242 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM
the three worlds, — their own, the upper ; the middle, where men dwell ; and the nether, or abode of the demons. But occasionally the demons gain control, seizing the thrones of the gods and usurping their power. Then the gods have to go to Vishnu the Preserver, and pray to Him to help them out of the difficulty, and sometimes He does it in a very curious way.
In such an epoch, Hiranyakasipu lived and was king. He defeated all the gods, and seated himself on the throne of the three worlds, declar- ing that nowhere in the universe was there any god but himself, and that both demons and men must worship him alone. Then, in fear of a coming catastrophe, the gods themselves began to walk the earth in the form of men ; and, doubtless, they appealed also to the Lord Vishnu, imploring His aid. In any case, soon after the king's victory, a little son was born to him, in the city of Moultan in the Punjab, and he named him Prahlad.
Curiously enough, with such a father, the little Prahlad proved a very religious child. He seemed to have inborn ideas about worship and about the gods. And his father, who had determined to drive the thought of the deities out of the world, was very much troubled about him. At last he made up his mind to put him into the hands of a very stern teacher, with strict orders that he was never to be allowed to worship any
