There was once a mighty king called Hiranya. He wanted to be absolutely invincible. So through severe penance and meditation, he acquired a boon that he could not be killed during day or night, by a human being or animal, and neither inside a house or outside it. This made him feel all powerful and indestructible.

Eventually, Hiranya got married and his wife gave birth to a young boy, who was named Prahalad. Hiranya had been living his life with the idea that he was the most powerful being in the universe, more powerful than God Himself. On the other hand, young Prahalad was growing up with a deep love and reverence for Divinity. Hiranya was mighty upset with this. It hurt his enormous ego that his own son would respect someone else more than himself. As time went on, he became more and more enraged by this.

One day he decided he had had enough.
He summoned Prahalad and said to him, "Son, either accept me as your lord, or you shall die!"
Prahalad, who was lost in his Master's thought, did not even listen to what his father had to say. Of course, this only made Hiranya more angry, and he ordered his men to throw Prahalad from the top of a mountain and kill him.

The soldiers took Prahalad away and hurled him from the top of a big mountain. But Prahalad was not even hurt because he fell on top of a huge bed of roses, as if Mother Nature had made this big cushion especially for him. Hiranya thought that this was a big fluke and decided to have Prahalad killed by putting him in front of a mad elephant. So the soldiers put Prahalad in front of a mad elephant that had a reputation of crushing everything in its way. But when the elephant came near, he was mesmerized by the kind and loving eyes of Prahalad and just lifted him softly with his trunk, placed him on his back and paraded him throughout the city while people cheered.

This enraged Hiranya, and he decided to take matters into his own hands. He ordered Prahalad to be brought before him. When he saw Prahalad, he was so filled with rage that he took out his sword and hurled it at him. And the sword landed on Prahalad's neck as a beautiful garland.

When this happened, Hiranya's ego suffered a big blow. He decided to take on this fellow who was protecting his son.
He asked Prahalad, "Where can I find that God whom you adore so much?"
Prahalad replied, "He is everywhere, so you can find him anywhere!"
"Can I find him in this pillar?", Hiranya asked.
"Yes, of course. My Lord can be found in this pillar, too."

So Hiranya took his sword and broke the pillar before him in two with one stroke, looking to find Prahalad's God. To Hiranya's shock, out came a massive figure, neither animal nor human, with the head of a lion, and the body of a man. God had appeared in the form of Narasimha (nara=man, simha=lion).

Then the lord lifted Hiranya with his enormous hands, took him to the threshold of the palace, neither inside the house nor outside, and finished him off with his bare hands at dusk, when it was neither day nor night. And that was the end of the mighty Hiranya, whose self-pride had clouded his vision so much that he could not even see the Divinity that his own son personified.

Source: Reprinted from Constant Remembrance, Shri Ram Chandra Mission

Q: Hiranya had desired power. What did he become as a result of his lust for power?

Q: Prahalad was different from his father. He grew up with love for divinity and no concern for himself. What did he become as a result of his love for divinity?

O, Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes
Putting bar to our advancement,
Thou art the only God and power
To bring us up to that stage.