“But I have resolved that I shall defeat Narayana,” pleaded Prahlada. “If he is truly invincible, my resolution will stand falsified. I will have no option but to kill myself.”

“Not necessarily,” replied Vishnu. “Your approach is wrong. You have tried to defeat Narayana through warfare and that is no the way. Narayana can be defeated through faith and devotion. Let me tell you that Narayana is one of my incarnations. Pray to him and you will succeed.”

There was a demon named Andhaka. Prahlada asked him to look after the kingdom and went off to the hermitage named vadrikashrama. He pleased Nara and Narayana with his meditations. When they offered to grant him a boon, Prahlada desired that the sin he had committed by fighting with them might be forgiven. He also wished that he might forever remain devoted to Vishnu, Nara and Narayana. The sages granted these boons and also blessed Prahlada that he would be invincible and immortal.

When Prahlada returned to the land of the demons, Andhaka tried to return the kingdom to him. But Prahlada would have none of it. He refused to rule as a king. He prayed to Vishnu and continued to give good advice to the demons.

Andhaka

“But,” interrupted Narada, “I have heard that Andhaka was blind. How came he then to be a king? Isn’t it true that a blind man cannot be a king?”

“Andhaka was Hiranyaksha’s son,” replied Pulastya. Hirnaysksha was Hirnayakashipu’s brother. So that Prahlada and Andhaka were cousins. You are quite right in saying that Andhaka was blind. But his sight was restored, so that the he could become king.”

(According to some other Puranas, Andhaka was the offspring of Shiva and Parvati and was adopted as a son by Hirnyaksha. Vishnu killed Hiranyaksha in his boar (araha) incarnation and Hiranyakshipu in his half-man and half0lion (narasimha) incarnation.)

As soon as Andhaka became king, he made it his first task to please Shiva through tapasya. He obtained the boons that gods and demons would not be able to kill, that the fire would not be able to burn him and that the water would not be able to make him wet. Thus fortified, Andhaka decided that he would conquer heaven and earth. He made Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, his priest and adviser.

It took no time at all to defeat all the kings on earth. Andhaka and his cohorts now invaded Mount Sumeru, indra raised an army of the gods so that heaven might be protected. Indra himself came to fight, perched atop his elephant Airavata. In the army of the gods there were the twelve aditya, the eight vasus, the vishvadevas, the two Ahvinis and the martus.

Narada interrupted Pulastya. “Please tell me what the various gods rode on.”he said. “I would like to know that.”

Pulastya obliged.

Indra rode a white elephant named Airavata Yama rode a black buffalo named Pundraka. Varuna was astride a dark porpoise named Jalashi. The gandharvas (Singers of heaven) rode on snakes and the eleven rudras on a chariot drawn by five hundred swans. The adityas rode horses and camels, while the vasus were on elephants. The tow Ashvinis rode horse and the maruts rode on deer.

As for the demons, they also rode on diverse creatures. Andhaka’s chariot was drawn by a thousand black horses. The demon Virochana was on an elephant, Kujambha rode a horse and Ayohshanku was astride a lion. Other demon soldiers were on chariots or on foot.

The fierce battle started. Thick dust billowed around and nothing could be seen. Chariots crushed chariots, elephants fought with elephant, and horsed hot tangled with other horses. River of blood started to flow and dead soldiers littered the battlefield. Vultures feasted on the dead bodies. Jackals were delighted. Parts of the battlefield came to resemble a cremation ground.

Andhaka and Indra came face to face and d duel began. Indra had a terrible weapon named vajra. He hurled this at Andhaka. Although this flaming weapon killed Andhaka’s horses and charioteer, it could do Andhaka himself no harm. Andhaka floored the vajra with a blow of his fists. Airavata fell unconscious from the force of Andhaka’s blows. Indra had had enough and he fled Andhaka cheerfully continued with his destruction of the gods.

Several other duels raged between individual gods and demons. Andhaka gave Yama a thrashing. Virochana managed to capture the god Varuana. The god Agni received a blow of Andhaka’s club and ran away. Vayu, Chandra, Surya, the sadhyaas, the vasus or the Ashvinis – not a single god could match Andhaka’s prowess.

In this fashion, Andhaka conquered the three worlds. He made all the kings pay taxes to him. Andhaka’s capital was a city named Ashmaka. Located in the underworld.