Hiranyakashipu & Hiranayaksha

Thursday, October 27, 2016 1:34 PM

Hiranyakashipu
• He was the eldest son(datya) of Kashyap through Diti
• Hiranayaksha was his younger brother
• His four son's : Haad, Anuhaad, Sanhaad, Prahlad
• Hiranya Kashyap was killed by the Narasimha Hiranayaksha was slain by Varaha
The story of Hiranyakashipu is in three parts.
1. The curse of the Four Kumaras on the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya, which causes
them to be born as the daityas Hiranyakashipu and Hiranayaksha.
2. The second part deals with Hiranyakashipu penance to propitiate Brahma and gain a boon from
him.
3. The final part deals with his efforts to kill his son Prahlada (a devotee of Vishnu) and his
subsequent death at the hands of Narasimha.

Hiranayaksha
• Diti conceived a child in the evening time, whom she carried for a hundred years in the womb. She
thus gave birth to Hiranayaksha.
• In the very beginning of time and creation, the Hindu god Vishnu used to live by the shores of a
great vast sea. A pair of seagulls also nested on the same shore. Every year the female seagull
would lay her eggs by the shore of the sea. But the sea would sweep in and wash her eggs away.
The female seagull laid her eggs farther ashore every year but the sea would continue to sweep in
and wash them away every single time. The seagulls were heartbroken by their loss. In despair,
they appealed to Vishnu, the great Preserver, to come to their aid. Vishnu felt pity and
compassion for their hapless situation. He opened his mouth and swallowed the sea in a huge
gulp. Where the sea was, now lay the newly created Mother Earth. Vishnu was very exhausted by
the feat of swallowing up such a vast sea. He lay down to rest and soon fell into a deep sleep. The
demon Hiranyaksha was lurking nearby. When he saw Vishnu asleep, he seized the opportunity
and brutally assaulted the defenseless Mother Earth. His brutality was of such great magnitude
that her limbs were broken and levered up. These broken limbs, towering towards the sky, formed
the mighty Himalayas.
He was slain by the god Vishnu after he (Hiranyaksha) took the Earth to the bottom of what has
been described as the "Cosmic ocean".
• Vishnu assumed the Avatar of a boar (Varaha) and dove into the ocean to lift the Earth, in the
process slaying Hiranyaksha who was obstructing Him. The battle lasted one thousand years.