Narasimha
A boon made Hiranyakashipu almost impossible to kill. His own son Prahlada would not stop praying to Vishnu. When the king struck a pillar and asked "Is your God here too?", it split open.
The verse
An almost perfect boon
[Traditional account]
Hiranyakashipu, brother of Hiranyaksha, won a boon from Brahma: he could be killed by neither man nor beast, neither inside nor outside, neither by day nor by night, neither on earth nor in the sky, by no weapon.
A child who would not stop praying
His son Prahlada remained a devotee of Vishnu through every punishment — poison, elephants, fire. Holika, who could not be burned, took him into the fire and burned herself; the bonfire of Holika Dahan remembers that night. Then the king struck a pillar…
The journey continues for members
- From the pillar
- Temples
- Festivals
- What it teaches
Sources
- Bhagavata Purana — 7.1–10
- Vishnu Purana — 1.16–20
- Narasimha Purana