Story of the 4th Avatar of Lord Vishnu, Narasimha
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Hiranyakashipu (the brother of
Hiranyaksha who was killed by the
Varaha Avatar of
Lord Vishnu) wanted to take revenge on the
devotees and in particular on
Lord Vishnu. He wanted to become the master
of all the three worlds - Heaven, Earth & Pathala. He went to Mount
Mandarachala and began penance which continued for years. Due to the
intensity of Penance, Lord Brahma appeared before Hiranyakashipu. He
asked Lord Brahma for immortality as a reward for his years of penance .
Brahma, however, declined, saying "All living beings must face death
Hiranyakashipu. You can, however, choose your death wish."
Hiranyakashipu then asked for three
conditions, as his death wish, "'O Brahma, let not death come to me either
by man or beast, nor devil, nor god shall cause my death by day or by night
with steel or stone or wood, indoors or outdoors, or earth or in sky. Grant
me undisputed lordship over the world". Brahma agreed and Hiranyakashipu got
his death wishes granted. Thus he became practically immortal.
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After securing his death wishes
Hiranyakashipu conquered the worlds and became a demon tyrant.
He banned all pujas to
Lord Vishnu and declared himself a God. The
devotees of Vishnu approached
Lord Vishnu for help.
Lord Vishnu asked them to be patient.
Hiranyakashipu's wife Kayadhu gave birth to Prahlad in the Ashrama of Narada.
Prahlad grew up and became an ardent devotee of
Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu, however,
wanted his son to be a strong and ruthless King like himself.
Realizing that Prahlad always prayed to
Lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu tried to school
his son against the influence of
Lord Vishnu. All their efforts to
influence Prahlad against
Lord Vishnu failed and Prahlad was still as
devoted as ever to
Lord Vishnu.
Hiranyakashipu ordered his servants to kill Prahlad if he refused to accept
the supremacy of his father. They tried to kill him by throwing down a
mountain, drowning, poisoning, and burning him. They failed in all
their attempts because
Lord Vishnu was protecting his devotee.
King Hiranyakashipu was very angry on hearing the reports on the failed
attempts on the life of his son, Prahlad.
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One day the king challenged his son in
the open court:
"Prahlad! Is my enemy, whom you
worship, present anywhere here?".
Prahlad replied, "Vishnu
is omnipresent. There's not a single place where he's not found."
Hiranyakashipu's fury was at its climax.
He heated an iron pillar and then asked Prahlad, "Can you embrace
this pillar if your
Vishnu is in it also?"
Prahlad did not hesitate for a moment but rushed towards the pillar and
embraced it. The heated iron did not burn him. The king got
up from his throne in fury and hit the pillar with his mace.
And to his surprise! The pillar cracked
with a thundering sound and
Vishnu appeared there in the form of
Narasimha.
One half of his body was of a lion and
the other half of a man. He had matted hair on his head, large
moustaches on the face and terrible teeth in the mouth. His paws had
terrible nails on them.
Hiranyakashipu remembered his first death
wish, "To be killed by some one who is neither human nor beast." It was also
the twilight hour, neither day nor night, the second death wish.
The demon king hit
Narasimha
with his mace but
Narasimha brushed it aside swiftly. It was
twilight and
Narasimha caught hold of the demon
Hiranyakashipu.
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He sat on the threshold of the court
room, placed the body of the demon on his thighs, and pierced his nails into
the body of the demon and broke open his stomach. The demon was killed on
the spot in a moment. The place was neither inside nor outside. This was
Hiranyakashipu’s third death wish.
Lord Narasimha was furious and roared.
However, he was pacified when Prahlad touched his feet and goddess
Lakshmi also tried to cool him.
Lord Narasimha then made Prahlad the King.
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