Text 16] Hiraṇyakaśipu's Plan to Become Immortal
143
māṁsa —the flesh;  śoṇitam —and blood;  tapantam —heating;  tapasā —by a severe type of penance;  lokān —all the three worlds;  yathā —just as;  abhra —by clouds;  apihitam —covered;  ravim —the sun;  vilakṣya —seeing;  vismitaḥ —struck with wonder;  prāha —said;  hasan —smiling;  tam —to him;  haṁsa-vāhanaḥ —Lord Brahmā, who rides a swan airplane.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahmā, who is carried by a swan airplane, at first could not see where Hiraṇyakaśipu was, for Hiraṇyakaśipu's body was covered by an anthill and by grass and bamboo sticks. Because Hiraṇyakaśipu had been there for a long time, the ants had devoured his skin, fat, flesh and blood. Then Lord Brahmā and the demigods spotted him, resembling a cloud-covered sun, heating all the world by his austerity. Struck with wonder, Lord Brahmā began to smile and then addressed him as follows.
PURPORT
The living entity can live merely by his own power, without the help of skin, marrow, bone, blood and so on, because it is said,  asaṅgo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ —the living entity has nothing to do with the material covering. Hiraṇyakaśipu performed a severe type of  tapasya , austerity, for many long years. Indeed, it is said that he performed the  tapasya  for one hundred heavenly years. Since one day of the demigods equals six of our months, certainly this was a very long time. By nature's own way, his body had been almost consumed by earthworms, ants and other parasites, and therefore even Brahmā was at first unable to see him. Later, however, Brahmā could ascertain where Hiraṇyakaśipu was, and Brahmā was struck with wonder to see Hiraṇyakaśipu's extraordinary power to execute  tapasya . Anyone would conclude that Hiraṇyakaśipu was dead because his body was covered in so many ways, but Lord Brahmā, the supreme living being in this universe, could understand that Hiraṇyakaśipu was alive but covered by material elements.
It is also to be noted that although Hiraṇyakaśipu performed this austerity for a long, long time, he was nonetheless known as a Daitya and Rākṣasa. It will be seen from verses to follow that even great saintly persons could not perform such a severe type of austerity. Why then was he