After gaining boon from Brahma the demon king Hiranyakashipu returned to his kingdom. He was given a tumultuous welcome by his demonic subjects. The capital city broke out in celebrations. There was a lot of drinking, flesh devouring and revellery. By the order of Hiranyakashipu drinking places and eateries were thrown open for free serving.
Hiranyakashipu called out to his daredevil commanders Ilwal and Namuchi. Like giants the two fear striking demon warriors trundled towards the king like elephants. The king guffawed before saying, “My valiant veterans! Now you need not fear any power of this universe. Your master has gained a divine power that no other creature of this universe possesses. Ha ha ha! I’ve become immortal.”
“I hail the demon lord!” Namuchi spoke rattling his sabre in the air, “Now it is the time to take revenge on the gods, our arch foes.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Ilwal agreed, “The gods have been making enough troubles for us. We can show them their place now. And there is no time to lose.”
“Commanders, Ilwal and Namuchi,” Hiranyakashipu declared, “Not only the gods, but we must take revenge on all those forces of the universe that ever showed an enmity to us. We must prevail over all.”
Namuchi bent his head and said, “My Lord, as you are now immortal and invincible, it is about time we storm all the three worlds to raise our victory cry.”
Hiranyakashipu nodded his head at Namuchi approvingly and laughed. “Correct you are, Namuchi. Order the demon force to prepare for battles and campaigns. We want our flag flying high in all three worlds and the domains. Conquer the deities of all the directions. We want all the living beings of the worlds to accept me as Supreme Power.”
“So, it will be my Lord,” the two commanders spoke in unison.” Our demonic forces are ready to crush any challenge. We just need your command.”
“I, the king of demons order you to brook no delay in bringing the entire creation under our control. With full preparation fan out in the universe in all worlds and domains to subjugate all enemies. Eliminate anyone who creates hurdles for you. We want to see all the celestials, water creatures, airborne ones, bottom world folk, earthlings and all others crawling before us. Make me the Lord of the Universe.”
“So, it will be demon lord!”
“Any creature who accepts me as his God may be spared and all others are to be banished or eliminated. Now you may go and carry out my command”, the demon king arrogantly thundered.
The demon commanders Ilwal and Namuchi got down to prepare for the campaign to implement the wish of their lord.
In a very short time the demonic forces of king Hiranyakashipu were all over the universe. The Lords of the ten directions were subjugated by Hiranyakashipu and made his slaves. Before the mighty demon the celestial gods became nobodies. They couldn’t match the surging power of the demons due to the boon. In battle the celestial lord Indra fled ingloriously.
All the temples of the deities and holy places were destroyed by the demons. Several of the gods were caught and put in prisons. Others fled.
The demons began to torment the god devotees and faithfuls. Hiranyakashipu got a declaration made that those who worshipped deities would be severely punished. All the religious customs and rites like yajna and havana were banned.
Now all the three worlds were under the reign of Hiranyakashipu. In place of deities demon lord began to be worshipped. Whoever defied became the target of the torments of the demons.
One day Hiranyakashipu said to Namuchi, “Commader! we haven’t seen the face of Vishnu, the protector and the patron of the gods. What is the reason? Where has he gone?”
“Yes, my lord. So many battles we fought against the gods but we couldn’t sight Vishnu. May be, he has gone into some hole frightened of the might of our Lord.”
“But we won’t let him remain in hiding for long. He had killed our brother Hiranyaksha. We have been waiting eagerly for so long to take revenge. And our revenge would be terrible to serve as an example.”
In anger Hiranyakashipu roared like a lion.
“Namuchi!” thundered the demon lord looking at his commander.
“Command my lord.”
“Search the entire universe and find out where that coward Vishnu is hiding. Sniff him out. Ferret him out of wherever he is. We can’t wait with overdue revenge on our mind.”
“It will be done right away, my king. I will leave no stone unturned.”
“My Lord,” the other demon commander spoke, “There is an easy way to find out Vishnu.”
“What way are you talking about, my commander?” Hiranyakashipu stared at Ilwal curiously.
“Lord, it is a well known fact that Vishnu loves his faithful devotees. Whenever his devotees are in distress he at once goes to their rescue. He protects his faithful at all costs. So, if we torment and wreak havoc on his devotees….the gods, Vishnu is sure to come out of his hiding for their benefit.”
“That’s very clever idea, my Ilwal.” Hiranyakashipu cast an admiring look at his commander and added, “You are a genius. Do that, and do it fast.”
And then, in all the three worlds the demonic forces began to torment Vishnu devotees and the god faithful in all conceivable ways. All the religious traditions and rites became taboos. The religious sentiment and mindset became rare and rarer.
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