PRAHLADA – A demon; a devotee of Vishnu

Prahlada was the son of the asura Hiranyakasiipu. His father became emperor of the demons and attempted to have everyone worship him. However, his own son, Prahlada, refused and continued to worship Vishnu. Prahlada would have been killed if Vishnu had not incarnated in just the right way, as the man-lion Narasimha, to be able to kill Hiranyakasiipu. The killing was unusually bloody, with Narasimha ripping out Hiranyakasiipu’s intestines and wearing them as a garland in a naked dance that lasted only a moment. Then Vishnu appeared to Prahlada, blessed him, and disappeared.
After his father’s death Prahlada became emperor of the demons in Patala (the netherworld). He gave up the administration of his kingdom in order to prac­tice austerities (tapas) and worship Vishnu. His grandson Bali, though a great menace to the gods, was another famous asura devotee of Vishnu.