page_title: Hiranyaksha
hierarchical_section_title: Hiranyaksha
caption_attribution_description: English: Gouache painting from an album of 26 depicting scenes of Hindu mythology in a variety of painting styles. The boar avatar Varaha, the third incarnation of Viṣṇu, stands in front of the decapitated body of the demon Hiranyaksha. The goddess Bhudevi balances on the boar's tusks.
context_page_description: Hiranyaksha, also known as Hiranyanetra was an oppressive demon Asura who attacked the heavens and thereafter kidnapped and attempted to destroy the earth goddess in Hindu mythology.
  Vishnu's guardians Jaya-Vijaya, were cursed by 4 kumara sages to incarnate on Earth either 3 times as enemies of Lord Vishnu OR 7 times as devotees of Lord Vishnu. They chose to take birth on earth 3 times. In the first birth, they were born as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. In the second birth, they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna. In the third birth, they were born as Shishupala and Dantavakra. The references are from stories of Bhagavata Purana.
  Some of the Puranas present him as the son of Diti and Kashyap. Kashyapa was an ancient sage, who is one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadwaja. He was the father of the Devas, Asuras, Nagas and all of humanity. He married Aditi, with whom he fathered Agni, the Aditya. With his second wife, Diti, he begot the Daityas. In this Puranic version, the good Suras and evil Asuras are the children of the same Kashyapa, and there is a constant war between good and evil.
context_section_description: Hiranyaksha (Sanskrit: हिरण्याक्ष, "golden-eyed"), also known as Hiranyanetra (Sanskrit: हिरण्यनेत्र) was an oppressive demon Asura who attacked the heavens and thereafter kidnapped and attempted to destroy the earth goddess in Hindu mythology.
  Vishnu's guardians Jaya-Vijaya, were cursed by 4 kumara sages (Bramha's sons) to incarnate on Earth either 3 times as enemies of Lord Vishnu OR 7 times as devotees of Lord Vishnu. They chose to take birth on earth 3 times. In the first birth (During Satya Yuga), they were born as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. In the second birth (During Treta Yuga), they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna. In the third birth (During Dwapara Yuga), they were born as Shishupala and Dantavakra. The references are from stories of Bhagavata Purana.
  Some of the Puranas present him as the son of Diti and Kashyap. Kashyapa (Sanskrit: कश्यप kaśyapa) was an ancient sage (rishis), who is one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadwaja. He was the father of the Devas, Asuras, Nagas and all of humanity. He married Aditi, with whom he fathered Agni, the Aditya. With his second wife, Diti, he begot the Daityas. In this Puranic version, the good Suras and evil Asuras are the children of the same Kashyapa, and there is a constant war between good and evil.
  Once, Hiranyaksha assaulted the defenseless Mother Earth and pulled her deep into the cosmic ocean. The demi-gods appealed to Vishnu to save the earth goddess and all life. Vishnu took the avatar of a man-boar (Varaha) and went to rescue the goddess. Hiranyaksha blocked him. He was then slain by Vishnu.
caption: The boar avatar Varaha, the third incarnation of Vishnu, stands in front of the decapitated body of the demon Hiranyaksha
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