Hiranyakashipu’s Family Tree

About Hiranyakashipu →

Family

• Diti(parent),Kashyapa(parent),Hiranyaksha(sibling)— Marriage

  Kashyapa and Diti conceived the twin Daitya brothers Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, whose tyranny over gods and men would require Vishnu to descend twice as Varaha and Narasimha to destroy them.

• Kayadhu(spouse),Prahlada(child)— Marriage

  Hiranyakashipu and his wife Kayadhu bore a son whose devotion would undo his father's kingdom — Prahlada, the child who worshipped Vishnu despite every torment the demon king inflicted to break his faith.

Enemy of

• Vishnu

  Hiranyakashipu's tyranny and persecution of his son Prahlada prompted Vishnu to incarnate as Narasimha, the man-lion, and destroy him at twilight on a threshold.

Slain by

• Narasimha

  Narasimha tore Hiranyakashipu apart on the threshold of his palace at twilight, laying the demon across his lap and disemboweling him with his claws — circumventing every condition of Brahma's boon that had made the tyrant invulnerable.

Member of

• Asuras

  The Asura race counts among its ranks the mightiest adversaries of the gods — Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the invulnerable Daitya brothers who seized heaven and earth; Bali, the generous king who conquered Indra's realm; Vritra, the drought-serpent who swallowed the cosmic waters; and Mahishasura, the shape-shifting buffalo demon who drove the Devas from their thrones.

Associated with

• Brahma

  Brahma granted Hiranyakashipu a boon after extreme penance, making him nearly unkillable — neither by man nor beast, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither by day nor by night. Vishnu as Narasimha exploited the boon's precise wording.