Hiranyakashipu had won a boon from Brahma which had made him invincible so that no human being, god or beast could kill him. This demon’s son, named Prahalada, worshipped Vishnu, which so incensed his father that he tried to kill him, but Prahalada, being under the protection of Vishnu, survived all assassination attempts. Derisively dismissing his son’s claim about the omnipresence and omnipotence of Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu demanded to know if Vishnu was present in a stone pillar of the hall, and struck it violently. To avenge Prahalada and to vindicate his own offended majesty, Vishnu emerged from the pillar as Narasmha, half-man and half-lion, and tore the arrogant demon-king to pieces.