T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om In my prev ious article, w e discussed about ev olution in lord V ishnu av atars and also w ent through details on first three av atars of lord V ishnu. If y ou hav e missed this article, then please Go through the below link Evolution in vishnu avatars I n this artic le, we will be dis c us s ing in details fourth, fifth and s ixth avatars of lord V is hnu. Narasimha Avatar N aras imha A vatar is the H alf-M an H alf-Lion I nc arnation of H indu God Sri H ari V is hnu. T he s tory of N aras imha A vatar is as s oc iated with V is hnu’s inc arnation as the boar or V araha. A s des c ribed in my previous artic le, V araha (V is hnu) had killed the demon H iranyaks ha. Hiranyaksha's brother Hiranyakashipu, greatly angered by this, started to hate Vishnu and all his f ollowers. H e dec ides a plan to kill V is hnu by gaining mys tic al powers , whic h he believe brahma, the c hief among the devas , will award him if he undergoes many years of great aus terity and penanc e. H iranyakas hipu performed intens e aus terities and was able to pleas e Lord Brahma. When Brahma appeared before him he as ked for immortality. But Brahma s aid he c ould not grant him the boon of immortality. So Hiranyakashipu played a trick on Brahma and asked a series of boons all of which indirectly tried to avoid death. H e will not die in any type of res idenc e or outs ide. H e will not die during day or night. H e will not die on earth or s ky H e will not be killed by any weapon H e will not be killed by Demi-gods , human being, animal or any other c reation c reated by you H e s hould be the s ole lords hip over all living entities and T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om pres iding deities , and s hould be granted all the glories T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om H iranyakas hipu A s king for immortality Brahma said, "Tatha asthu" (be it so) and v anished. Hirany akashipu w as happy thinking that he had w on ov er death. A fter earning the boons, Hiranyakashipu defeated demigods and rulers on earth and announced that he was God and all prayers should be directed to him and not to Sri Hari Vishnu. Meanw hile, Hirany akashipu’s w ife Kay adhu gav e birth to Prahlad w ho grew T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om up and became a keen dev otee of V ishnu under the guidance of div ine sage narada. T he entire kingdom followed Hiranyakashipu commands of worshipping him but not his young son, Prahlad. The little boy Prahlad continued w orshipping Lord V ishnu. Hirany akashipu tried all means to make the boy w orship Him. But all this efforts failed. O ne day , Hirany akashipu ordered his serv ants to kill Prahlad, if he refused to accept the primacy of his father. Each time he attempted to kill the boy, Prahlada was protected by Vishnu's mystical power. He w as ev en being drow ned, poisoned, and burnt and throw n from the mountain. T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om H iranyakas hipu trying to kill prahlada Hiranyakashipu also ordered his sister Holika to kill Prahlada by sitting with him on the f ire but eventually she died burning in f ire and the tradition of burning holika(Frist day of holi) -is still f ollowed in India. (Sec ond day of holi-Fes tival of c olors , is as s oc iated with another lord V is hnu avatar- lord kris hna) T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om Fes tival of C olors , H oli in india Tired of failure, Hirany akashipu asked for an explanation then Prahlada refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is all-pervading and omnipresent. F ed up w ith his son’s explanation of V ishnu w orship, Hirany akashipu demanded him to show his V ishnu w ho is present ev ery w here: "O most unfortunate Prahlada, y ou hav e alw ay s described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being w ho is abov e ev ery thing, w ho is the controller of ev ery one, and w ho is all-perv ading. But w here is He? If He is ev ery w here, then w hy is He not present before me in this pillar? In a fit of anger pointing to a pillar, Hirany akashipu asked w hether V ishnu is T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om present in that pillar. Prahlada then answ ers, He w as, He is and He w ill be. In an alternate v ersion of the story , Prahlada answ ers, He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest tw ig. Hirany akashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar w ith his mace, and follow ing a tumultuous thundering sound, Vishnu in the form of half man-half lion(Narasimha) appears from it and moves to attack his father in defence of Prahlada. T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om H alf man-half lion(N aras imha) H e had large mous tac hes on the fac e and terrible teeth in the T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om mouth and his paws had terrible nails . In order to kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by brahma, the f orm of Narasimha is chosen. H iranyakas hipu c annot be killed by human, deva or animal. N aras imha is neither one of thes e as he is a form of V is hnu inc arnate as a part-human, part-animal. H e c omes upon H iranyakas hipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the thres hold of a c ourtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor s pac e). U s ing his s harp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons , he dis embowels and kills the demon. T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om N aras imha killing H iranyakas hipu The Bhagav ata Purana further narrates: ev en after killing Hirany akashipu, none of the present demigods are able to calm Narasimha's fury (Since he took form of a beast), not ev en lord shiv a. So all the gods and goddesses call his consort, Lakshmi, but she is also unable to do so. T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om N aras imha anger out of c ontrol T hen, at the request of Brahma, Prahlada prays to Narasimha, and finally he is calmed by the prayers of his devotee. Before leav ing, Narasimha rew ards the w ise Prahlada by crow ning him as the king. The abov e story of lord narasimha av atar can also be seen in below v ideo link N aras imha kills H iranyakas hipu <http://www.malls tuffs .c om/V ideos /V iewV ideo.as px? V ideoI d=1 0 7 4 1 &V ideoT ype=Spiritual> T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om N aras imha bles s ing prahlada . T oday in kaliyug (I ron A ge) we als o have bec ome s ome s ort of T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om T his file is downloaded from www.malls tuffs .c om hiranyakas hapu. With thes e modern c omforts , pros perity, lethal weapons , advanc ed medic al s ys tems we have s tarted feeling that whatever we do we are s afe. U nfortunately, M ankind has s tarted proving that he is more intelligent and c an do anything on this earth. Vaman A vatar BA LI, the grandson of Prahlada(one described abov e) w as a v ery v alorous and mighty asura (Demon). By his penance and might, he conquered the w hole w orld.