In the Cycle of Incarnations of Vishnu ascending, as he does, from the lowest and less complicated forms of life to the amphibians to wild animals and then higher mammals till he finally reaches the stage of Man, one of the interesting pit stops is the Narasimha Avatar, neither man nor lion but a curious amalgamation of both, with all the virtues and almost none of the drawbacks of each species. It is interesting also because Narasimha was the first avatar form that began to be seriously worshipped and indeed continues to be worshipped even today, especially in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The cult seems to be enjoying a resurgence of sorts, just three hundred meters from where I stay in Pune city there is a temple of Vishnu come up in the last year where the man lion is one of the primary deities. Narasimha is fundamentally a God of Strength and Energy that is being prayed to - a militant combative form of Vishnu, quite in contradistinction to his usually benign and serene forms.

The Narasimha Avatar is a direct consequence of the Varaha Avatar slaying the demon Hiranyaksha. (For details see our article on the Varaha Avatar.) His brother Hiranyakashipu was filled with bitterness and a smoldering desire for revenge. Not willing to make his brother's mistake and challenge Vishnu head on, he realized that Power is a consequence of storing up merit acquired by practicing austerities, Tapasya. This is the standard belief of Indian myth. The corollary to this belief is the fact that Power is, therefore, available to anybody who is willing to pay the price to gain it. Hiranyakashipu, therefore, set out on a course of tapasya that had never been attempted before by any living being in all the worlds of creation. One of the advantages of being an asura/demon is that you have willpower and endurance and an ability to see a task through. His accumulated Power began to strain the interstices of creation, so gigantic had it become. There was no go for the gods and as usual they sent Brahma the Creator to buy them some time.

When Brahma offered the asura boons so that he would forsake his austerities, he set a high price upon compliance. At first he wanted immortality, but it was refused on the grounds that all created beings have to come to an end. Then he demanded that he not die or be defeated unless certain impossible conditions were fulfilled. He was not to be slain by day or night, by weapons or missiles, neither indoor not outdoors, not on the earth or in the sky, by man nor beast. Since the possibility of all these were remote, he was justified in considering that he had managed to gain a good deal. He also had the Power that accrues to all those who practice tapasya. Fortified with this new strength he launched into a universe conquering campaign and drove the gods out of heaven, and proclaimed he was the New Lord of the Universe. All worship of the old gods was to cease immediately.

Most people complied with this new order, the gods were in hiding or taken into slavery, and Hiranyakashipu was always watching, always suspicious. His son however, only eight years old, Prahalada by name, proved to be an unexpected surprise. Prahalada blandly declared that what his father was doing was wrong and anyway, Vishnu was Keshava, Lord of the Universe, not his father. Sheer shock seems to have paralyzed the demon king for a while, the situation was unprecedented and unthinkable, a demon devotee of Vishnu. He finally was goaded into action, because the joke was too delightful to stay within palace walls and the universe was laughing maliciously at this turn of events. His sister Holika was immune to fire, so she tried to burn the young boy up. Unfortunately for her, the conflagration consumed her while the power of Vishnu's name protected Prahalada.

The desperate demon king tried every method of dispatching this impossible boy. He sent snakes, wild elephants, assassins, poisons, enchanters and necromancers, judicious shoves off cliffs, cast into the sea with rocks tied on, becoming wilder and wilder as the boy's survival mocked him. Finally, in despair he asked the young lad what the secret of his power was. Prahalada answered that it was the indwelling Vishnu who saved him each time, Vishnu, 'He-who-pervades', and is in every pore of creation. This panegyric was too much for the king to bear, and he threatened to kill the boy himself with his Power. This was a serious threat indeed. The maddened asura demanded to see proof that Vishnu did indeed pervade everything; if he did not find him inside the pillar next to them, he would kill the boy. He had finally overreached himself in his hubris and the pillar burst open to reveal a weird creature advancing upon him. It was a bright mass of light with the head and paws of a lion and the body of a man, and his roars shook all creation. At that moment, Hiranyakashipu knew that the Trickster god had outsmarted him.

For this form was neither man nor beast; and it was also the twilight hour, when it was not day but not night either. Seizing the bewildered king, the angry Narasimha dragged him to the threshold of the house, so he was neither indoors nor outdoors. Then he spread-eagled him upon his lap so that he was neither in the air nor the sky and then, keeping to the letter of imperviousness to weapons, but finding the escape clause anyway, the great Trickster tore him apart with his claws. When he calmed down after this bloody episode, he appointed Prahalada the New King of the Demons, and got the gods back the heaven they had lost. Illustrative of the many ways in which myth impacts the real life of people even today is an odd social custom - consequent to this myth - that has persisted for thousand of years down to the present day. No orthodox Hindu will cut their nails at twilight in respectful memory of the great action of Narasimha.

It is noteworthy that this is the most popular version of the story, but by no means the only version. In the famous ninth century Shiva temple at Ambarnath, there is a panel carving depicting this episode, and Narasimha is clearly using a large dagger to tear apart the demon king. So it would seem that the legalistic immunity he acquired was a later addition to the tales, perhaps he just got some boon of overwhelming power which was broken by Vishnu. Also it is strange to note that in the very oldest texts, Prahalada is actually a famous enemy of Vishnu, or of Indra. The story that we have told in the Vamana Avatar was once applied to Prahalada, not to his grandson Mahabali. It is instructive that the texts state Prahalada was brought down because "he was too wise and generous, excess in anything is not good". This is amazingly similar to the Greek point of view - moderation in all things - Oedipus being punished precisely because he has an excess of wisdom, enough to overcome even the supernatural power of the Sphinx. As India became more sentimental and devotional, such a harsh lesson, no matter how psychologically true, was no longer acceptable, and Prahalada was transformed into the greatest devotee of Vishnu.