Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 6 (Indian and Iranian).djvu/189

 Fig. 4. The Naraslmha ("Man-Lion") Avatar of Visnu Through his austerities the Daitya Hiranyakasipu had obtained the boon that he should be slain neither by man nor by animal. His son, Prahlada, was a devout worshipper of Visnu, whom Hiranyakasipu hated. Told by Prahlada that Visnu is omnipresent, Hiranyakasipu asked scornfully whether he was in a certain pillar of the palace, and when told that he was even there, he struck it to destroy the deity. Immediately Visnu appeared from the pillar in the guise of a being part man and part lion and tore the unbeliever asunder. After Moor, Hindu Pantheon, Plate L.