Why Was Hiranyakashipu Liberated

“Shri Hari, who is the Lord of the demigods, who is worshiped by the people of the world, for benefiting the moving and nonmoving beings of the world took that dreadful form through His own energy and tore apart Hiranyakashipu, who caused suffering to so many, with His nails.” (Narasimha Purana, 44.43)

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हरिः सुरेशो नरलोकपूजितो हिताय लोकस्य चराचरस्य
कृत्वा विरूपं च पुरात्ममायया हिरण्यकं दुःखकरं नखैश् छिनत्

hariḥ sureśo naralokapūjito hitāya lokasya carācarasya
kṛtvā virūpaṃ ca purātmamāyayā hiraṇyakaṃ duḥkhakaraṃ nakhaiś chinat

“It is one of the greatest triumphs in history. You would have to search long and hard to find anything comparable. The perseverance was so amazing, the torture so severe, the resolution so unexpected, that I can understand why the less intelligent would relegate the accounts to mythology. It must not have happened, you see. It must be one of these stories to increase faith in God, who is otherwise a fictional character. It is a story they told believers over the years, across centuries, to maintain their faith. It is a way to rationalize the horrors, the abuses, the envy, the interference, and the generally tragic nature to the life experience.

“I am not within that category. I believe the accounts. I do not think Parashara Muni, Markandeya Rishi, or Shukadeva Gosvami would waste time on mythology. They renounced this world. They set aside the fake in favor of the real. They understood the dreamlike existence through samsara, and so they intentionally and intelligently chose tattva as their constant companion. They pushed forward these histories, in the form of Puranas, for the upliftment of mankind, who are otherwise in a constant struggle.

“The triumph of which I speak is Prahlada Maharaja, who happened to be targeted as an enemy by his own father, in the kingdom of the Daityas. Vishnu finally appeared, after Prahlada underwent unspeakable torture. Vishnu showed Himself as the amazing Narasimha, who used His nails to rip apart the perpetrator, the envious Hiranyakashipu.

“There are so many layers to the ordeal that a person could spend many lifetimes studying and appreciating the sequence of events, from beginning to end, but I would like to focus on an aspect I feel gets easily overlooked. We see that since Narasimha killed Hiranyakashipu, there were no lingering effects. The father received liberation. He was no longer subject to birth and death. In other words, the father received the highest benediction available in the human species.

“I get it that the justification is both from the victim’s side and Hari’s mercy. One who thinks of God the person at the time of death never has to take birth again. Prahlada held no resentment against the father. But what if others are not so quick to forgive? Just remember what Hiranyakashipu did. He fed his five-year old son to venomous snakes. He ordered the royal attendants to attack Prahlada with deadly weapons.”

विष्णुः शस्त्रेषु युष्मासु मयि चासौ यथा स्थितः
दैतेयास् तेन सत्येन मा क्रामन्त्व् आयुधानि वः

viṣṇuḥ śastreṣu yuṣmāsu mayi cāsau yathā sthitaḥ
daiteyās tena satyena mā krāmantv āyudhāni vaḥ

“O Daityas, just as Vishnu is in those weapons and also situated in me, so by that truth your weapons will not be able to overcome me.”  (Prahlada Maharaja, Vishnu Purana, 1.17.33)

“Hiranyakashipu threw the innocent son off a cliff. There was intent to kill. The justification was that Prahlada was praising Vishnu. The son was praising the enemy, as the father saw it. How can such acts be so quickly forgiven? More than forgiven, Hiranyakashipu was elevated to the highest region. Isn’t that setting a bad example for others? You can be a horrible person and still be rewarded. Make it make sense.”

Is not the death penalty enough for a murderer? In our ordinary dealings, there are criminals and there is apprehension. There is a trial by jury, and if there is a guilty verdict, the judge decides upon a sentence. After the sentence is handed down, is there anything left to the affair? We might lament that the attack ever occurred. We feel for the parties involved, both the victims who had to endure the abuse and the people following the sinful way. But when there is a final conclusion, a reckoning of sorts, what is the use in holding on to the resentment?

Goswami Tulsidas explains that good and bad, guna and dosha, are like different endpoints in illusion. They are not real, as the effects are only temporary. It is like seeing participants at different positions within a race. One person is in the front, leading the pack. Another person is way in the back. Irrespective of position, the people are in the race. They are operating within a specific system.

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

The same applies in the material world, in the aggregate view. One person is rising due to meritorious credits, sukriti. Another person is falling down due to sinful behavior, pāpa. If they are still in the material world, they are still bound. They are still within illusion. This illusion can only be removed by the help of Hari, who is the Supreme Lord.

We may consider Hiranyakashipu to be a bad person, the epitome of evil, but he was involved in a temporary affair. Since he had the blessing of receiving the direct vision of Hari, he was liberated. He maintained that vision at the time of death. This is the mechanism for the travel of the living beings; their consciousness carries forward, determining their next destination. The person who thinks of God while quitting their body attains a nature just like His.

अन्त-काले च माम् एव
स्मरन् मुक्त्वा कलेवरम्
यः प्रयाति स मद्-भावं
याति नास्त्य् अत्र संशयः

anta-kāle ca mām eva
smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.5)

Those are not merely words spoken to alleviate the concern in a tense moment. It is a fact, proven in the killing of Hiranyakashipu. If Hari is the final arbiter, who are we to tell Him to judge otherwise? The victim himself asked for liberation for the perpetrator. Prahlada held no animosity, despite being on the receiving end of undeserved punishment. Hari assured Prahlada that many previous generations, including the father, would be liberated, for they had such a wonderful devotee appear within their family.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
त्रिः-सप्तभिः पिता पूतः
पितृभिः सह ते ’नघ
यत् साधो ’स्य कुले जातो
भवान् वै कुल-पावनः

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
triḥ-saptabhiḥ pitā pūtaḥ
pitṛbhiḥ saha te ’nagha
yat sādho ’sya kule jāto
bhavān vai kula-pāvanaḥ

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Prahlada, O most pure, O great saintly person, your father has been purified, along with twenty-one forefathers in your family. Because you were born in this family, the entire dynasty has been purified.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.18)

Should we follow the way of Hiranyakashipu, then? Is there no difference between piety and sin? The distinction is that the paranoia from the Daitya leader was due to constant attention on Vishnu. He maintained a steadiness in thought, in a consciousness connected to transcendence, whether he was aware or not. Prahlada had a similar connection, but on the positive side, and so he is beloved to this day, while the liberated father paints a vivid picture of the vulnerabilities to pursuing world domination independent of acknowledgment of the source of all strength.

In Closing:

Like with greatest rage to fill,
Repeatedly trying to kill.

The five-year old son,
Who worst crime had done.

In worship of Vishnu steady,
But soon as Narasimha ready.

With nails only tearing apart,
Victim in glorious way to depart.