Jaya and Vijaya were born as Hiraneyaksha and Hiraneyakashyipu in Satya Yuga. Hiranyaksha was an asura, the son of Diti and Kashyapa rishi. He was slain by the Lord Vishnu after he (Hiranyaksha) took the Earth to the bottom of what has been described as the “Cosmic Ocean”. Lord Vishnu assumed the Avatar of a boar – Varaha and dove into the ocean to lift the Earth, in the process slaying Hiranyaksha who was obstructing Him. The battle lasted one thousand years. He had an elder brother named Hiranyakashipu, who after having undertaken penances which made him incredibly powerful and invincible unless several conditions were met, was later slain by Lord Narasimha, another incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu was an Asura and the king of demons.

After the death of Hiranyakashyap’s younger brother Hiranyaksha at the hands of Lord Vishnu’s Varaha avatar, Hiranyakashipu begins to hate Lord Vishnu. He decides to kill him by acquiring mystical powers, which he believes Lord Brahma, the creator, will grant him if he undergoes many years of great penance for Lord Brahma just as the Lord bestowed powers on other demons.  Lord Brahma  appears in front of Hiranyakashipu and grants him a boon of his choice. But when Hiranyakashipu asks for immortality, Brahma refuses. Hiranyakashipu then makes the following request: “O my lord, O best giver, if you will kindly grant me the boon I desire, please do not let me die from any creature you have created.

Grant me the boon that I should not die inside or outside any residence, during the day or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that I may die by none other than the ones you created, or by any weapon, or by any human or animal.”

Grant me boon that I do not receive death from any living being, living or non-living. Grant me further, that I may not be killed by any god or demon or any great snake of the lower planets. Since no one can kill you on the battlefield, you have no competitors. Therefore, grant me this boon that I too should not have any rival. Give me sole dominion over all living beings and presiding deities, and give me all the glory derived from that position. Also, grant me all the mystic powers obtained by long penance and practice of yoga, for these cannot be destroyed at any time.”

While Hiranyakashipu is doing penance to obtain this boon, Lord Indra and other gods take advantage of the opportunity in his absence to attack his house. At this point the divine sage Narada intervenes to protect Hiranyakashipu’s wife Kayadhu, whom he describes as ‘sinless’. Narada takes Kayadhu into his care, and when she is under his guidance, his unborn child (Hiranyakashipu’s son) Prahlad becomes influenced by the paralokik and gets the instructions of the sage even in the womb. Later, growing up as a child, Prahlad began to show signs of Narada’s prenatal training and gradually became recognized as a devoted follower of Lord Vishnu, much to his father’s dismay.