Hiranyaksha

Hiranyaksha ( Sanskrit: हिरण्याक्ष ) = " the Goldäugige " ) is a demon ( asura ) of Indian mythology. He was killed by Vishnu in the form of a boar ( varaha ); this legend is very popular in India today.

Legend

Hiranyaksha and his older brother Hiranyakasipu were originally door guard in Vishnu's heavenly palace ( Vaikuntha ); but since they did not vorließen many ways and ascetics ( rishis and sadhus ), they have been cursed by them and condemned as sons of Diti and Kashyapa, to be the parents of many demons reborn. Hiranyaksha received from Brahma the gift of invulnerability by all beings, whose names he could call what seduced him in consequence to terrorize the mortals and immortals alike. He even stole the Vedas and carried the earth in the shape of the earth goddess Bhudevi in the depths of the ocean.

In his list Hiranyaksha but had forgotten the boar, whereupon Vishnu the form of a huge black boar ( varaha ) - big as a mountain, mighty as a lion - assumed its roar sounded like the rumbling of thunder and his eyes flashed like lightning. He went to the depths of the sea, felt Hiranyaksha on and killed him. The earth goddess and the Vedas he brought back to the surface.

According to another version of the legend was Brahma, while he was engaged in the creation of the world, the earth ( Bhu, Bhumi, Prithivi ) to the bottom of the primeval ocean. The demon ( asura ) Hiranyaksha meanwhile, had in vain demanded land from the sea god Varuna. From the sage Narada, he learned that varaha was immersed into the ocean and followed him. In a fierce battle Hiranyaksha was killed and the gods worshiped Vishnu as their highest god.

Representation

Often the legend is reduced to the representation of Vishnu ( varaha ) and Bhudevi - Hiranyaksha can not be seen. In the medieval Indian sculpture he is often shown as - Vishnu still begs for mercy - shortly before its destruction; in other portraits he's down and Vishnu standing on it. In the miniature paintings of later centuries it is - sometimes decapitated, sometimes referred to as tailed devil - represented.

Symbolism

Demons ( see also Andhaka, Hiranyakasipu, Mahisasur ) endanger the existing - willed by gods and men - fine. They combine all the evil, that is, destructive, selfish and ultimately stupid forces. Remove the people of peaceful coexistence in which values ​​such as wisdom and inner balance and harmony, but also peace, security and order play a dominant role.