Narasimha, half-lion half-man, is the fourth incarnation of Vishnu. It was said that the demon king Hiranyakashipu, Hiranyaksha's elder brother, obtained a boon from Brahma: not to die either by man or beast, by day or by night, indoors or outdoors, on earth or in the sky. One day, when the demon was going to slay Prahlada, Vishnu's devotee, Vishnu emerged from a pillar in the form of Narasimha to protect him. When Narasimha (neither man nor beast) seized the demon, it was the twilight (neither day nor night), he carried him under the arch of the doorway (neither indoors nor outdoors), where he threw the demon onto his thighs (neither on earth nor in the sky), and killed him with his claws.