The Impossible Boon
Hiraṇyakaśipu — brother of the slain Hiraṇyākṣa — vowed to become invincible in revenge. He performed such extreme austerities that Brahmā himself appeared and granted him a boon: 'You will not die by day or by night, indoors or outdoors, on the ground or in the sky, by man or by beast, by any weapon devised.' Believing himself now immortal, the king outlawed the worship of Viṣṇu across the three worlds. But in his own palace, his young son Prahlāda would not obey. Every morning the child chanted 'Nārāyaṇa'. Every day the father grew colder.
✦ Visual cue — A muscular crowned demon-king seated on a golden throne in a torch-lit hall; a small serene child prince kneeling before him with palms joined in namaskāra, unafraid.