Narasimha Avatar – Part 6 – The confrontation

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When Sukracharya realized that his other students were slowly being influenced by Prahlada speaking to them and they were also inclined to become devotees of Vishnu, he immediately went to Hiranyakasipu and informed him of this.

An enraged Hiranyakasipu immediately summoned Prahlada to him and scolded him “You are an obstinate fool to have defied and violated my power and rule over you. Today I shall send you to Yamaraja’s abode. You know that when I am angry all three worlds tremble. By whose power have you become so impudent that you appear fearless and overstep my power to rule you?”

A smiling Prahlada replied ”My dear king, the source of my power and strength is the same as that of yours and all of us in the three worlds. The one and only original source of strength is Lord Vishnu himself. He is the power of the senses, the power of the mind, the power of the body. He is the one who creates this cosmic manifestation, preserves it and destroys it as well.”

Further enraged by this cheeky reply of the young prince, the asura king roared “You are trying to minimize my value as if you were better than me at controlling the senses. You have described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everything and who is all-pervading? But where is he? If he is everywhere, is he present in this pillar?”

Obsessed and blinded with anger Hiranyakasipu stuck his fist against the pillar immediately next to him.

Then from within the pillar came a fearful sound such as one which appeared to resound throughout the three worlds. From within it emerged a wonderful form which nobody had ever seen before. The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion. It was none other than Vishnu in the form of the Narasimha.

Hiranyakasipu studied this form carefully. The angry eyes resembled molten gold, the shining mane which expanded the dimensions of his fearful face, the deadly teeth, the tongue which moved about like a dueling sword, the erect and motionless ears, the nostrils and gaping mouth which appeared like a cave, the fearfully parted jaws; all of this was awe-inspiring.

Confident with the knowledge that he had Brahma’s boon, Hiranyakasipu attacked the beast with his club, who immediately parried the blow and picked up the asura king in his hands. And then as if playing with him, Narasimha immediately put down the asura. Hiranyakasipu once again attacked his foe with a sword and this time around lifted the asura and put him on his thighs and sat down on the doorway of the assembly hall where the confrontation was taking place.

And then with the nails on his hand, Narasimha tore the asura to pieces and killed the tyrant king.

The boon granted by Brahma to the asura was O my lord, if you will kindly grant me the boon I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you.

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky, nor by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal.

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or non-living, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or any snake from the lower worlds.

Therefore by appearing in the form of Narasimha, at dusk, and killing the asura on the doorway of his assembly hall, Vishnu managed to overcome all the conditions of the boon.

Once Hiranyakasipu was killed, the demigods and all the other rulers immediately paid obeisance to Vishnu in his fearful form as Narasimha and showered praise on his strength, powers and divinity. However, Narasimha’s anger had still not subsided and therefore Narada requested Prahlada to go forward and appease him.

Prahlada immediately prostrated in front of the half-lion and seeing his devotion Narasimha placed his hand affectionately on his head. By this touch, Prahlada was immediately cleansed of all material contaminations and desires.

Thus ends the story of the first time that the doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya were granted salvation at the hands of their lord Vishnu. They were reborn again as the brothers Kumbhakarna and Ravana who formed an important part of the story of Rama and yet again as Sisupala and Dantavakra who were in turn killed by Krishna.

<<CONCLUDED >>