Hiranykashyapu was a very powerful king of a race of giant demons. He was blessed with immortality by Bramha (the Creator of Universe). He could neither be killed in day nor night: neither on land nor in the air: neither indoors nor outdoors and neither by an animal nor by a human. He could not be killed with any weapon. Hiranykashyapu's son Pralad was a faithful devotee of Lord Vishnu. Angered by his son's devotion towards Lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashyapu one day decided to execute Pralad. He tried killing Pralad by leaving him in the jungle among wild animals: throwing him off a cliff and even putting him in fire along with his sister, Holika, who was immune from fire. Hiranykashyapu's every effort to kill Pralad was thwarted by Lord Vishnu. One day, Lord Vishnu came to the aid of Pralad in a form of a Narasingha (half man and half lion), in the evening (neither at day nor at night) and disemboweled him with his bare nails (not with a weapon), while placing him on his lap (not on land nor in the sky) at the palace doorway (neither outdoors nor indoors). Thus, Hiranykashyapu was vanquished by Narasingha, which is considered as the fourth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
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