Narasimha

Spoiler Alert! Warning! This page contains spoilers for Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes.

Not part of Riordanverse The following article/section is from the Pandava Quintet continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon.

Narasimha
Biographical information
Full name	Narasimha
Gender	Male
Alias	God of Protection
Family	Vishnu (fourth incarnation of)
Status	Immortal
Physical description
Eye	Red
Species	God
Behind the scenes
Appearances	Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (vision)

Narasimha (pronounced: "NUHR-sihm-hah") is the fearsome fourth incarnation of Vishnu. He is one of Vishnu's most vicious manifestations.

History

Once, there was a power-hungry asura king named Hiranyakashipu, the reincarnation of one of Vishnu's gatekeepers. Having been granted a boon, he asked for invincibility, specifically not to be killed at daytime or nighttime, indoors or outdoors, by man or beast, and by no weapon. Thinking he had it, Hiranyakashipu wreaked havoc to the world. His son, Prahlad, a devout worshipper of Vishnu, was the only one who didn't fall in line with his plans. One day at twilight (neither day nor night), the father and son got into an argument in the threshold of the demon king's courtyard (neither indoors nor outdoors). Hiranyakashipu asked Prahlad whether Vishnu existed in one of the pillars there. Suddenly, a cracked and weathered pillar split down the middle to reveal Vishnu as Narasimha, a man with the head of a lion (neither man nor beast). Narasimha roared, narrowed his eyes and clawed himself out of the pillar. He put Hiranyakashipu on his lap and ripped him apart with his sharp claws (not technically considered weapons).

Rick Riordan Presents

Pandava Quintet

Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Narasimha's divine wrath is kept in the Crypt of Eclipses. The gods allowed the yalis to bottle it up, it only awakens to devour thieves.

Appearance

Narasimha is described as a lion on top and a man on the bottom, his eyes were red. A divine glow clung to him, which made him a god, this terrible light was like a wall of fire.

Trivia

• Narasimha's name is literally man-lion in Sanskrit, with "nara" meaning man and "simha" meaning lion.
• Although not mentioned in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, Hiranyakashipu also asked not to be killed on Earth nor in space. So Narasimha put the demon on his thighs, neither Earth nor space.
• It's mentioned several times in the book that Vishnu could've just used a woman to defeat Hiranyakashipu. However, when people say "man", they usually mean people in general, not just of the male gender.