The story of Lord Vishnu's Narasimha avatar
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The tale of Lord Vishnu's Narasimha avatar is extremely fascinating and significant. This incarnation was taken by Lord Vishnu to protect his devotee Prahlada and to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu. The story is as follows: Hiranyakashipu was a very powerful demon who had obtained a boon from Lord Brahma that he could not be killed by any human or animal, neither during the day nor at night, neither inside a house nor outside, neither by any weapon nor by any tool, neither on the ground nor in the sky. Because of this boon, he became very arrogant and began to consider himself as God. Hiranyakashipu's son, Prahlada, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu was very angry with Prahlada’s devotion. He subjected Prahlada to various tortures, but Prahlada was saved every time by the grace of Lord Vishnu. Prahlada did not follow his father's orders and remained engrossed in the devotion of Lord Vishnu. One day, Hiranyakashipu asked Prahlada, "Where is your God?" Prahlada replied, "God is everywhere." Enraged, Hiranyakashipu asked, "Is your God in this pillar?" Prahlada confidently replied, "Yes, God is in this pillar too." In anger, Hiranyakashipu kicked the pillar. At that moment, Lord Vishnu emerged from the pillar in the form of Narasimha (half-man, half-lion). In this form, Lord Vishnu had neither assumed a human nor an animal form, thus fulfilling the conditions of Hiranyakashipu’s boon. Lord Narasimha caught Hiranyakashipu and took him to the threshold of the palace, which was neither inside the house nor outside. He placed him on his thigh, which was neither on the ground nor in the sky, at twilight, which was neither day nor night, and killed him with his sharp claws, which were neither a weapon nor a tool. After killing Hiranyakashipu, Lord Narasimha placed Prahlada on his lap and praised his devotion. He blessed Prahlada and fulfilled all his wishes. The story of Lord Vishnu's Narasimha avatar teaches us that true devotion and faith can make God appear in any form to protect his devotees and destroy evil. The Narasimha avatar demonstrated that Lord Vishnu can go to any extent to protect his devotees and that evildoers inevitably face the consequences of their actions.
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