Hiranyakashipu- Hindu DemonDemon"Golden-Robed One"
Also known as: Hiranyakashapu, हिरण्यकशिपु, and Hiraṇyakaśipu
Description
Asura king who crafted a boon of near-immortality so cunningly that he could be killed by neither man nor beast, by neither day nor night, inside nor outside, with no weapon. Vishnu answered as Narasimha, half-man, half-lion, and tore him apart at twilight on a threshold with bare claws, fulfilling every condition.
Mythology & Lore
The Boon of Near-Immortality
When Vishnu took the form of the great boar Varaha and slew the demon Hiranyaksha in the depths of the cosmic ocean, his brother Hiranyakashipu was consumed by rage and grief. He performed austerities so extreme that the heat of his penance shook the heavens and forced Brahma himself to appear. Hiranyakashipu demanded immortality, but Brahma could not grant it. Instead, the demon crafted conditions so elaborate that death seemed impossible: he could not be killed by man or beast, by day or night, inside or outside a dwelling, on earth or in the sky, by any weapon. With this boon, Hiranyakashipu conquered the three worlds and ruled as a tyrant, demanding worship as the supreme god.
The Devotion of Prahlada
Hiranyakashipu's downfall came through his own son. Prahlada, from birth, was devoted to Vishnu, the very god his father had sworn to destroy. No matter what Hiranyakashipu did, he could not turn the boy's heart. He had Prahlada thrown from cliffs and trampled by elephants. His sister Holika, who possessed a boon of fire-immunity, sat in a blazing pyre with Prahlada on her lap. The fire consumed Holika and left the boy unharmed. Every attempt only deepened Prahlada's faith.
The Pillar
When Hiranyakashipu at last demanded to know where this god of Prahlada's was hiding, the boy answered simply: everywhere. "Is he in this pillar?" the demon roared, and struck it with his fist. From the shattered pillar burst Narasimha, Vishnu's man-lion avatar, a form neither fully man nor beast. At twilight, neither day nor night, on the threshold of the palace, neither inside nor outside, Narasimha seized the demon king and laid him across his lap, neither earth nor sky, and tore him open with his claws. No weapon was used. Every condition of the boon was met.