Hiranyaksha means the Hiranyanetra – ‘Golden Eyed’. As stated in Hindu mythology, this oppressive asura demon assaulted the heavens and later kidnapped the earth goddess and made attempts to destroy her. He is presented in certain Puranas as the son of Kashyap (the ancient sage) and Diti. On one occasion, the defenseless Mother Earth was attacked by Hiranyaksha. He dragged her into the deep cosmic ocean.
The demi-gods approached Lord Vishnu to save all life and the life of Mother Earth. Seeing the overwhelmed Mother Earth drowning in the cosmic ocean, Vishnu, takes the avatar of Varaha (man-boar). Vishnu went to save the goddess, in the form of Varaha, however he was blocked by Hiranyaksha. Vishnu then killed Hiranyaksha and the happy Devas showered flowers on him, from heaven.
Hanging on to his tusks, Earth was lifted to safety. Thus the crisis ended, with the good winning and Vishnu free once again to fulfill his cosmic duties. In Hindu texts, Varaha is an important historic legend who strives for the good versus evil, right versus wrong and goes all out to do everything needed to rescue dharma, the right and the good.
Hiranyakashipu is the elder brother of Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashipu persecuted Prahlada his son for having faith in Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu’s avatar Narasimha (man-lion) killed Hiranyakashipu while Varaha, Lord Vishnu’s boar avatar, killed Hiranyaksha. According to certain texts, Hiranyaksha is an incarnation of one of Vishnu’s gatekeepers. While Hiranyaksha was born as Vijaya, the elder brother Hiranyakashipu was born as Jaya.
