Editing Hiranyaksha

{{short description|Asura in Hindu scriptures}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}

{{Infobox deity
| name = Hiranyaksha
| type = Hindu
| children = [[Andhaka]]
| image = Varaha and Hiranyaksha.jpg
| alt = Hiranyaksha
| caption = [[Varaha]] battles the Hiranyaksha, Scene from the ''Bhagavata Purana'' by [[Manaku of Guler]] (c. 1740)
| consort = Rushabhanu <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-bhagavata-purana/d/doc1128371.html | title=Hiraṇyakaśipu consoles his mother and kinsmen &#91;Chapter 2&#93; | date=30 August 2022 }}</ref>
| affiliation = [[Asura]]
| siblings = [[Hiranyakashipu]] (younger
 brother)<br>[[Holika]] (younger sister)
| parents = [[Kashyapa]] and [[Diti]]
| abode = [[Patala]]
| weapon = [[Gada (mace)|Mace]]
}}

'''Hiranyaksha''' ({{langx|sa|हिरण्याक्ष|lit=golden-eyed}}, {{IAST3|Hiraṇyākṣa}}), also known as '''Hiranyanetra''' ({{langx|sa|हिरण्यनेत्र}})<ref>{{cite book|author=George M. Williams|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC&pg=PA54|access-date=28 August 2013|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-533261-2|pages=54–}}</ref> was an [[asura]] king  as per [[Hindu mythology]]. He is described to have submerged the earth and terrorised the [[Trailokya|three worlds]]. He was slain by the [[Varaha]] (wild boar) avatar of [[Vishnu]], who rescued the earth goddess [[Bhumi (goddess)|Bhumi]] and restored order to the earth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=George M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC&pg=PA155 |title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology |date=2008-03-27 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-533261-2 |pages=155 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA189 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |date=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |pages=189 |language=en}}</ref>

==Legend==
[[File: The boar avatar Varaha, the third incarnation of Viṣṇu, stands in front of the decapitated body of the demon Hiranyaksha.jpg|right|thumb|The boar avatar Varaha, the third incarnation of Vishnu, stands in front of the decapitated body of the asura Hiranyaksha]]
Some of the [[Puranas]] present Hiranyaksha as the son of [[Diti]] and [[Kashyapa]].<ref name="Dalal2010p159">{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC|year=2010|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-341421-6|page=159}}</ref> Having performed austerities to propitiate [[Brahma]], Hiranyaksha received the boon of invulnerability of meeting his death by neither any god, man, nor beast.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cole |first=W. Owen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpSvAwAAQBAJ&dq=Hiranyaksha+boon+brahma&pg=PA29 |title=Six World Faiths |date=1996-06-01 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4411-5928-1 |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3-RkE-Xxa0C&pg=PA59 |title=Ancient India's Myths and Beliefs |last2=Kerrigan |first2=Michael |last3=Gould |first3=David |date=2011-12-15 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-4488-5990-0 |pages=59 |language=en}}</ref>

Having received this boon, Hiranyaksha assaulted the defenceless Bhumi and pulled her deep beneath the [[cosmic ocean]]. The other deities appealed to [[Vishnu]] to save the earth goddess and creation. Answering their plea, Vishnu assumed the avatar of a wild boar ([[Varaha]]) to rescue the goddess. Hiranyaksha attempted to obstruct him, after which he was slain by Vishnu.<ref name="Dalal2010p159"/><ref name="Williams2008p86">{{cite book |author=George M. Williams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7LOZfwCDpEC |title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-533261-2 |pages=154–155, 223–224}}</ref>

Hiranyaksha had an elder brother named [[Hiranyakashipu]], who similarly achieved a boon of invulnerability and conquered the three worlds, seeking vengeance for his brother's death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hudson |first=D. Dennis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXlMCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT202 |title=The Body of God: An Emperor's Palace for Krishna in Eighth-Century Kanchipuram |date=2008-09-25 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-045140-0 |pages=202 |language=en}}</ref> He tried to persecute and abuse his son [[Prahlada]] for being a faithful devotee of Vishnu. While Hiranyaksha was slain by [[Varaha]] (the boar avatar of Vishnu), Hiranyakashipu was killed by [[Narasimha]] (the man-lion avatar of Vishnu).<ref name=" Dalal2010p159"/> Their younger sister was [[Holika]], who tried to kill her nephew by attempting to immolate him but got burnt herself and killed.

In some texts including the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', Hiranyaksha is an incarnation of one of the [[Dvarapala|dvarapalas]] (gatekeepers) of Vishnu named [[Jaya-Vijaya|Vijaya]]. [[Vishnu]]'s guardians [[Jaya-Vijaya]], were cursed by the [[Four Kumaras]] (Brahma's sons) to incarnate on earth either three times as enemies of Vishnu, or seven times as his devotees. They chose to take birth on earth thrice. During their first births (during the [[Satya Yuga]]), they were born as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. During their second births, (during the [[Treta Yuga]]), they were born as [[Ravana]] and [[Kumbhakarna]]. During their third births (during the [[Dvapara Yuga]]), they were born as [[Shishupala]] and [[Dantavakra]].

==Origins and significance==
[[File: Varaha Avatar of Vishnu kills Hiranyakshan and the Devas shower flowers from the heaven.jpg|thumb|Varaha slays Hiranyaksha, and the devas shower flowers from heaven]]
This Hindu legend has roots in the [[Vedas|Vedic literature]] such as [[Taittiriya Shakha|Taittariya Samhita]] and [[Shatapatha Brahmana]], and is found in many post-Vedic texts.<ref name="Stietencron22">{{cite book|author=H. von Stietencron|editor=Th. P. van Baaren |editor2=A Schimmel|display-editors=etal|title=Approaches to Iconology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UesUAAAAIAAJ |year=1986|publisher=Brill Academic |isbn=90-04-07772-3|pages=16–22 with footnotes}}</ref><ref name=mitra1963>[[Debala Mitra]], ’Varāha Cave at Udayagiri – An Iconographic Study’, ''Journal of the Asiatic Society'' 5 (1963): 99-103; J. C. Harle, ''Gupta Sculpture'' (Oxford, 1974): figures 8-17.</ref> These legends depict the earth goddess (Bhumi or [[Prithvi]]) in an existential crisis, where neither she nor the life she supports can survive. She is drowning and overwhelmed in the cosmic ocean. Vishnu emerges in the form of a man-boar avatar. He, as the protagonist of the legend, descends into the ocean and finds her. She hangs onto his tusk, and he lifts her out to safety. Good wins, the crisis ends, and Vishnu once again fulfills his cosmic duty. The Varaha legend has been one of many archetypal legends in the Hindu text embedded with the theme of right versus wrong, good versus evil symbolism, and of someone willing to go to the depths and do what is necessary to rescue the righteous and uphold [[dharma]].<ref name="Stietencron22"/><ref name=mitra1963/><ref name=williams42>{{cite book|author=Joanna Gottfried Williams|title=The Art of Gupta India: Empire and Province|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQl_QgAACAAJ |year=1982|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-10126-2|pages=42–46}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Eran]]
*[[Udayagiri Caves]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' ({{ISBN|0-500-51088-1}}) by Anna Dhallapiccola

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/hiranyaksha#purana Hiranyaksha, Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiranya-aksha: definitions]

{{S-start}}
{{succession box|
 before= Started |
 title= [[Daitya]]s|
 years = -|
 after=[[Hiranyakashipu]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Hindudharma}}
{{Hindu Deities and Texts}}

[[Category:Daityas]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]
[[Category:Asura]]