The myth:
Hiranyakshan
from the previous avatar had a brother - Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu
hates Vishnu for the injustice he meted out to his brother and decides
to become God himself. He performs a severe penance and Brahma comes in
front of him. He asks Brahma for immortality. Brahma tells him that he
cannot grant him immortality as that is restricted for the devas and the
Gods. Hiranyakashipu is upset and continues to pray. Brahma comes again
and he asks him what he wants. He asks for the following boon - " I
should not die of old age or sickness, i should not be killed by man or
animal, i should not die in daylight or in the night, i should not be
killed inside or outside, I should not be killed in land or in the
skies, I should not be killed by any weapon made of iron or wood. " Brahma grants him his boon which Hiranyakshan deems is immortality.
He
chases the devas away from their abode, rules over heaven, earth and
the netherworld. He tells everyone that he is God for nobody can
vanquish him. He makes the sages chant his name, he gets temples built
for himself and he prevents the worship of Lord Vishnu, the man who
killed his brother.
Hiranyakashipu has a beautiful
wife who was pregnant when he was performing penance. She is coveted by
Indira and so she hides in the ashram of Narada who tells her the story
of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu takes her home from the hermitage when he
gains power and spares Narada for he cared for his wife. A son is born
to them - a boy by the name of Prahlad. Prahlad had listened to the
glories of the Lord when he was in his mother's womb and he is born a
Vishnu devotee. This is initially kept a secret from his dad who is busy
harassing sages who do not pray to him and mortals who refuse to bow
down. He is effectively the most powerful creature/man in the whole
world now. He realizes his sons loyalties don't lie with him and he
tries to convert the boy. The cheeky boy says that Vishnu is everywhere
and sings praises of his God.
Initially tolerant of his
son's whim, Hiranyakashipu loses it when the boy refuses to worship
him. He orders the boy to be whipped. The whip becomes a rope of flowers
when it hits the boy. He tries to kill the boy by drowning, the boy
survives. He tries to poison the boy, the boy survives and he finally
tries to get an elephant to trample the boy but the elephant runs away
on seeing Prahlada. An angry Hiranyakashipu then asks Prahlad, "Where is this god of yours? How come i have never seen him when I was busy wrecking the lives of his devotees?" Prahlad replies that the Lord, "Is there in every pillar, every small atom in the world and is in the heart of his every devotee."
Hiranyakshan
takes his mace and swings it on a pillar and an angry looking lion
faced man steps out of the pillar. He is half man, half animal and not a
god. He fights with Hiranyakshan who is not able to combat the ferocity
of the creature. It is twilight (neither daylight or night) and Narasimha catches Hiranyakshan, sits in the steps of his palace (neither inside nor outside) and puts him in his lap (neither land or sky) and tears him to pieces (no weapon).
This angry Narasimha is the Ugranarasimha who is not able to cool down
as he is still seething with the injustice meted out to his devotees by
the crazy demon. He finally calms when Prahlada prays to him and crowns
Prahlada king.
The philosophy :
No
matter how smart you deem you are, there is someone much smarter out
there. This to me is the favorite thought that crosses my mind every
time i hear this story.
No matter how impossible
following your ideal/dream is (in Prahlada's case, glimpsing the lord)
and no matter how difficult it is to stick to your faith, you have to do
it for that is what defines you. Prahlada to me is the man who sticks
to his guns no matter what and i deeply admire him for it.
Narasimha
is also my favorite god for there is no niceness here when he is
killing. He steps out of the pillar and does what has to be done without
bothering about the gore. He calms down at the sight of his devotee but
his anger is righteous and strong enough to destroy. The angry God is
there to remind you not to fear anything for there is something or
someone much bigger than all of us.