Prahlada, the devout son of the Asura King Hiranyakashipu, was born to the queen Khyathu, also known as Dhanavi. His father, Hiranyakashipu, bore an intense hatred for Lord Vishnu because Vishnu had slain his brother, Hiranyaksha. Driven by revenge, Hiranyakashipu commanded that no one in his realm—indeed, throughout the world—should worship Vishnu or offer sacrifices to the Devas. However, despite his father’s strict edicts, Prahlada remained a steadfast devotee of Vishnu, offering his prayers with unwavering devotion.
Initially, Hiranyakashipu believed that Prahlada’s teachers were instilling this piety, but they denied influencing him. They explained that Prahlada’s devotion arose not from their teachings but from an inner conviction. This deep-rooted devotion had begun while Prahlada was still in his mother’s womb. During a period when Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha were away at the Mandara Mountains performing penance, Indra, the king of the Devas, seized the opportunity to attack their kingdom. Indra captured Hiranyakashipu’s pregnant queen with plans to kill the unborn child. However, the sage Narada intervened, convincing Indra to refrain from committing such a sin, as the unborn child would grow to be a devoted follower of Vishnu. Indra conceded, and Narada took the queen to his hermitage, where she awaited her husband’s return. Each day, Narada would sing praises of Vishnu, and the child in the womb—Prahlada—absorbed the teachings, developing a profound love for the deity.
As Prahlada grew, his father tried in vain to dissuade him from his devotion to Vishnu. When persuasion failed, Hiranyakashipu’s anger turned to violent attempts to end his son’s life. He commanded his servants to throw Prahlada from a cliff, but Vishnu protected him. Hiranyakashipu then tried crushing him with an elephant, but the elephant refused to harm the boy. Next, he ordered Prahlada to be burned, yet he emerged unscathed from the flames, shielded by Vishnu’s grace.
An oft-told legend, though lacking a direct Puranic reference, involves Hiranyakashipu’s sister, Holika. Holika possessed a boon that granted her immunity from fire. To fulfill her brother’s wish, she took Prahlada on her lap and entered a blazing fire. However, through Vishnu’s intervention, Prahlada was untouched by the flames, while Holika perished. This tale gave rise to the festival of Holi, which commemorates her demise and celebrates Prahlada’s unwavering faith.
Desperate, Hiranyakashipu finally tried to kill Prahlada himself. In that moment of impending violence, Vishnu appeared in his fierce Narasimha form—a terrifying half-man, half-lion incarnation—and ended Hiranyakashipu’s tyranny by tearing him apart. Following his father’s death, Prahlada ascended the throne as king of the Asuras, ruling with wisdom and righteousness for many years.
Prahlada’s legacy continued through his descendants. His son, Virochana, upheld his father’s lineage, and his grandson Bali became renowned for his act of unparalleled generosity to Vishnu in the form of Vamana, the dwarf incarnation.