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246 Terrible words! and wonderful prayer of Hiranyakasipu! Great beyond that of common men must* have been his power, for at this demand, ringing out into the ears of the Lord Himself, the pillar cracked from side to side, and out sprang One, half like a man and half like a lion, who leapt upon him and tore him into pieces!

So the demons were driven out, and the devas took their own places once more. But some say that the soul of Hiranyakasipu was glad of this release. And these hold that he was the same who in some former birth had been Ravana, King of Lanka, and who yet again was to come into the world as Shishupal.

For once upon a time, long before, they say, a great sainted soul had been driven back to birth by some evil fate. But a choice had been offered him. He might pass out of this bondage, it was said, after seven births as the friend of God, or three as His enemy. Without a moment's doubt he chose three births as the enemy, that he might the sooner return to God. Wherefore he became Ravana and Hiranyakasipu, and yet again that Shishupal whose story is still to tell.