Hiranyakashipu is known as ‘Clothed In Gold’ or ‘The One Who Is Fond Of Wealth’. In Hinduism the Puranic scriptures state that Hiranyakashipu was the king of Daityas and Asura King. Hiranyaksha, the younger brother of Hiranyakashipu was killed by Lord Vishnu’s Varaha avatar. Hiranyakashyap made a decision to conduct penance for Lord Brahma by attaining magical powers. Lord Vishnu’s Narasimha avatara killed Hiranyakashyap subsequently. The worthlessness of attaining power over others and power of God’s protection, over devotees who surrender completely is depicted in his tale.
Legend indicates that a boon was earned by Hiranyakashipu from Lord Brahma after which he became indestructible, virtually. His arrogance made him think he was God and accordingly his demand was that all should simply worship him.
Hiranyakashipu’s story is in three sections, with the first related to the curse of the Four Kumaras on Vaikuntha’s gatekeepers namely Vijaya and Jaya. Accordingly both of them were born as daityas Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu. As per the second part, Hiranyakashipu indulges in penance and appeases Lord Brahma to attain a boon from him. The attempts to kill Prahlada, his son (devotee of Vishnu) and subsequent death in Narasimha’s hands is dealt in the final part.
After the death of Hiranyakashipu, none of the Demigods and Gods was able to calm down the furious Narasimha. Hence all goddesses and gods called upon goddess Lakshmi, his consort but she cannot do so. Brahma then makes a request that Prahlada should be presented to Narasimha. The prayers of Prahlada then prove to be helpful in calming down the furious Narasimha. Research indicates that Hiranyakashipu ruled for 107,280,000 years as per the Brahmanda Purana.
