your bridge home
Tales of the Gods
He struck the pillar to prove there was nothing inside it. The sound that came out was the shell of the universe cracking.
Hiranyakashipu had read the contract carefully, which is what makes what happened to him interesting.
He had not asked Brahma for immortality. He was not a fool, and he knew that immortality is the one thing that does not get granted. What he asked for instead was a set of exclusions so complete that the space left over would contain no possible death. Let me not be killed by man or by beast. Not by any weapon, wet or dry. Not by day, and not by night. Not inside a dwelling, and not outside one. Not on the earth, and not in the sky. Not by deva, asura, or any created thing.
The rest of this story, read aloud, and a new one every day.