Bhakt Prahlad

Hiranyakashyap was the king of the asuras. He ordered his soldiers to punish all those who worship lord Vishnu. To conquer the 3 worlds he began to perform tapasya.At that time the wife of Hiranyakashyap was expecting a child. She moved herself to Sage Narada's ashram. She lived there and learned about religion and the glory of Vishnu from him. The child within her, Prahlad, too, absorbed all this knowledge. Meanwhile, Lord Brahama was pleased with the tapasya of Hiranyakashyap and granted him a boon that he would not die from either man or beast, with a weapon or without a weapon, during day or night, indoors or outdoors, on earth or in the sky. This boon made him invincible. During that time his wife delivered a boy whose name was Prahlad. As the time progresses Hiranyakashyap noticed that Prahlad devotion toward Lord Vishnu increases day by day. It was all due to effect of learnings during his stay in mother’s womb. When all the attempts to persuade Prahalad failed his father decided to kill him. Hiranyakashyap then got Prahlad thrown amidst venomous snakes. But, biting by the snakes had no effect on Prahlad because his mind was contemplating in Lord Vishnu. Then Hiranyakashyap got Prahlad crushed by big elephants. But even elephants could not harm Prahlad. Instead their tusks were broken as soon as they touched Prahlad. Later he was pushed off a cliff but Prahlad was unharmed. In another attempt Hiranyakashyap asked his sister,Holika to kill Prahlad.Holika had a magic cloth, on wearing that the fire could not burn her. She took Prahlad in her lap and wore the cloth on her head and jumped in the fire. Then a miracle happen. A strong wind blew which pushed the cloth from holika to Prahlad.Thus Prahlad escapes unhurt. Ultimately Hiranyakashyap decided to kill Prahlad himself. He tied Prahlad to a pillar and hit the pillar. As soon as he hit the pillar, it broke and Lord appeared from it in Narsimha incarnation. His appearance was extremely scary with half human and half lion form. His look was neither beast nor man. It was the twilight hour, the junction of day and night. He dragged Hiranyakashyap to the threshold. Significally it was neither indoor nor outdoor. He hold Hiranyakashyap in his lap and He killed him with his powerful nails. After the death of Hiranyakashyap, Prahlad continued his lineage. Prahlad had a son, Virochan. Virochan in his turn had Bali as his son. The king Bali was sent to the nether world by Vaaman incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Aakash se Paataal tak

As per Hinduism it is believe that the entire universe is divided into different divisions. These divisions are known as “Loka”. Each loka is abode for different kinds of species. It is believe that the upper world are of 7 in numbers
1)Bhu-loka, the earth. –It is a division of universe where we live.
2)Bhuvar-loka, the space between the earth and the sun, the region of the Munis, Siddhas, demi-gods like yakshas, kinneras, kimpurushaas,gandharvaas live.
3)Swarg-loka, the abode of Indra, between the sun and the Dhruv Tara(polar star).
4) Mahar-loka, the usual abode of saints, who are supposed to be co-existent with Brahma.
5) Jana-loka, here the 7 manas putras of lord Brahma lives. They were Atri, Vasistha, Angirasa, Marichi, Bhrigu,Daksha, pulasthya.
6) Tapa-loka, where the deities called Vairagis reside. Here the Four first sons of brahma live. They were Sanata, Sanatana, Sanaka,Sananda
The tapaloka,janaloka and maharloka are collectively called MUNILOKA.
7) Satya-loka or Brahma-loka, is the abode of lord Brahma. It is a land of infinity where Lord Brahma and godess Saraswati live here. There is no concept of time in this loka. anddimension. Only infinity exist. Once the soul moves in this world then it will exempt from the trap of birth and rebirth.
The first three worlds are destroyed at the end of each kalpa(one day of Brahma); the last three at the end of his life(hundred of his years); the fourth loka is equally permanent, but is uninhabitable from heat at the time the first three are burning.
There is another school of thought which divides the upper world in 8 divisions instead of 7
1) Brahma-loka, the world of the superior deities;
2) Pitra-loka, that of the Pitris, Rishis, and Prajapatis;
3) Nakshatra loka, of the moon and Planets;
4) Indra-loka, of the inferior deities;
5) Gandharva-loka, of heavenly spirits;
6) Rakshasa-loka, of the Rakshasas;
7) Yaksha-loka, of the Yakshas;
8) Pisacha-loka, of the Pisachas
Now.below the earth there is a nether world of 7 kinds. This is a lower world
1)ATALA-It is a abode of “Mayasur”.He is an architect of demon.He was a father in law of Ravana
2)VITALA- The ganas of lord Shiva live here.
3)SUTALA- It is a abode of King BALI
4)TALATALA- it is a abode of 3 demon brothers (Tripurasurs)
5)MAHATALA- Here the children of Kadru live. They were snakes
6)RASSTALA- here the chidrenof DITI, called Daityas and the children of DANU, called daanavaas live. DITI and DANU were also wives of Kashyapa.
7)PAATALA-It is also a land of snake. Here lives the king of snakes,Vasuki

Price of theft

Sage Vashishta possessed a cow called Nandini.This cow was capable of producing great riches to its possessor. One day 8 brothers called Vasus , came to Ashram of sage Vashistha, accompanied by their wives. When one of the ladies beheld Nandini, the cow of plenty, she became desirous of possessing it. Now the Vasu knew that the cow belonged to the Rishi. So he tried to persuade his wife to forget about the cow.But all his efforts went in vain.With the help of his brothers he stole the cow.Sage Vashishtha was shocked when he came to knew about the loss.With his divine power he able to knew about the culprit.In his anger he cursed them to be reborn on earth.When the Vasu's came to know of the about curse, they became terrified, and begged the Rishi for forgiveness.The sage softened and replied, "My curse cannot be reverted. The seven of you who have obeyed your brother's orders, shall not have to bear the sufferings for long. However, Dyu(one of the 8 brothes), who is the real culprit, will have to suffer his curse for a long time. However, he will be a great warrior, and will not have any children." .Dyu holds a very important role in the story of Mahabharata as he born as the son of Goddess Ganga who later known as “Bhishma”. It was due to this curse Bhishma remained unmarried and had no children.After his death in the battle of Mahabharta he left for heaven.