Prahlada was born to demon king Hiranyakashipu and his wife Kayadu. While he was in his mother’s womb, he had heard about the greatness of Lord Vishnu through Saga Narada. Hiranyakashipu was a tyrant of sorts who had been granted a boon that made him invincible. According to the boon, he couldn’t be killed either by a man or an animal; he couldn’t be killed either during the day or at night; he couldn’t be killed neither on land nor up in the air; he couldn’t be killed neither indoors nor outdoors and by weapons made by man. He relished the fact that none could kill him. He detested other’s spiritual inclination and hence forced his subjects to chant his name.
On learning that his own son Prahlada was spiritually inclined towards Lord Vishnu, he made several attempts to dissuade him. He tried to poison his son, get him trampled by elephants and made various attempts to eliminate him. But Prahlada survived even the deadliest of attacks. So as a final resort, Hiranyakashipu reached out to his sister Holika who was granted a boon that could save her from fire. He made Prahlada sit on her lap as she occupied a pyre that was meant to be burnt. Prahlada survived even after being set on fire but Holika was reduced to ashes despite the boon.
Hiranyakashipu couldn’t believe his eyes. But a tyrant that he was, he refused to surrender to his son Prahlada’s devotion for Lord Vishnu. He dared the little boy to prove God was omnipresent. He asked if God existed in the pillar of his palace. The little boy confidentially said “yes”. In a fit of rage, Hiranyakashipu broke the pillar with his mace and to his horror found a half-man-half-lion being pouncing on him ferociously. It was the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his Narasimha avatar. The Mighty lord held Hiranyakashipu on his lap, tore his torso apart with his nails at twilight on the threshold of a courtyard thereby meeting all the mandatory parameters that could kill the demon king.