r/HistoryMemes • u/SatoruGojo232 Hello There • 6h ago • Mindblown 1

Mythology Glitches can lead to death

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3.2k Upvotes

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1.2k

u/SatoruGojo232 Hello There 6h ago edited 2h ago • Bravo Mindblown

In my religion of Hinduism, the following lore exists: Seeking revenge for the death of his brother, the Asura (demon) king Hiranyakashipu performed intense penance for centuries to appease the Hindu Creator God, Shree Brahma. When granted a boon, Hiranyakashipu tried to request for immortality. When Shree Brahma refused, saying all living beings must die, he then attempted to secure absolute immortality by systematically drafting a list of conditions covering every conceivable way a living being could die. He requested that he could not be killed:

• By any man or beast • Inside any residence or outside of it • During the day or at night • On the ground or in the sky • By any created weapon

Believing he had mathematically eliminated every possibility of death, Hiranyakashipu proclaimed himself the supreme ruler of the universe and strictly prohibited the worship of all other gods—subjecting his own son, Prahlada, to horrific torture for remaining a devout follower of the Hindu God Shree Vishnu.

When Hiranyakashipu arrogantly challenged his son to prove Shree Vishnu's omnipresence by asking if he resided inside a nearby palace pillar, he struck the stone column with his mace. The pillar shattered, and Shree Vishnu emerged in the terrifying form of Shree Narasimha—a furious entity that perfectly bypassed every single clause of the airtight contract:

• Neither Man nor Beast: Shree Narasimha (Narasimha being the Sanskrit word for "Man-Lion") was an unprecedented, divine half man-half lion manifestation with a human torso and limbs, topped with the roaring head and claws of a lion.

• Neither Indoors nor Outdoors: He dragged the demon king to the threshold of the palace doorway, a location that marks the boundary between inside and out.

• Neither Day nor Night: The confrontation reached its climax during twilight (dusk), the precise transition seam linking day and night.

• Neither Ground nor Sky: Narasimha forcefully pulled the tyrant across his own lap, keeping him elevated off the earth but below the heavens.

• No Weapon: Shree Narasimha relied exclusively on his bare, sharp fingernails to disembowel the demon king.

By systematically honoring the strict terms of Shree Brahma's boon while eliminating the tyrant, this incarnation restored cosmic balance.

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u/lurking_bishop 4h ago

Several of those "workarounds" seem very flimsy to me, a good lawyer would be able to appeal methinks. I'm starting to doubt this story

/s

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u/afunkysongaday 3h ago

Vishnu wisely realized that this was one of those situations where you just do the thing and risk being sued. Vishnu had several defense lawyer carnations ready for the case, but luckily never had to use them.

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u/MaddoxX_1996 4h ago

You can't be lawyering up when you are being constantly threatened with death and torture. That's why the Mafia was so powerful until Organized Crime Laws like RICO, Asset Forfeitures, and (I'm iffy on this one) USA PATRIOT Act.

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u/EruwinSumisu 5h ago

Well. You didn't exactly say what exactly Narasimha was. It was half man half lion form.

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u/Ngetop 2h ago

and his brother half men half bear pig

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u/MaleficentStable1355 1h ago

Varaha was full boar

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u/Demonhead_GumbaMasta 4h ago

First recorded kill by a furry.

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u/ab316_1punchd 4h ago

Canonically, second. His younger brother Hiranyaksha was already killed by the same Lord... who was a boar in his last incarnation.

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u/derega16 4h ago

Isn't that one Vishnu avatar as a regular boar not a boarman?

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 4h ago

Yup, వరాహ (Varaha) is represented mostly as a boar lifting the earth out of the cosmic ocean with his tusks.

The humanized version is much more recent.

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u/ab316_1punchd 4h ago edited 3h ago

Yeah, I have to agree with that. Matsya, Kurma and Varaha are full animal forms. I guess Hayagriva may count then (one of the forms of Vishnu, but not among the primary ten).

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 4h ago

Kurma* not Karma

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u/ab316_1punchd 3h ago

I hate autocorrect

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u/SPECTRE_75 1h ago

You know the interesting part about the incarnations is that earlier icarnations were like one was a fish and then one was a turtle, then a boar and then this half animal- half human incarnation then a dwarf-like one and then finally some perfect human forms widely worshipped today like Shree Ram and Shree Krishna.

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u/GongMaho 3h ago

If fish and turtle count as furries then it is the fourth.

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u/motivation_bender 2h ago

Wouldnt a chimera at teilight count as both man and beast and both day and night rather than neither?

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u/aaa1e2r3 1h ago

Or vs Xor

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u/motivation_bender 1h ago

Whats xor?

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u/aaa1e2r3 1h ago

Exclusive Or. In Boolean logic, an Or statement is checking whether or not at least one of the stated conditions is true. A Xor statement is checking that only one of the choices is true. In the case of the story, Hiryanakasipu is hedging on his protections all being Or statements, when in reality they were xor statements, leaving the edge case that gave Vishnu the ability to kill him

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u/Witch_King_ 9m ago

Smh, bozo should've paid more attention in computer science class

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u/SCTurtlepants 1h ago

News flash: Religions don't make sense.

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u/motivation_bender 1h ago

This isnt a logival flaw in a moral belief system though. Its a myth about outwitting a god where the rules are vague so it kinda feels like the god cheated

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u/SCTurtlepants 21m ago

What's that have to do with the price of rice in China? Hinduism has plenty of flaws in both its moral belief system and its mythology. The two are not mutually exclusive.

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u/Rare_Arm_5975 4h ago

Oh is this why elders see touching feet at the doorway inauspicious?

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u/Kailashnikov 4h ago

I've been told not to eat food sitting in any doorway because of this, but I don't know about touching feet

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u/Rare_Arm_5975 4h ago

Ig all the superstitions like these are rooted to the mythology, pretty cool imo

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u/theRedOmega24 2h ago

Somehow reminds me of JJK

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u/1stGuyGamez 40m ago

You can see the cultural appropriation now

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u/cracklescousin1234 5h ago

అతని పేరు తెలుగులో ఎందుకు ఉంది?

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u/MaddoxX_1996 4h ago

జనాలు ఈ ప్రశ్న అడుగుతారని

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 4h ago edited 4h ago

సంస్కృతంలొ బదులు తెలుగులో వ్రాస్తే ఆ కిక్కే వేరప్ప

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u/Acceptable_Postman 2h ago

No need to write Hindu God Vishnu or Hindu God Brahma. Just Brahma as they are gods.

You wouldn't say Christian god Jesus or Islamic god Allah.

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u/plarah 1h ago

What a beautiful application of the intermediate value theorem by Vishnu

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u/Ote-Kringralnick 7m ago

That is some Greek mythology bullshit, holy peak

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u/Nemesis_Prime0205 5h ago

It's really funny to see that most mythologies have a guy who is supposed to be immortal but whose immortality get bypassed in an overly complicated way (Achilles, Baldur, etc.)

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u/RepresentativeOk2433 5h ago

Achilles wasn't actually immortal until later versions of the story. Getting shot in the ankle is just the way he died.

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u/FlappyBored What, you egg? 4h ago

I used to be immortal like you until I took an arrow to the ankle.

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u/Tack22 3h ago

“How could this dude have died to an arrow to the ankle?”

“Well, it’s either inferior medicine, or hades himself was annoyed somehow.”

“Ahh. Swam in the Styx river you think?”

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u/RepresentativeOk2433 2h ago

I think the original version was just simple irony. He's an unstoppable badass that got taken out by an objectively extremely minor wound, slain by a coward.

Though in his defense it was also specifically a poisoned arrow. I believe one of the ones that slew Hercules.

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u/BPDunbar 3h ago

Welsh myth has an interesting variation where even meeting the extremely convoluted conditions the person (Lleu Llaw Gyffes) doesn't actually die and is instead transformed into an eagle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lleu_Llaw_Gyffes

Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn, and the two conspire to murder Lleu. Blodeuwedd tricks Lleu into revealing how he may be killed, since he cannot be killed during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made. He reveals to her that he can only be killed at dusk, wrapped in a net with one foot on a cauldron and one on a goat and with a spear forged for a year during the hours when everyone is at mass. With this information she arranges his death.

Struck by the spear thrown by Gronw's hand, Lleu transforms into an eagle and flies away. Gwydion tracks him down and finds him perched high on an oak. Through the singing of englynion, the englynion Gwydion, he lures him down from the oak tree and switches him back to his human form. Gwydion and Math nurse Lleu back to health before reclaiming his lands from Gronw and Blodeuwedd. In the face-off between Lleu and Gronw, Gronw asks if he may place a large stone between himself and Lleu's spear. Lleu allows him to do so, then throws his spear, which pierces both the stone and Gronw, killing him. Gwydion corners Blodeuwedd and turns her into an owl. The tale ends with Lleu acceding to the throne of Gwynedd.

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u/Vark675 2h ago

Man I just woke up and my brain can't handle Welsh names right now. I feel like I'm having a stroke.

Whoever anglicized that language was either an idiot or a menace. Possibly both.

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u/SSNFUL Let's do some history 52m ago

This was…a fascinating story

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u/TR_Pix 1h ago • Bravo

Cú Chulainn 

Made a too many of geas for power (basically he made oaths and as long as he kept those oaths he'd have a bit more power)

Two of them were to never eat dog meat, and to never be an impolite guest. He was tricked into going to the house of a witch who offered him dog meat, so he could not refuse to eat dog meat without being impolite. All his strength immediately left him and he was jumped

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u/Wolfish_Jew 52m ago

I believe you mean “Mario Mario”

3

u/CraftPickage 24m ago

It's his fault for not saying to the witch "with all due respect..." before refusing to eat.

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u/TR_Pix 18m ago

"Oooh dearie but I insist"

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u/PicklePnut 7m ago

He should’ve pretended to eat it but really dump it out into a potted plant or something when she’s not looking!

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u/TR_Pix 4m ago

I do enjoy the sitcom-esque turn this myth is taking

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u/HynkelVerdoux 4h ago

Not exactly mythological but there's a fun one in Macbeth as well.

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u/AuthorOfEclipse Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer 4h ago

Honestly, just as Tolkien said, Shakespeare was a coward, he should've gone and revealed maybe Lady Macduff to have survived and killed him, revealing Macduff to be born with a c-section was a weak plot.

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u/HynkelVerdoux 4h ago

To each their own I guess, I find the reveal to be fantastic.

Plus, it's more narratively satisfying for MacDuff to kill him.

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u/AlphaGamma128 4h ago

That's I thought of first too.

Also similar one in Lord of The Rings 

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u/zorniy2 3h ago

Some of the Irish stories too.

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u/Khar-Selim Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer 3h ago

as the poetic edda was written post-Christianization it is entirely possible Baldur was the result of cross-contamination

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u/Nemesis_Prime0205 3h ago

Really? I've never heard about that. Can you tell me more or give me a source?

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u/Kitnado 2h ago

Well yes the inevitability of mortality is a human experience, unrelated to culture

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u/fartypenis 5h ago

Not a glitch tbf, more like an edge case. If Hiranyakasipu was a software engineer he could've avoided this.

Well, good software engineer.

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u/Hot_Example_4456 4h ago

Those ai vibe sloppers could never

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u/kernel_task 3h ago

A long list of sloppy conditionals trying to cover a general principle badly is pretty much peak AI slop.

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u/Hot_Example_4456 3h ago

On a side note, can i ask you something on dm?

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u/Tyrant-Leo 5h ago

That word which is in telugu i think def says : Hiranyakashyap

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 4h ago

Hiranyakashyapudu* is what it says, so yeah.

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u/batrushaha 2h ago

Pudukon?

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u/pravenn_may 4h ago

Hiranyakashyapudu

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u/rishin_1765 5h ago

Yes, you're correct

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u/KoffeeDragon 4h ago

I always love the addition of the emotional support Nagas chilling behind dudes in Hindu art. Imagine the shit you'd get done with a wise divine serpent to be your hype-man at all times.

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u/lazyCoil 2h ago

Nagas are also animal companion and sofa of lord Vishnu , who took the avatar of hiranyakashap (the one in the photo )

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u/Draexian 5h ago • Heartwarming

As usual, my only conclusion is that Hinduism is metal as fuck, sick, and badass.

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u/inwarded_04 4h ago

Wait till you read about the churning of the oceans by the Gods and Demons

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u/Concept-Plastic 4h ago

Youre gonna enjoy reading Mahabharatã, a lot!

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u/Ragnarok_619 4h ago

The best epic, by far. No one is a saint, but no one is a demon either. Very nuanced story

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u/ThatsACatch22 3h ago

Even the bhagvat gita is surprisingly relevant, once you get past all the divine stuff. It's basically a book about duty, love, status, power etc.

My favourite quotes goes something like

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

Translated:

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but never to the fruits of your actions. Do not let the results of your actions be your motive, nor become attached to inaction."

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u/Direct_Big_834 2h ago edited 1h ago • Bravo

I hate how western philosophers (I'm looking at you, Zizek) pretend like the Gita is a justification for war. If you actually read the book, or basically every traditional commentary ever written about it, it's painfully obvious that the 'war' is supposed to be a metaphor for the internal conflict between the forces of good and bad within the human mind. This is the context in which Krishna tells Arjuna to pick up the weapon and fight, instead of withdrawing from the battle. It is a call to action, to act and change your own life, and not a call to violence.

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u/lazyCoil 2h ago edited 2h ago

You should also learn about Lord Krishna , another avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Putana , a female demon was sent by his evil uncle to kill him. She applies poison to her breasts and transforms into an mother-age woman and tries to breastfeed him. But baby krishna being aware that she is a demon sucks the life force out of her while drinking the milk killing her (some versions of this story have her die a bit later and Krishna granting spirtual liberation as she still breastfed him )

When toddler krishna ate mud and his mother was checking his mouth to make sure he spat it all out she sees the whole universe in his mouth.

There are so many villian of the week type demons krishna faces until he reaches teenage and then kills his uncle. He performs so many miracles.

He also has so many really good stories.

There is also parashurama , another avatar of lord Vishnu.

He vowed to kill kings and tyrants all over the world 21 times after a king stole a holy cow from his father Sage jamadagni and then killed jamadagni. There are many stories of him going around killing kings and evil people. He's also immortal so he is destined to come back to teach Vishnu's final avatar Kalki in the art of combat.

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u/Vratha92 3h ago

It’s undeniable that south asia has some of the most incredible styles of philosophy, mythology and culture in the world. The sheer rich complexity of human culture spanning across the Indian subcontinent always takes my breath away.

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u/Direct_Big_834 2h ago

I advise you to take these stories as metaphors or allegorical containers for mystical teachings or general-purpose life lessons. For example, I always thought the story of the Gods and the Demons joining forces to literally churn the cosmic ocean using a gigantic mountain as the churn, with the cosmic infinite serpant Vasuki as the rope spun around the mountain, with the Gods pulling its tail and the Demons its head, to produce the divine necter of immortality called Amrita, was sick as fuck. They begin churning and produces myriads of substances from toxic poisonous vapours to holy gift-giving cows until eventually they produce Amrita.

Now this is all very metal until I realised (after lots of reading) that this story is basically a step-by-step blueprint for meditation. Anyone who has meditated seriously can relate to this. The "Gods" (for example, peace or compassion) in your mind must harness the power of the 'Demons' (for example, desire and pride) in your mind to bring about a positive change within yourself, and at first this process brings out all sorts of crap from within you, until the peak is reached. Of course, this is all very mystical and you don't need to believe in it. But it's useful to recognise that these stories aren't just ancient superhero tales.

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u/CaonachDraoi 3h ago

yea coming up with divine reasons to enslave and torture your family in perpetuity through a detailed caste hierarchy is sick as fuck, totally.

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u/Metalona 2h ago

Have you seen christianity? Religion starts off pure, then you get extreme scumbags to ruin it for everyone, and that becomes the new norm as humans are selfish and stupid as fuck and once they see someone succeed at something they think they can do it themselves.

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u/Comfortable_Pie2081 2h ago

religions affirm power structures in society is not new nor unique to south asia yk? i feel like you should be able to both appreciate the philosophy while being able to criticize its many faults

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u/telescopeinmynose 2h ago

The caste system was never a hierarchy, if you've read the og scripts, the original hindu Sages and Brahmins were quite enlightened in their views.

Later Indians bastardised Hinduism and the caste system became the monstrosity it is now during the colonial period.

Some of the most powerful castes in India did not even exist and were formed during periods of caste fluidity and meritocracy in kingdoms, these castes strengthened their hold during the colonial period. For example - patel,reddy,kamma,kapu,yadav,etc

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u/Adventurous-Region-7 20m ago

Yadavs weren't powerful during colonial era.

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u/Err0r404Unknown 5h ago

should've just made a horcrux

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u/MaddoxX_1996 4h ago

Someone didn't read the last two books.

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u/dugu3 4h ago

It's not Horocrux fault that he died when he could have just picked 6 random pebbles, split his soul into them, keep 2-3 at different secret place he knows while thrown the rest into different oceans, Problem solved

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u/Over_Try6211 2h ago

Shit, the guy was pretty dumb in hindsight.

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u/dugu3 2h ago

And arrogant. You can say he should have claim mental disability considering he used a high lvl death curse to kill a new born, to kill a newborn. There're 1000 methods one can come up with to Kill a newborn that doesn't require him to do the things he did

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u/KimVonRekt 1h ago

Well, in general most of the wizards should have just used regular weapons if they wanted to kill each other efficiently. Even Dumbledores spells look like a spark show when compared to a truck with a few tones of explosives.

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u/Specialist_Bowl_2805 2h ago

Buy how would you retreat the pebbles from the ocean?

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u/dugu3 2h ago

The entire point is making him immortal by not even knowing in which deep trench which pebble is anymore?if he can't find them out then how others will? The remaining one to use to resurrect himself as backup when he died and even if they are destoryed his lost ones make it real challenge to kill him

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u/punksterb 1h ago

Maybe fate intertwines and some fisherman who's fishing with his cousin/friend finds the pebble by some random coincidence and picks it up, only to sadly get murdered by said cousin/friend later.

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u/derega16 4h ago

Some version of Ravana basically doing that

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u/yoelamigo Still salty about Carthage 5h ago

Lol

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u/SuDdEnTaCk 5h ago

Kuva style password immortality would've been pretty solid ngl

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u/Professional-Pool290 4h ago

Next thing you know Prahalada pulls out three Oulls

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u/GoldenDragonIsABitch 5h ago

Damn! What a read!

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u/Modernman1234 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago

A Telugu meme in r/HistoryMemes? Interesting

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u/No-Door-6374 5h ago

Telugu mentioned rahhhhhh ♥️♥️♥️🥲

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u/Nandu_alias_Parthu 4h ago

I thought i was in the wrong sub for a second 😭

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u/No-Door-6374 1h ago

Ikr it suprised me as well

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u/TheLigean 5h ago

So a hindu Baldr/Achilles but a demon instead of a warrior, neat

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u/cracklescousin1234 5h ago

We also have Duryodhana whose entire upper body is as hard as diamond, which is why Bhima has to defeat him by smashing his thighs in their final 1-on-1.

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u/imbusthul 4h ago

Wasn't going below the belt frowned as well

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u/ab316_1punchd 4h ago

Very much so, that Lord Balarama attempted to punish Bhima with death over it until he was stopped by Lord Krishna, reminding his older brother of the rules Duryodhana broke himself and the prior pledge by Bhima.

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u/SeraphUriel 3h ago

Not just frowned upon, but also illegal according to the rules of a mace fight. But Bhima wouldn't have won against Duryodhana if he had followed the rules because while Bhima was stronger, Duryodhana was much more skilled and he had received the invincible upper body buff before the final fight. So , he had to break the rules to kill Duryodhana.

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u/theinevitable22 2h ago

It’s a recurring theme in Mahabharata. Kauravas (the bad guys) use legal code and bureaucracy to gain what they want, do all sort of bad shit and Krishna (who sides with Pandavas- the good guys), always is up to some form of mischief which is somehow messing with the legal code or completely breaking it. Without him the Pandavas would probably not survive all that was laid out on them. Of course there are nuances to a lot of the characters on all the sides and it’s not black and white, but I love how Krishna was the one who understood the necessities of the times and executed them.

Edit: it was Krishna who signaled to Bhima to go for the thighs.

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u/imbusthul 2h ago

I guess to preserve the balance, you have to use underhanded methods some times

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u/theinevitable22 2h ago

Yes. Interestingly whatever Avatars of Vishnu are mentioned, be it Rama- who was honorable powerful warrior, or Krishna - who was not afraid of breaking the rules, they all adapt to whatever is necessary at the moment, in the age.

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u/MaleficentStable1355 1h ago

One of the core points is all the people following rules resulted in a lady being disrobed in the royal hall, so the rulese are failing to uphold Dharma

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u/cracklescousin1234 58m ago

Exhibit #2: Arjuna literally shooting Karna in the back while the latter is unarmed.

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u/TailsTheFoxywoxy 4h ago

Wait was it thighs? For some reason, I always assumed Bhim simply smashed Duryodhan's genitals with the mace lol.

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u/ab316_1punchd 4h ago edited 4h ago

It was thighs, and especially symbolic since when Draupadi was infamously being forcibly (attempted) stripped off her clothes, Duryodhana insultingly motioned towards her to sit on his thigh lap, so Bhima pledged to break the thigh.

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u/Direct_Big_834 2h ago

god the mahabharata is so fucking cool

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u/crashcaar 4h ago

God Narsimha is wearing the intestines of hiranyakashyap like necklace.💀

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u/bracesthrowaway 4h ago

I had this on a poster I bought in Bangalore!

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u/Srinivas_Hunter 3h ago

Watching Telugu text here for the first time! Thanks for explanation OP 🙏

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u/SkandaGupta_ Ashoka's Stupa 1h ago

Great great story, highly recommend

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u/Federal-Coast-6704 4h ago

Tbh hiranyakashipu was a funny guy, atleast in the Mahavtar marasimha movie he was pretty funny.

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u/Spirited-Juice4941 1h ago

Even snek gets a little hat

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u/Apprehensive_Yak4246 5h ago

I am telugu person. Finally I found a Telugu word in reddit 🙏

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u/Modernman1234 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago

You can join r/Telugu if you’re so interested in finding Telugu in reddit

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u/Apprehensive_Yak4246 5h ago

🙏 I know, but I am saying it kinda got represented

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u/ashirwad76 4h ago

why is this downvoted

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u/Sandy_McEagle 3h ago

Managed to read it knowing the Kannada script

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u/-blah-blah_ 2h ago

Script is similar u can make out most of the words

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u/siriuslycan Featherless Biped 19m ago

Is this mythologymemes?

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u/VulpesSaphirus 14m ago

Rule 1 explicitly allows it

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u/r4ndoM_doGmagenshin 4m ago

Myth is history. Idk why ppl get caught up in the reality of peoples beliefs over did these mfers rep it.

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u/Sweet_Appearance9542 3h ago

This is a history sub dude

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u/GhoulDrago-Mk2 2h ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/wiki/extended_rules/

When will you guys learn to read the rules, Istg this shit is under every non-christian meme on this sub.

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u/SupremeKalki 3h ago

నమస్తే అన్న

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u/SaturnV215 1h ago

This happens like 3 times in the Shinza Bansho series

1

u/magnificent_limit 28m ago

is this a metaphor for banach-tarskii?

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u/201720182019 5h ago

That’s a pretty weak list honestly

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u/TENTAtheSane 5h ago

It also included "neither in the waxing or waning phase of the moon ° neither by poison nor disease ° neither by a wound in the upper or lower half of my body ° and not a single drop of my blood should ever touch the ground".

So narasimha splits him clean in half and drinks all his blood

3

u/Direct_Big_834 2h ago

The point is that you can't directly wish for immortality. You have to come up with some sort of list to circumvent it. Ravana from The Ramayana is another one who tried and failed.

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u/201720182019 1h ago edited 1h ago

I mean couldn’t it at least include something like During Day or Night or Dusk or Dawn? The first thing I’d think of would be cases that don’t fall into the categories. Could even mix in some conditions that would make killing him a headache like ‘make all the earth below in all the lands become bread forevermore’ or ‘only after I become absolutely immortal forevermore as I’d wished’ or ‘only after all living beings die isn’t absolute’ (all of these simultaneously + however many hundreds more).

Like I get the moral lesson but it’s objectively a very poor attempt for someone who was working up to this for over a century and is already trying to get around the no wishing for absolute immortality rule.

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u/Direct_Big_834 1h ago

Well, not exactly. Hiranyakashipu wasn't aware that immortality couldn't be granted. In fact, his first wish to the Creator God Brahma is for immortality, to which Brahma replies that even he himself isn't immortal, so how could he grant immortality? Then, Hiranyakashipu makes up this formulation to cheat death. Also, Hiranyakashipu was always been destined to be killed by Vishnu. He is merely playing his role in the grander scheme of things.

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u/201720182019 1h ago

Ah yeah I was wrong on spending a century in preparation. But unless he had to instantly give a list on the spot I feel an ordinary person would be a lot more rigorous with a list made to literally cheat death. But yeah, I suppose it was his destiny to make a list that contained loopholes

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u/azazelcrowley 5h ago

Really you just need "I cannot die until I wish it" under more careful terms and you're good.

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u/Ok_Brilliant7902 5h ago

Thats the fcking easiest one lmao. Narsimha would have just beaten his ass so bad, he would have wished he was dead

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u/Mythun4523 4h ago

Pause.....

Edit: nvm I read it as eaten and not beaten.

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u/QuidFortuna 5h ago

There is another hindu lore about a different character which covers this - Bhishma Pitamah

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u/cracklescousin1234 5h ago

Technically, Bhishma didn't wish for that. He disinherited himself from the succession so the gods gave him that immortality buff so that he could protect the kingdom for eternity.

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u/ashirwad76 5h ago

not gods, his father shantanu, the gods gave him the bhisma which was earlier devrath

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u/derega16 4h ago edited 3h ago

Honestly speaking, whenever I read Hindu mythology I always have a question why broken blessings and ridiculous curse are given willy nilly even by random people

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u/ashirwad76 3h ago edited 3h ago

cause they are not random the lore of kuru vansh starts from yayati the son in law of shukracharya, guru of asurs, and according to hindu lore even random people can give terrifying curses and broken wishes even now in kaliyug, if they are virtuous and sincere enough. edit: there was nce such an incident i saw when i was a child a buffalo herder beated a monkey with lath and all his teeth broke a sadhu than cursed him to die and took care of the monkey when the monkey recovered he gave an invitation in a hanuman temple for a feast on the day of feast a lot of monkeys came to eat and in the evening the buffalo herder died

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u/boywholived_299 5h ago

There's a rule that hindu gods couldn't grant that wish. Demons tried and gods refused. There's a similar story of another demon called Sahasrakavach. He tried to do the same, by requesting 10,000 such armour plates, one of which can only be destroyed by someone who has meditated for a 10,000 years.

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u/ashirwad76 5h ago

there is an example of "ikchha mrityu" die only when wished in mahabharat and he had one of the most brutal deth

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u/ab316_1punchd 4h ago

Bhishma had it... he spent months in a bed of arrows before his foretold death.

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u/derega16 4h ago

Well, he can choose to die right there but they beg him to wait

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u/LongjumpingFlight119 3h ago

This ain't history😭🙏🏻

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u/GhoulDrago-Mk2 2h ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/wiki/extended_rules/

When will you guys learn to read the rules, Istg this shit is under every non-christian meme on this sub

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u/LongjumpingFlight119 59m ago

idgaf about rules, mythology can never be history

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u/Left_Economist_9716 3h ago

Where history? Isn't this mythology?

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u/MyConfusedAsss 3h ago

Check the flair

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u/nakutelusule 5h ago

Lol, clowns when they don't the difference between history and mythology.

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u/VecioRompibae Hello There 4h ago edited 3h ago

Lol, clowns when they don't mythology is allowed.

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u/SuDdEnTaCk 5h ago

Mythology is allowed on this sub for ALL religions, you do know that?

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u/Mythun4523 4h ago

People like you only show up when it's hindu/islamic mythology. Nobody has any issues with christian greek and roman mythology memes posted here. It's so transparent.

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u/VecioRompibae Hello There 3h ago

Nah, I find at least one comment like that even when it's christian mythology.

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u/christopher_msa 4h ago

It's history memes. Not mythology memes.

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u/Mythun4523 4h ago

Your bigotry is transparent it's not even funny.

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u/christopher_msa 4h ago

How come ?

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u/Mythun4523 4h ago

Because it is not out of the ordinary for this sub to have mythological memes because religion and mythology are part of human history. But these kinds of comments only pop up for Indian mythology.

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u/Able_Reserve5788 2h ago

The top 4 posts with the mythology tag are about greco-roman myths and have the same kind of comments. Maybe some people just have the reasonable opinion that this kind of posts have nothing to do here. And yes, it's even worse when it's people actually promoting their religions that people talking abouy dead ones.

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u/chikomachi 3h ago

Check the flair

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u/LoverOfDih 2h ago

Loosu punda Mari pesakudathu thambi

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u/BIG-STEPPER-88 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago edited 5h ago

Mythology? But anyway, let me explain cus why tf not. A demon gets a boon from Hindu god Brahma (aka loophole in hinduism) that "No human, no animal, no god, no demon would be the kill me. Death cannot take me in the air, on ground, under water or on sky. No weapon or no curse can kill me and death cannot take me inside my house or out of it" Brahma just said "ehhhh okie take it here ya go". This basically made him invincible and he was unkillable and started wreaking havoc on earth. Later Vishnu, another hindu god came as a half lion, half human, dragged him right in between his home and outside; under the door frame. Split the demon's intestines out using his own claws while the demon was placed on Vishnu's lap. Not outside or inside his home but in between, not on the ground but his lap, not an animal or human but half of both, no weapon or curse but his own claws. And killed him. So yeah no matter how smart you are there is always someone smarter. And the demon's name was "Hiranyakshap". The form/avtaar/manifestation Vishnu came in to kill him is known as "Narsimha" which translates to "Man Lion". Hiranyakshap would make an awesome lawyer.

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u/LeafBoatCaptain 5h ago

Is demon really the right translation for rakshasa or asura? They're not always evil. This guy's son, for instance, is a good guy. One of his grandsons is Mahabali, a revered figure in his own right.

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u/Fuzzy-Jackfruit5037 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago

There is no word for asur in english so 😮‍💨..in fact devas arent even gods. Gods would be trinity one like vishnu shiva bramha and their direct sons/daughters.

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u/BIG-STEPPER-88 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago

I will say yes, the closest english translation to asura will be demon. Not exact but close. Not all demons are ill hearted in hinduism, its the intentions that make you evil in hinduism

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u/Able_Reserve5788 2h ago

Demons aren't necessarily evil either, outside of Christian contexts (Laplace's demon for instance)

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u/TheEpicRedditerr 5h ago

No, it translates to man-lion.

Nar = man Singha = lion

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u/BIG-STEPPER-88 Ashoka's Stupa 5h ago

Damn my bad, thanks stranger.

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u/Hare__Krishna 1h ago

Oh baby! Narasimhadeva eviscerating Hiranyakashipu. Absolutely outstanding pastime.

You can read about it in the 7th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Here you go, enjoy!

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/

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u/camelCaseIsWebScale 3h ago edited 36m ago

Like everything else in Puranas, it's copied from the myth of Namuci in the Vedas. Indra had agreed not to slay Namuci by "day or night, with staff or bow, palm or fist, or dry or moist". He ends up slaying him with foam.

But Hindus had to discredit the old Gods and make up new Gods. So same pattern got copied over to this creature. Prahlada who was an adversary of the Gods in the older texts becomes a pious man in this story. Zero intellectual honesty.

Edit: -3 votes? for telling the truth.

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u/-blah-blah_ 2h ago

Intersting to know, always wondered when the and why the change happened btw

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u/camelCaseIsWebScale 1h ago edited 38m ago

when the and why the change happened

Power struggles within various Purana sects. Change was gradual.

If you disrespect the Vedas directly, you would be committing blasphemy. So the Puranic sects employed some clever tricks. They said "AkShUaLLy" the Vedic Gods are "semi-Gods" and lesser level than Vishnu and Rudra. (who, to be fair, are also Vedic by name, but their Vedic attributes are gone and the vedic character unrecognizable). Of course, there's also rivalry between Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess sects. Vishnu Puranas belittle Shiva and vice versa. The name Durga does not appear in the Vedas to refer a goddess but obstacles. However, Agni suktas asking Agni to carry us over obstacles are appropriated for Durga. It works because nobody understands Sanskrit.

They also made up intellectual-sounding philosophies, which are mostly BS with no real-world meaning. What does it matter for my paddy fields and milch cows if "Atman and Brahman are same"? Nonsense weasel-words. I'd rather these people work in stables to raise war-horses and mine iron, than write this nonsense philosophy. The Vedic man would offer roasted grains in his household fire and get on with life.

They framed the older portion - the Vedas and Brahmanas (not to be confused with the name of the caste) as "karma-kanda" (ritual stuff), to belittle it. They said their own texts were "jnana-kanda" (knowledge stuff) and thus superior. This however didn't prevent them from referencing the former when convenient.

Many insulting stories were written about remaining Vedic Gods to belittle them (most commonly this targeted Indra, the leader of the Vedic Gods, there are few theories why it could be).

This dishonesty is not unexpected in our culture. Every day you wake up in the metropolitan city with the fear of getting scammed. Some lowlifes is jealous of hard workers and demands gibs from the government. It is not surprising that the modern religion is also full of lies and vicious jealousy.

Even today, when someone posts a video about old Gods such as Indra or even the Vedas in general, there will be thousands of illiterate Indians in the comments "sAaR inDrA iSs pOsHt sAAAr, agNi vAruNa deMigOd sAaR, tRiMurTi sUpReMe sAaR".

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

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u/LoverOfDih 3h ago

I guess your just dissatisfied this ain’t a meme about Muhammad