Holi – Victory of Good over Evil

Just as the Christians have the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost we Hindus to have our Trinity.
Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Provider) and Shiva (The Destroyer).
These three maintain the balance in the universe.
All the three receive their powers form Par Brahma, symbolized by Om.
Om is formless and yet occupies all forms. Whatever we see is a part of Om. Om is All Pervading, Omni Present.
We believe Om is present in animals also and so the first three of our Avatars take the form of animals.
Matsya (Fish), Kurma (Tortoise), Varaha (Wild Boar) were all animals.
The fourth (Narsimha) about which I am going to write was half animal and half man.
Thereafter we have Vishnu in human avatars.
Vamana, Parshurama, Rama, Krishna. Buddha,

All Hindu festivals are occasions for celebrations as they herald the victory of Good over Evil. Be it Durga Puja Festival, Diwali or any of the other festivals for which India is famous.
Our Vedas are full of such stories, which bring out the best and carry a lesson for mankind.
It is said that Lord Vishnu has assured mankind that whenever sinners shall become strong and try to destroy good people and dharma, He shall take an incarnation and come to the earth to destroy evil.
In the Narsimha Avatar Lord Vishnu takes the form of half animal (Lion) and half man.
The story goes thus.

Hirnyakashyap, a demon, was angry with Lord Vishnu because Lord Vishnu had killed his brother Hiryanaksha in his previous Avatar as Varaha (Wild Boar). That is a different story.
Hirnyakashyap would not tolerate the utterance of the name Vishnu in his kingdom. All temples dedicated to Vishnu were destroyed. All sages and religious persons who prayed to Vishnu were harassed, warned and then killed, if they did not obey.
HKP wanted to acquire even greater strength and power so that he could destroy Vishnu.
He prayed and did penance to please Brahma, the Creator. His penance lasted ages.
While he was on penance, the Devatas, led by Lord Indra attacked HKP’s kingdom and took his pregnant wife as prisoner.
(Devatas are the good forces of Nature as opposed the Rakshas, who are the Evil forces).
The Devatas wanted to kill his wife so that HKP’s progeny would be destroyed and they could live peacefully.
But the wise sage Naradji, who is the devata’s sage, advised them not to do so.
He took HKP’s wife to his ashram and recited to her daily all the prayers in praise of Vishnu.
The embryo, which was in the mother’s womb, heard all these praises and became a strong devotee of Vishnu.
HKP’s son Prahalad was born in the ashram.
After birth too, Naradji, continued his teaching of Prahalad so that his love for Vishnu grew more and more and he could thing of nothing Lord Vishnu.
During this period, HKP continued his penance.
Lord Brahma was satisfied with his penance and appeared and granted him a boon.
HKP asked immortality.
Brahma said this could not be granted, as everybody who is born has to die. He could ask for something else.
HKP then asked that no man or beast should have power to kill him, he should not die during the day or at night, he should not die with any weapon nor should he die inside or outside any house or room or on the ground or in the sky.
Brahma granted the boone.
HKP returned home very happy. He thought he was now indestructible.
When he reached home he found that Indra had taken prisoner his wife and he was furious. Just then Naradji brought his wife and his son, who was now five years old and explained what he had done.
HKP was happy with Naradji but still angry with Indra.
With his newfound power he started terrifying the holy men even more.
He wanted his son to have the same hatred for Vishnu but found that his son loved Vishnu.
He tried educating his son by sending him to the school of evil but that had no effect.
On the contrary, Prahalad would convert all the demon children to good.
HKP then decided to get rid of Prahalad.
He tried poisoning him and tried throwing him from the top of a hill but everywhere Lord Vishnu saved him.
HKP had a sister Holika who had been given a boon that no fire could destroy her.
Holika then suggested to her brother that she would help him to destroy Prahalad.
She took the child in her lap and sat on a large pile of wood and asked her brother to set fire to the wood.
She surmised that she would come out unscathed because of her boon and Prahalad would be destroyed.
No such thing happened.
Nothing happened to Prahalad but Holika was burnt alive.
HKP could not take it any more.
He asked his son, “Show me your Vishnu.”
Prahalad said, “Vishnu is everywhere, He is in me, He is in you, He is in the sky, He is in the ground, He is in the wall, and He is in this pillar.
HKP repeated “Is He in this pillar?’
“Yes’” said Prahalad.
HKP then took his Maze and hit the pillar to crush it.
Prahalad closed his eyes and prayed to Vishnu to appear.
Vishnu then came out of the pillar in the form of Narsimha.
After a fierce battle, just as the evening set in, Narsimha took HKP on his lap at the entrance of the room and using the nails of his fingers, he tore open the body of Hirnyakashyap and killed him.
Vishnu thus once again kept His word of destroying evil and allowing Brahma’s boone also to be fulfilled.