13 – Be Careful What You Wish For

Hi Friends!

Today let us take the tale of the Dashavataar’s forward. Last time we covered the Third Incarnation of Vishnu. We also talked about the first mortal life of one of the Cursed Gatekeepers of Vishnu. This time we will be starting the story of the first mortal life of the other Cursed Gatekeepers of Vishnu. We will complete the same in the next post, along with the story of the Fourth Incarnation of Vishnu.

So, we ended last time when Lord Varaha ended the cursed life of Jaya, i.e. the Daitya Hiranyaksha, and disappeared.

This both angered as well as scared Hiranyakashipu, the twin-brother of Hiranyaksha. He was another son of Sage Kashyapa and Diti (one of the daughters of Daksha Prajapati).

His name can mean two things. It consists of two words: (i) “hiranya” or “golden”, and (ii) “kashipu” meaning “cushion”. So his name may mean the One who Sits on a Golden Seat, i.e. king of a place of plenty, but it can also mean One who covets riches, his or others. This covetous (and rich) daitya was also incidentally the first incarnation of Vijaya, the Gatekeeper friend of Vishnu, cursed to live three lifes, as one of the foremost enemies of Vishnu. Just like his brother Hiranyaksha, who was Jaya going through mortal life as a curse.

These Daitya brothers also had a sister, called Simhika (the She-Lioness), sometimes called as Holika.

To avoid a similar end like their brother, Simhika and Hiranyakashipu left their spouses at their respective kingdoms, in order to undertake penances to please Agni Deva and Lord Brahma, respectively, to get boons.

While they went about this, our stormy-and-unpredictable-like-the-monsoon friend, Indra went about and did two “questionable” things.

First he killed one of his cousins/half-brothers called Puloman, who was Danava, i.e. son of Danu and Sage Kashyapa). He also married Puloman’s daughter, called Paulomi, or Sachi. She thus became Indrani, the Queen of the Devas. Puloman also had a brother called Viprachitti, who became the king of Danavas after his brother’s death. In addition, he became quite enraged with Adityas, and their supporter, Lord Vishnu. Incidentally King Viprachitti was also the husband of Simhika. His name means One with Wise and/or Poetic Mind. Surprisingly his story doesn’t ever align with his name.

Second, Indra went and abducted the pregnant wife of Hiranyakashipu, called Kayadhu. His logic was thus:

• Hiranyaksha was strong and ousted him from his kingdom [Correct];
• Hiranyakashipu was strong, and getting stronger and would try to oust him from his kingdom [Logical, and soon proven correct];
• The unborn son of Hiranyakashipu would be strong as well, and when time came would try to oust him from his kingdom [Logical, but not entirely correct. We will get back to this in a later post.]

So he planned to keep Kayadhu with him till she gave birth to her son, post which he would kill the newborn, and thus eliminate at least one of his future tormentors. Whatever be the logic that supported this, you all would agree it was not a righteous logic.

The eldest of the masters of creation (“prajapati”) known for his wisdom, agreed with us on this. So, Sage Narada, decided to intervene in his own way. He accosted Indra, and asked him what was he, the King of Adityas – entrusted with saving the weak, and upholding righteousness – doing. This showing of the mirror caused Indra to realise his folly. He asked for forgiveness from the Daitya Queen, and the Sage Narada.

He still mentioned his fear that the unborn child may later cause harm to the forces of righteousness. On this, Sage Narada, showed his ability to know the future and stated, “Just the opposite O Indra. This child may be the reason the forces of good win at the end. In fact a few of his descendants may show the world how power of the ruler when used for the betterment of the ruled, even in defeat the king remains loved and respected.”

After this Sage Narada invited Kayadhu to stay at his ashram for safety, till her husband returned from his quest for boons from Narada’s father. The Queen happily accepted the invitation, and spent her time listening to Narada speak about the greatness of his beloved Lord Vishnu. In fact Narada, always took the name of Vishnu as a way of greeting, and punctuation. Naaraayan Naaraayan!

In the meantime Lord Brahma, satisfied by Hiranyakashipu’s penance, came to him and asked him to ask any boon, other than outright immortality. Hiranyakashipu had learnt from his brother’s mistake of missing out one animal, which led to his downfall. So he smartly worded his request to avoid repeating the same mistake.

He said: “O Lord Brahma. I, son of Diti, am the son of your grandson, the learned Sage Kashyapa, who in turn is the son of your mind-born son and one of the Saptarishis, Sage Marichi. Hence O Great Lord, you are also my Great Grandfather. On the grounds of our close relationship and the strength of my penance, I would request you to grant me four boons. Not of immortality, but on the nature of my ultimate death. Merely conditions on the who, where, when and how of it.”

Lord Brahma bemusedly agreed.

So the well prepared Hiranyakashipu, stated the four boons. He said; “O Great Lord Brahma, please grant that whenever I die the following conditions are met.”

• WHO: I humbly request you that I may not be killed by any Deva, Asura, Gandharva, Manushya, Animal, Bird, or any creature created by you.
• WHERE: I humbly request that I may not be killed on the ground, or in the underworld, or in water, or in the heavenly lokas. Please grant I may not be killed inside a house. Nor should I meet my end outside a house.
• WHEN: I humbly request that I may not be killed in day or in night.
• HOW: I humbly request that I may not be killed by any weapon released from hand, i.e. astra. Nor may I be killed by any weapon held in hands, i.e. shastra. In fact make it that I may not be killed by any weapons, at all, created till now or in the future.

“O Great Grandfather, please note I have not asked for immortality, and I hope you will keep your promise and grant me my boon, as stated,” thus saying the intelligent Hiranyakashipu ended his request.

Lord Brahma smiled an enigmatic smile, and said, “Tathaa Astu. So be it, O Great Grand Son of mine! I hope you are aware what kind of death you have wished for yourself.”

Hiranyakashipu happily took Lord Brahma’s leave, not putting much thought to the final remark, assuming that to be idle mumbling of his old great-grandfather.

Meanwhile, Simhika also succeeded in pleasing Lord Agni, God of Fire, with her single-minded devotion. The boon she asked was that she could never be harmed by fire. Agni Dev gave her a garment which was truly fire-proof, and whoever was covered in it could not be harmed by any fire.

Simhika went to the kingdom of her husband, the Danava King, Viprachitti, with her fire-proof garment. Her husband was fiercely protective of her, and shared her hatred of the Devas.

Hiranyakashipu, the King of Daityas, went to his own kingdom. Queen Kayadhu, who as we saw spent the intervening time in Sage Narada’s ashram, came back safe to her husband. They were soon blessed with a son, called Prahlada. Such an interesting combination of names. Though the father was The One Covetous of Wealth and Gold (“Hiranyakashipu”), but as the mother was The One Who Dispels Illusions (“Kayadhu”), who heard the learned discourse of The Wisdom Giver (“Narada”) while the son was in her womb, she gave birth to a bright son whose name is synonymous to Unfettered Joy (“Prahlada”).

So the brother and sister, convinced that they were safe from all kinds of harm, started plotting their revenge against their enemies, the Devas, and their protector/benefactor, Lord Vishnu.

Let us see in the next part of the story, whether their boons gave them immortality or decided the method of their downfall. May be someone should have said to them, “Be careful what you wish for!”