The flames licked the gates of every world. When the fire of Hiranyakashipu’s tapasya reached the heavens, the heat scorched the devas and the grand palaces of Swargalok. “This one asura’s tapasya could destroy all the three worlds,” the deities thought in a panic. Fleeing to Brahma, the devas begged for mercy. “Please, Lord,” Indra said to him, “stop this now before it gets much worse. It may be too difficult to stop the destruction of Hiranyakashipu’s tapasya if we wait too long.”
Devarishi Narada burst into laughter. Barely collecting himself, he managed to say to the gods, “First you stole the amrit from the asuras, and now you stand here fearful of their stealing your throne.”
“How can you say that?” demanded Indra. “Look around you! Everything will turn to ash if we don’t act now.”
Narada nodded sagely. “Of course, O King of the Devas. And if it turns to ash, then what will you and your brothers rule? Where will you build your dominion?”
Indra’s glare was hot in the cold void of Brahma’s abode. “This is about more than kingdoms. This problem affects everyone, and we are responsible for all the beings that inhabit these universes. Don’t they deserve mercy?”
Narada raised an eyebrow. “And what would your solution be? Do you even know why he is doing his tapas? What is the source of Hiranyakashipu’s fire? Perhaps you should attack at the root.”
“Why are you so quick to jump to the defense of those thieves?” snapped Indra. He could feel Narada’s smirk boring into his back. Taking a deep breath, he addressed Brahma once more. “Lord, please give Hiranyakashipu whatever he wants. You have to stop his tapasya. No matter the cost.”
“Be careful,” Narada said seriously. “You blame the asura for this fire, but you are the ones who set the first spark with your greed. It is possible you will not be able to bear the cost.”
“And if Hiranyakashipu destroys everything in his greed?”
“You don’t even know what he wants.”
“Who cares what he wants!” thundered Indra. “Devarishi, we have had to abandon our own home and roam the worlds as beggars as his desire has reduced our home to ashes. Lord Brahma, please, I ask you as the king of the devas. I have a duty to my people, and you have a duty to your creations. Listen how Bhudevi screams as the fire from Hiranyakashipu’s meditation scorches her hair and clothes. At this rate, there will be no plant life left on Earth! What will the animals eat? What will grow there? What will be born there, O Lord Brahma? He is no less cruel than his brother. They both treat Bhudevi as if she were nothing more than flesh to be consumed. Who knows what else he will do if we don’t stop him now!” Brahma looked at Indra’s folded hands and bowed head. “Please, just give him whatever he wants. You are the only one who can help us, Lord,” Indra said.
Brahma hesitated. “How do I know that granting your request will not lead to further destruction? If you care so much about my creations,” he said, “what will you do to take care of them if they are endangered because I granted Hiranyakashipu’s wish?”
Indra replied like a bolt of lightning. “Then we, the devas, will take responsibility for it.”
“Narayana, Narayana!” Devarishi Narada exclaimed. “Then you must go at once, O Brahma! The fate of the brahman lies in your hands.”
So Brahma relented. He descended from his lotus asana and into the thick curtain of trees and fire that surrounded the asura king. Hiranyakashipu was drowning in fire, pain, and determination. Smoke rose from his body, and the wind swirled embers in the air.
“Open your eyes, son. I am pleased by your tapasya. Ask me for something. What do you desire?”
Hiranyakashipu was nearly blinded by the glow of the deity before him. “Finally,” he thought. The Hiranyakashipu who had stood as still as marble for thousands of years now trembled. His body pulsed with excitement. He folded his shaking hands in greeting, and eagerly he said, “Lord Brahma, I have called on you for justice. My brother was taken from me through treachery. Grant me immortality and help me set this right.”
“My son, there is no one that can grant immortality. It is against the rules of nature. Ask for something else,” Brahma said.
The king who would burn down all the brahman and everything in it with the strength of his tapas alone was not so easily deterred. He considered Brahma’s words. What could he ask for that would ensure he would never die? Hiranyaksha too had won a boon that specified the conditions of his death. Though even still, he had perished. The king considered the possibility that perhaps Hiranyakashipu’s brother had simply not specified the terms of his death clearly enough. Could Hiranyakashipu do better for his brother? For his people? Could he set right the injustice of having the amrit stolen from them?
“Can you grant me any death I ask for? Can I decide the conditions of my death?”
“I can. I will respect every condition,” Lord Brahma replied.
“I have to make this count,” Hiranyakashipu thought. After some thought, he spoke again. “Then I wish that I should not die inside my home nor outside it, neither in the day nor night. I shall not die by poison or weapons. I shall not be killed on the earth nor in the heavens. No animal, no man, no deva, no asura should kill me. I should not die by a living being nor a non-living being.” And so Hiranyakashipu thought he would not die. “This is my wish.”
“So be it; tathastu.”
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