Hiranyakashipu was a powerful Demon king who worshiped Brahma for a Boon.
Brahma granted him the boon because of his hard Tapasya. Hiranyakashipu asked for such a boon which made it impossible for any one to kill him. Hiranyakashipu asked for the boon that should not be killed during day or night, neither on earth nor in sky, neither by man nor by animal, neither in nor outside home, neither by Astra nor by shastra (tools and weapons).
After attaining such a boon Hiranyakashipu attacked Havens and earth and demanded people to worship him. Hiranyakashipu’s Son Prahlada was a devotee of Lord Vishnu . Despite of all his efforts Hiranyakashipu could not make his son to hate VIshnu. Hiranyakashipu ordered to kill Prahlada . Prahlada was poisened, trembled by elephants, throun between hungry snakes, even Hiranyakashipu’s sister Holika could not kill him.
Hiranyakashipu is an Asura from the Puranic scriptures. His younger brother, Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha, one of the Avatars of Vishnu. Angered by this, Hiranyakashipu decided to gain magical powers by performing a penance for Lord Brahma. He was subsequently killed by the Narasimha Avatara of Lord Vishnu. His tale depicts the futility of desiring power over others and the strength of God's protection over his fully surrendered devotees (in the case of his son Prahlada).
Hiranyakashipu, according to legend, was the king of the daityas and had earned a boon from Brahma that made him virtually indestructible. He grew arrogant, thought he was God, and demanded that everyone worship only him.
The story of Hiranyakashipu is in three parts. The first has to do with the curse of the Four Kumaras on the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya, which causes them to be born as the daityass Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha. The second part deals with Hiranyakashipu's penance to propitiate Brahma and gain a boon from him. The final part deals with his efforts to kill his son Prahlada (a devotee of Vishnu) and his subsequent death at the hands of Narasimha.
The Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata, the Sage Upamanyu briefly mentioned to Krishna that Hiranyakashipu also performed another penance to please Lord Shiva. Shiva granted Hiranyakashipu the boon that he would have unrivalled combat prowess, exceeding skill in the use of bow and other weapons as well as the powers of all the gods, including Indra, Yama, Kubera, Sūrya, Agni, Vayu, Soma and Varuna.
In consequence of these two boons, Hiranyakashipu become so mighty that he was able to shake the very Himalayas down to their roots. Ravana once tried to lift Hiranyakashipu's earrings but he was unable to do so because they were very heavy.
The Brahmanda Purana mentions that Hiranyakashipu ruled for 107,280,000 years.
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