, yagya, self-study and auspicious deeds like charity. Because the root of Vishnu is the Karma-Dharma of the sacred people and that is the ultimate support of Dharma.
The Birth of Prahlad
The demons went and did the same. But where religion was being destroyed in the world, among the sons of Hiranyakashipu, Prahlad was a devotee of lord Narasimha. At the age of five, he was narrating the lessons of devotion to God to his father. Knowing that his son was a devotee of his enemy, he decided that this was his enemy, who had appeared in the form of his son.
Attempts to kill Prahlad
Therefore, orders were given to kill him, but all the efforts of the demons were in vain as he was a devotee of lord narasimha. Then Hiranyakashipu became very worried. He got them crushed by big intoxicated elephants. Prahlad got bitten by poisonous snakes and created a demon named Kriya to eat Prahlad. Fell down from the mountains, administered poison and also made Shambrasur use many types of Maya.
They made him enter the burning fire, drowned him in the sea, etc.. Many measures were taken to kill him, but not even a hair was spared. On the advice of his teachers, he was kept tied to Varunpasha so that he would not run away. Then his teachers started teaching him about Artha, Dharma and Kama. At the time of vacation, Prahlad told the same age demon children about the form of devotion to God. Hearing that all the classmates demon children became devoted to God. Seeing this the priest went and told everything to Hiranyakashipu.
The anger of Hiranyakashipu
As soon as he heard this, his body started trembling with anger and he decided to kill Prahlad. Calling him, he scolded him a lot. He asked, on whose authority are you acting against my orders? Prahlad preached to him about the form of the Supreme Soul, the Almighty lord Narasimha. He told him that God is present everywhere so Hiranyakashipu became angry. He said – Look, where is that lord vishnu of yours? If he is everywhere then why is he not visible in this pillar? Prahlad said that, I can see lord Narasimha in this pillar also.
The Incarnation of Lord Narasimha
While saying this, when he could not control his anger, he jumped from the throne with a sword. As soon as Prahlad said that yes, he is also present in the pillar, he punched the pillar with great force. At that very moment a very heavy sound came from the pillar.
He had rushed to kill Prahlad by punching him. But after hearing that strange and terrible sound, he got scared. He started looking to see where that sound was coming from. Meanwhile he saw a wonderful creature emerging from the pillar. He started thinking – Oh, this is neither a human nor a lion. Then who is this supernatural creature in the form of a lion? While he was engaged in this quarrel, Lord Nrisimha stood right in front of him.
Killing of Hiranyakashipu
God kept playing with him for a long time, finally in the evening he made a very loud and terrible laugh. Due to which his eyes got closed. At the same time, the Lord quickly caught hold of him. He took him to the porch of Rajsabha Dwar, threw him on his thighs and killed him by ripping his stomach with his nails. Therefore Lord Narasimha saved his devotee Prahlad.
